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If space is limited, a large laptop can go some way to replacing a desktop PC and doesn’t even have to cost much more. Toshiba’s Satellite L775-119 is a 17″ model with a Core i5 processor for less than £600.
With its plastic construction and basic design, the laptop is unlikely to turn heads, but the silver texture-effect lid and wrist rest are at least reasonably easy on the eye. Looks can be deceiving, of course, and it quickly becomes clear that the Satellite L775 shouldn’t be underestimated.
The dual-core 2410m might be the entry-level chip in Intel’s Sandy Bridge i5 line-up, but it’s still incredibly potent; the basic 2.3GHz clock speed can increase to 2.9GHz when needed using Turbo Boost. Paired with 4GB of RAM, it completed our multimedia benchmarks with an overall score of 54, which easily outpaces first generation Core i5 desktop processors. Although at 2.8kg it’s not the most portable laptop we’ve seen, almost five hours in our light-use battery test proves it’s still possible to use on the move.
It’s difficult to include a dedicated graphics card while keeping costs low, so Toshiba has opted to stick with the graphics chipset built into Intel’s processor. It’s more than powerful enough for high definition video, playing 720p content on the laptop without dropping frames. It can also output in 1080p on a compatible external display, using the single HDMI port. Unfortunately, gaming on integrated graphics still requires sacrificing detail and resolution, as a score of 13.8fps in our new Dirt 3 benchmark test shows.
As with most larger laptops, the Satellite L775’s most prominent feature is its huge screen. The 17.3in panel should be more than large enough for office work or watching video, even if the 1,600×900 resolution is only high enough for 720p high definition content. Image quality was well above average, with the high resolution screen preserving lots of detail. Viewing angles are fairly narrow, but there’s plenty of screen tilt to find the position that suits you.
The stereo speakers above the keyboard tray were designed with help from A/V experts Onkyo, so we were expecting better sound quality than the average laptop. Mid-range notes were clean and treble was sharp without being tinny, but as expected bass was still lacking. They’re an above-average set of laptop speakers, but they still can’t compete with a decent set of headphones.
The Satellite L775 is still a great laptop for multimedia thanks to its internal DVD re-writer and spacious 640GB hard disk. There are a reasonable three USB ports, of which one will charge USB devices such as phones while the laptop is switched off, but we would have liked to have seen at least one USB3 port. An SDXC card reader is rather useful, though.
We were pleased to see that Toshiba has included a numerical keypad alongside the full-size QWERTY keyboard, which should make data entry just as easy as typing. The flat keys are quite tightly grouped together, but they all have satisfyingly crisp key actions that made typing a breeze. The decent sized touchpad was responsive and had very little resistance to movement. Less impressive were the two oversized touchpad buttons, which felt slightly spongy when clicked.
If you don’t need a dedicated graphics card, but still want a powerful laptop that can take the place of a desktop PC, the Satellite L775 is a good choice – and the price is hard to beat. If portability and graphics power are more important, however, the Acer Aspire 5750G costs a similar amount but has a dedicated graphics card for gaming.
