Toshiba Satellite A500 review
in Laptops
1 of 2 
Verdict
Toshiba's latest portable boasts all-new design and a keen price, but it's when playing movies and games that it shines
Review Date: 17 Sep 2009
Reviewed By: Sasha Muller
Price when reviewed: £565 (£650 inc VAT)
Overall Rating
Features & Design
Value for Money
Performance
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Part Code | PSAM3E-03U018EN |
| Review Date | 17 Sep 2009 |
| Price ex VAT | £565 |
| Price inc VAT | £650 |
| Overall rating |
|
| Features & Design |
|
| Value for Money |
|
| Performance |
|
| Warranty | |
|---|---|
| Warranty | 1 yr return to base |
| Physical specifications | |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 384 x 260 x 44mm (WDH) |
| Weight | 2.940kg |
| Travelling weight | 3.5kg |
| Processor and memory | |
|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo T6500 |
| Motherboard chipset | Intel GM45/GM47 |
| RAM capacity | 4.00GB |
| Memory type | DDR2 |
| SODIMM sockets free | 0 |
| SODIMM sockets total | 2 |
| Screen and video | |
|---|---|
| Screen size | 16.0in |
| Resolution screen horizontal | 1,366 |
| Resolution screen vertical | 768 |
| Resolution | 1366 x 768 |
| Graphics chipset | ATi Mobility Radeon HD 4570 |
| Graphics card RAM | 512MB |
| VGA (D-SUB) outputs | 1 |
| HDMI outputs | 1 |
| S-Video outputs | 0 |
| DVI-I outputs | 0 |
| DVI-D outputs | 0 |
| DisplayPort outputs | 0 |
| Drives | |
|---|---|
| Capacity | 500GB |
| Hard disk usable capacity | 466GB |
| Spindle speed | 5,400RPM |
| Internal disk interface | SATA/300 |
| Hard disk | Toshiba MK5055GSX |
| Optical disc technology | DVD writer |
| Optical drive | Matshita UJ880AS |
| Battery capacity | 4,000mAh |
| Replacement battery price inc VAT | £0 |
| Networking | |
|---|---|
| Wired adapter speed | 1,000Mbits/sec |
| 802.11a support |
|
| 802.11b support |
|
| 802.11g support |
|
| 802.11 draft-n support |
|
| Integrated 3G adapter |
|
| Other Features | |
|---|---|
| Wireless hardware on/off switch |
|
| Wireless key-combination switch |
|
| Modem |
|
| ExpressCard34 slots | 0 |
| ExpressCard54 slots | 1 |
| PC Card slots | 0 |
| USB ports (downstream) | 4 |
| eSATA ports | 1 |
| PS/2 mouse port |
|
| 9-pin serial ports | 0 |
| Parallel ports | 0 |
| Optical S/PDIF audio output ports | 0 |
| Electrical S/PDIF audio ports | 0 |
| 3.5mm audio jacks | 2 |
| SD card reader |
|
| Memory Stick reader |
|
| MMC (multimedia card) reader |
|
| Smart Media reader |
|
| Compact Flash reader |
|
| xD-card reader |
|
| Pointing device type | Touchpad |
| Audio chipset | Realtek HD Audio |
| Speaker location | Above keyboard |
| Hardware volume control? |
|
| Integrated microphone? |
|
| Integrated webcam? |
|
| Camera megapixel rating | 1.3mp |
| TPM |
|
| Fingerprint reader |
|
| Smartcard reader |
|
| Carry case |
|
| Operating system and software | |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit |
| OS family | Windows Vista |
| Recovery method | Recovery partition, burn own recovery discs |
| Battery and performance tests | |
|---|---|
| Battery life, light use | 2hr 23min |
| Battery life, heavy use | 1hr 5min |
| Overall application benchmark score | 1.01 |
| Office application benchmark score | 1.02 |
| 2D graphics application benchmark score | 1.21 |
| Encoding application benchmark score | 0.94 |
| Multitasking application benchmark score | 0.88 |
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