Test: Toshiba Satellite A500-12W

Konklusion

Toshiba Satellite A500-12W er en ganske udmærket laptop, der dog ikke virker for overbevisende når man kører WoW, eller kraftigere 3D-grafik. Udover dette så virker maskinen nu ganske glimrende. Men jeg må tilstå jeg altså havde forventet mig noget bedre af lydløsningen, nu denne er fra den velkendte producent Harman/ Kardon, for disse levede slet ikke op til mærkets omdømme.

Alt i alt er Toshiba Satellite A500-12W en rigtig god, lille maskine. Men den mangler desværre lige det der gør, at man føler man sidder med et "gennemført" produkt. En ganske glimrende laptop/bærbar - ja. Men den mangler lige det sidste for, at være en "fuldsblods", eller "gennemført" stjerne. Men tøv ikke med, at købe maskinen, hvis du ikke har brug for de "mangler" vi har anført. Hvis du vil have en lækker og superbt godt designet bærbar så er denne maskine lige købet for dig. Prisen er en smule "høj" - men indenfor parametrene "design" og "lækkerhed", samt leverandørsoftware, så får du fuldt ud virkelig, hvad du betaler for med Toshiba Satellite A500-12W. Den kan sammenlignes med Bang og Olufsen kontra Samsung/Sony/Philips fjernsyn. Design og vedlagte materialer er virkelig i særklasse.

Innovation/Teknologi - 3
Maskinen har hverken verdens største CPU eller nyeste chipset. Til gengæld er der rigelig mængde RAM og stor harddisk til éns data. Skærmen er i HD-opløsning og på  flot stor med hele 16 tommer, men desværre ikke med fuld HD-opløsning.

Bundle/Tilbehør - 4
Der medfølger intet, andet end strømforsyning og en kæmpe manual, samt diverse anden dokumentation og en Windows 7 kupon. Vi savner en microfiber pudseklud, nu maskinen er udført i sort pianolak der modtager støv og fedtefingre ca. 15 sekunder efter denne er pakket op af æsken.

Design/Layout - 3
Designet er flot og skærmmæssigt forbilledligt ergonomisk med baghængslet skærm der folder ned, bagover bagkanten. Dog er musepladen desværre forskudt mod venstre - og da der rent genetisk findes flere personer i Norden der er venstrehånede, end i resten af verden er dette et klart minus. Maskinen er meget glat og derfor trækker det også karakteren ned på et 3-tal, at ingen låsetapper er til låget/skærmen, da vi tror man nemt kan tabe den da låget ikke låser sig fast ved transport i hænderne. Lækkert og meget flot design - men desværre finder vi det mere egnet til, at stå og se flot ud på et designerskrivebord, eller som mediacenter i stuen eller i en firmareception, end vi finder det egnet til egentlig, daglig brug. Flot, men upraktisk i dagligdagen. Vi har derfor valgt, at vise fotos af maskinen lige efter brug og oppakning, fordi dette virkelig viser både ulemperne -men også fordelene -ved Toshiba's excellente og meget flotte,  stilrene design.

Software/BIOS - 4
BIOS'en er som nævnt yderst nemt og der intet,a t skrive om denne. Ydermere har Toshiba installeret en hel hær af andre småprogrammer og hjælpeværktøjer på maskinen. Man skal i hvert fald ikke tvivle på, om man savner noget på denne maskinen, overhovedet - rent softwaremæssigt. Her har Toshiba været meget grundige og dækket brugeren fuldstændigt ind med alt man kunne forestille, at have behov for. Så det får de et 4-tal for, da der også er en kupon med til, at opgradere til Windows 7. Maskinen kunne have opnået et 5-tal, hvis officepakken ikke havde været en prøve på MS-Works. Her havde vi hellere set en fuld, gratis OpenOffice uden tidsbegrænsning.

Ydelse - 4
Ydelsen er som man kan forvente det medium til let kraftig. Dog skal man tage det forbehold, at maskinens skærm kun kan køre i lav wide-opløsning. Og derfor så er de grafiske resultater ret gode i score, i testprogrammerne, men reélt er maskinen ikke så kraftig, som man umiddelbart får indtryk af. Men den får et 4-tal, da den kan trække WoW og visse grafiske tests uden problemer, samt fordi grafikkortet har hele svimlende 1 GB dedikeret RAM - og det er meget på en ikke-gamer bærbar. Maskinen burde derfor let kunne trække Photoshop og deslige, men ikke med voldsom ydelse. Dog kan man kun påregne, at Windows 7 og dennes grafiske effekter uden problemer vil køre smertefrit på denne maskine.

Pris - 3
Jeg (Freke, red.) finder prisen på de 6.045,- DKK, jf. EDBpriser.dk lettere urimelig. Man får en 720p HD-skærm. Man får et stort grafikkort, men kan kun bruge dette i lave opløsninger. Harddisken og RAM-mængden er mere end rimelig. Dog er der HDMI-udgang, men de grafiske porte kan maks. trække 1600x1200, dog får man dette leveret i hele 100Hz. Lydløsningen er eksklusiv, men i praksis ubrugelig grundet resonans, dog yderst god ved brug af headset, eller højttalere. Jeg ville finde prisen rimelig, hvis der havde været Blu-ray drev monteret og skærmen kunne køre over 1366x768 nu denne er på hele 16 tommer. Og med sådan en stor skærm giver det ingen mening, ikke at montere en skærm der kan køre i en større opløsning.

