back to article Toshiba Satellite P775 17.3in Core i7 laptop

As laptops become ever more identical on the inside, it's the stuff on the outside that now differentiates one from another. Toshiba Satellite P775 Off to college: the (wealthy) student's laptop? Toshiba's Satellite P775 is a good example. The key points I jotted down while putting it through its paces are not the 2GHz …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Shane8
    FAIL

    Battery Life and graphics card

    WTB decent laptop with battery life more than 2 hrs and with a decent graphics card....

    When i started reading this post it looked good, nice processor (for a laptop), nice screen resolution etc but it looks to be useless for watching a movie on without the charger, what was Toshiba thinking?!

  2. Ed Cooper

    Poor MacBooks

    Why on the comparison chart are you comparing the CPU with a 15 in. MacBook Pro, and then the 3D graphics a 13in. MacBook Pro (which only has integrated graphics) what's the point in that!?

    Can we compare 17in. machines with 17in. machines, not with 13in portables (of non-stated vintage).

    1. Steve Knox
      Trollface

      Rich MacBooks

      Well, according to the reviews I found on this site, the 13in MacBook Pro is about the same price as the Toshiba, and the 15in is more expensive.

      Surely a performance comparison should be based on price, not on physical dimension?

      1. Stacy
        FAIL

        Surely it should

        But surely it should be compared with the same computers in all tests - not pick computers at random so you can't see which the overall better performer is?

        Is it being compared to 1800 machines (the 15" Apple and the Sony F21), or the cheaper 13" inch Apple and Sony C?

        And for the battery which Sony Viao F are we talking about? The 3d monster F21, or the more sedate F13s?

  3. tempemeaty
    Mushroom

    I swear that Nvidia's Optimus is a real serious pain...

    Manufactures keep glomming on to Nvidia's Optimus but us users who chose our own operating systems are unable to utilize the nVidia chipset due to an attitude problem on nVidia's side about creating drivers to support anything other than only Windows. This narrow view is causing me and other like me to grow extremely agitated at and impatient with both nVidia and the manufactures that are using Nvidia's Optimus.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    And where do the Young Ones fit in?

    And where do The Young Ones fit into this review? Is the case suitable for the solution to all ills - extreme violence? Does it have a video? Is it full of washing-up liquid?

  5. dssf

    Why are the HDMI and VGA cables more at the front than back?

    HDMI cables tend to be thick and inflexible, and sticking it near the front just wastes space on anyones desk. Connectors of heavy, thick, inflexible devices should be to the rear.

    I hope the power plug is a 90 degree bend job. Straight-out pins just beg to be damaged and risk damaging the power pin inside.

    To get past the limited battery life, one may need to buy an external power pack (I use one from Stiger) that feeds the machine via the mains plug pin. Then, if the laptop allows, remove the dead battery and plug in a fresh one.... wait, that works only if one HAS a 2nd battery and only if the laptop won't shut down, AND only if one has an external battery charger so the fresh battery is not depriving the depleted one of a charge point....

    1. Robert E A Harvey

      tosh have form

      ...on this front port thing.

      I had one with the IRDA port on the front, so you needed to put yer phone about 100mm in front of it, & had to work the keyboard nipple at arm's stretch.

      Pillocks.

  6. Robert E A Harvey

    What about Linux?

    Did you not boot Linux & find out what worked?

    & if not, why not?

  7. Christian Berger

    Shiny Display, Windows 7

    What on earth could a student do with it? I mean Windows 7 doesn't come with Latex, so there is no way of generating paper documents. It also doesn't come with an SSH-client or X11 so you cannot even log into the computer at the university.

    So essentially it's as useful as a brick, but way more expensive.

    1. JC_
      WTF?

      Students

      Yes, because in the history of all university courses, nothing useful has ever been done on a PC running Windows... Every paper requires Latex and X11. And PuTTY doesn't exist.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Proper OS

      Because anyone doing a proper degree will have the gumption to install a Linux distro, and LibreOffice

    3. Richard Taylor 2
      Thumb Down

      but of course

      anyone informed enough to use LaTeX would be able to download it? It's not even difficult for a 7 year old now. (http://miktex.org/)

  8. quartzie
    Thumb Down

    University hardly a Challenge?

    I beg to differ, in my own personal experience, a lot of Uni students (particularly CS majors) appreciate portability and battery life, rather than luggability and mains tethering.

    I guess other majors might beg to differ, especially if most of their studying is done using pen & paper, but unless the grant also commands a set of wheels, this one is going to remain a foldable desktop.

  9. annodomini2
    FAIL

    Overpriced

    I bought a Dell XPS17

    Same processor,

    4GB (who actually needs 8?),

    1080p 3D screen (All integrated, only needs glasses),

    3GB GT555M 3D,

    I got mine from the outlet at a huge discount, but new these are £1200

    And if you bought this you'd have the ubiquitous Toshiba power connector failure after a year.

    These are desktop replacements rather than laptops, some need processing power, some portability, horses for courses.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Dell v Toshiba

      Last Dell notebook I had became unusable because the "wrist pad" blow the keyboard was so hot it could be used to fry eggs.

      Compared to my old Toshiba Satellite which was my weapon of choice during the first half of my degree which behaved impeccably (and still works to this day, gets fired up every now and then for a game of Higgins Snooker / PGA 386 / Lemmings).

      If I was doing it all over again I would use my Acer Aspire One with a 6 cell battery which triple boots 3 OSs, offers portability between classes/library/tutorials/labs/halls. Was also cheap (self-funded) so as not to eat into the beer and rent fund.

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Flame

    with that money...

    you can buy a mac, all windows laptops have to be under the price of the Mac, since they are the cheap'n'nasty option....

  11. MooseNC
    FAIL

    Um.

    Compare like to like. The graph is completely useless and biased as it NEVER compares the same two laptops at the same time. Note to author: when you compare systems, keep the same systems compared to and don't keep changing them for different test.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like