Toshiba Satellite A135-S4427 Review

Available in a lot of possible configurations (and prices, of course), the Toshiba A135 series notebook is an interesting choice for mainstream users. The Toshiba A135-S4427 model has an Intel Core Duo processor with a speed of 1.73GHz under the hood and a 15.4 inch widescreen, and comes with Windows Vista Home Premium.

If you’re not a gamer, or you play only Zuma, Solitaire or Heroes III, the S4427 comes with everything you need, and its price, well over 1000$, is one of its strongest points, but let’s see what do we get for this money, shall we?

At first sight, there’s nothing really impressive about the A135-S4427, since Toshiba simply put together some black and silver plastic, without trying to add anything special to this laptop.

Main technical specifications:

Processor: Intel Core Duo T2250 (1.73 GHz/2MB L2 Cache)
Hard Drive: 120 GB SATA @ 5400RPM
Screen: 15.4″ WXGA TruBrite Widescreen (1280 x 800)
Graphics: onboard Intel GMA 950, Up To 224 MB Shared Memory
RAM: 1GB DDR2 SDRAM @533 MHz (2×512MB)
Optical Drive: DVD SuperMulti Drive (CD/DVD burner)
Wireless: Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 802.11 a/b/g
Weight: 6 pounds
Dimensions: 1.47″ (H) x 14.2 ” (W) x 10.5″ (D)
Ports/Slots: 1 FireWire; 4 USB 2.0; S-video out; RJ-45 Ethernet LAN; RJ-11 modem; Type I/II PC Card Slot; 5-in-1 bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, Multi Media Card, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD Picture Card

The Good:

• bright LCD
• comes with Windows Vista Home Premium
• good “performance per buck” ratio
• it doesn’t go hot like other laptops

The Bad:

• slow onboard graphics adapter
• unusual keyboard layout (the “Windows” key is placed to the right of the function keys, the Tab key is too narrow)
• cooling fan placed to the left side of the laptop, so it may cause discomfort to left hand mouse users

Conclusion:

If you’re not crazy about the last games on the market, the Toshia A135-S4427 can give you a lot for your money, allowing you to watch DVDs, surf the Internet and perform usual office tasks without breaking a sweat, while the cherry on top is the fact that you can run Vista with Aero enabled without significant performance hits, and the Home Premium version is also included in the price!

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