Test: Toshiba Satellite A500-12W

Innovation / Teknologi	3
Bundle - Tilbehør	4
Design - Layout	3
Software - BIOS	4
Ydelse	4
Pris	3
Samlet	70%

UK summary

Toshiba Satellite A500-12W is a very good laptop that does not seem convincing when running WoW, or more powerful 3D graphics. Apart from this the machine performs quite excellent. But I must confess I had expected so much more of the sound solution, since this is from the renowned manufacturer Harman / Kardon, but totally fails to live up to the brands fame.

Overall, the Toshiba Satellite A500-12W a pretty good little machine. A very good laptop yes - but it certainly lacks in important areas to be "full blood/thorough bred stallion/star". But don't hesitate to buy it, if you do not need the features that we have mentioned the machine lacks. If you want a really neat and superbly designed laptop and can live with its "lacks", this laptop is certainly the "buy" for you. The price is a bit high, but in terms of vendor supplied software and design you really get what you pay for fully, with the Toshiba Sattelite A500-12W. It can be compared to Bang and Olufson (B&O) contra Samsung/Sony/Philips televisions. The design and supplied software are really in a class of its own

Innovation/Technology - 3
The machine has neither the world's largest CPU, nor the newest chipset. On the other hand, there is ample amount of RAM and a big hard drive to keep one's data. The screen is in HD-resolution and has a beautiful big 16 inches display - but unfortunately not with full HD resolution support.

Bundle/Accessories - 4
Included is nothing more than the power supply and a huge manual, as also various other documentation and a Windows 7 coupon. We miss a microfiber polishing cloth, since the machine is made with black piano varnish finish and easily receives dust and finger prints, around15 seconds after it is wrapped up and taken out of the box.

Design/Layout - 3
The design is beautiful and display wise exemplary ergonomic with a back-hinged screen that folds down, rear end backwards. However, the mouse pad, unfortunately is shifted to the left - and there are by science proofed, more genetically disposed people in Scandinavia, that are left-handed than in the rest of the world, so this is clearly a minus on the Scandinavian market. The machine is very slickery and smooth - and therefore I prefer to take its character down to a 3-figure, since that there are no locking tabs for the lid/screen. And that is because we think you can easily loose/drop it because the lid does not lock itself, if you  transport the machine in your hands. The design is very delicious and very nice - but unfortunately, we find it more appropriate to stand and look great on a designer desktop - or as a media center in the living room or in a corporate reception, than we find it suitable for real, everyday use. Beautiful, but impractical in everyday life. We have therefore chosen to show fotos of the machine right after "unboxing" and first use, since this clearly shows the disadvantages of its design. But also really shows the excel of Toshiba's design with this model, that we consider really excellent and stylish.

Software/BIOS - 4
The BIOS is -as mentioned- very easy and nothing really to report about here. Furthermore, Toshiba has installed an army of other little programs and utilities on the machine. Definately one should without not doubt miss anything on this machine at all - software wise. Here Toshiba has been very thorough and covered the user's needs completely, with everything you could imagine, to need. So the machine gets a 4-figure, since there is a coupon to upgrade to Windows 7. The machine could have achieved a 5-figure, if the office package had not been a trial version of MS Works. We would have preferred a full, free OpenOffice over the time limited MS Works, preinstalled.

Performance - 4
The performance is as you would expect "medium to slightly heavy". However, one must take the proviso that the machine's screen can only run in low-HD, wide resolution, in spite of Full-HD resolution. And the graphical test results are relatively good, in score in test programs, but in fact the machine is not so strong as one might first percieve. But it gets a 4-figure, as it can "drag" WoW and some graphic tests without problems. And because the graphics card has a good 1 GB amount of dedicated VRAM - and this is very much on a "non-gamer" laptop. The machine should readily draw Photoshop and the like, but not with "violent " performance. However, one can only expect that Windows 7 and its graphical effects will run without any problems - as also smoothly and seamslessly on this machine.

Price - 3
I (Freke, ed.) considers the price of 6.045,- DKK (according to  EDBpriser.dk) not totally unreasonable. You get a 720p HD display. You get a great graphics card, but may only use this in low resolutions. Hard disk and RAM capabilities are more than reasonable. However, there is an HDMI-output, but the graphic ports can pull max 1600x1200, but you get this delivered throughout 100Hz.. The sound solution is exclusive, but in practice unusable due to resonance, however, extremely good when using a headset or speakers. I would find the price more reasonable, if there had been a Blu-ray drive installed and the screen could be run over the resolution of 1366x768, since it is entire 16 inches large. And with such a large screen it makes no sense, not to mount a screen that can run at a higher resolution.