Welcome to a laptop battery specialist of the Toshiba Laptop Battery
Not all business users need to travel with their notebooks. Maybe you want a powerful laptop at your desk with a fairly large screen and prefer to use a netbook, iPad, or smart phone on the road instead. And maybe you want that primary PC to offer screaming performance—without breaking the bank. Enter Toshiba’s Tecra A11 with batteries such as Toshiba PA3107U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3383U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3384U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3285U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3191U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3166U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3331U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3098U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3084U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3399U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3250U-1BAS Battery, Toshiba PA3356U-1BAS Battery, which combines a superfast Core i7 processor with discrete Nvidia graphics for a reasonable price. While this 15.6-inch system is somewhat plain to look at, it also boasts security and IT features that will protect your investment and your data. Just be sure to keep an outlet close.
Editors’ Note: While the A11 comes preinstalled with Windows XP Professional, Toshiba packages Windows 7 Professional with the system, which we installed prior to running our benchmark tests. Also, portions of this review were taken from our earlier review of the Toshiba Tecra A11 (S3510).
The A11’s matte black lid is dimpled with a handsome pattern that doesn’t show fingerprints, and it continues on the deck; the bezel is also a matte black plastic, but lacks the fancy design. Overall, this a very understated look that will no doubt appeal to business users, but it lacks the panache of the HP ProBook series, which has a more elegant brushed aluminum lid.
Above the keyboard are buttons for launching Toshiba’s Eco utility, outputting the screen to a projector or larger display, and volume controls. These are handy to have, but we think they would be better put to use if they offered quick access to, say, PowerPoint or some other business-centric function.
Measuring 14.7 x 9.9 x 1.5 inches and weighing 5.8 pounds, the A11 is a bit too bulky to carry around; those who travel often should look elsewhere. This notebook is certainly portable enough to take to meetings, but you’ll need to keep an eye on that battery meter (more on that below).
While the version of the Tecra A11 with integrated graphics saw a runtime of 4 hours and 37 minutes (an hour longer than average), this model lasted just 2:06. That abysmal runtime is nearly 2 hours less than the category average. This is the price you’ll pay for a Core i7 processor and discrete graphics.
Wi-Fi throughput was very strong. The Intel Centrino Advanced-N 6200AGN 802.11a/g/n radio saw throughput of 38.5 Mbps at 15 feet from our router, and 25.7 Mbps at 50 feet.
The A11 also comes with Intel’s My WiFi technology; once enabled, it allows the user of the A11 to share his or her Internet connection, creating an ad-hoc wireless network.
In the Tecra A11, Toshiba has created a very capable and affordable system for business users. For $1,349, you get a powerful processor, Nvidia graphics, and a high-resolution screen—but atrocious battery life. However, this laptop is loaded with useful productivity features (such as the ability to create a hotspot on the fly), security utilities like Secure Digital Token, and a three-year warranty. Before taking the plunge, though, make sure you need discrete graphics; otherwise, you could probably get by on a system like the 14-inch HP EliteBook 8440p, which costs about $400 less, has a more durable and stylish design, and lasts about twice as long on a charge.
No comments:
Post a Comment