Bought this for my wife to replace a 4-year-old Acer. Ordered last night and got it this morning...Right off the bat, the huge screen size mesmerized me. Migrating from a 14" to this with a much better quality screen was a pleasure to the eyes.
The system booted up quickly for the first time but I had to do LOTS and LOTS of updates including SP1. Toshiba never stops short of putting bloatware in its laptops sadly. But about 2 hours of "cleaning" made the laptop breath a lot easier...
The web cam sliding panel on the screen is annoying and I haven't found a way to completely disable it yet.
Overall, on looks I give it a solid 5 stars. I got the black one. It's shiny and very good-looking. It's a bit on the heavy side at over 7 lbs but that was totally expected.
The keys on keyboard are very comfortably spaced and are very responsive. The 10-key is a HUGE plus. The mouse is very tactile and responds great to the touch of the fingertips. It's supposed to allow multi-finger touch as well I think, but haven't had a chance to mess around with that yet.
It also comes with instructions as to how request your free copy of the Windows 7 upgrade. You can do so through Toshiba's web site.
The bottom of the laptop does not get nearly as hot as the older Acer used to, so that's a plus.
My first laptop ever was Toshiba Satellite (that was n years ago!) and only if I had kept that one and I could put the side by side... what a world of difference.
I left the BEST feature (in my opinion and so far) for last: The speakers are THE BOMB!!! They are hands down the best speakers on any laptop I have ever seen/owned. I owned another Toshiba that I bought from the retailer that sells things in bulk and it also had very loud speakers for a laptop but this laptop's speakers are both LOUD and FANTASTIC quality. The harman/kardon label says it all. Indeed one of the best features so far...
Again, it's been only 1 day and I spent most of it getting rid of the bloatware, downloading numerous VISTA updates, and installing many of the software she uses, so I didn't get to play with it much. But overall, I am loving it, and most importantly she's been truly enjoying it so far.
One little annoying feature I could've lived without is the volume buttons' system beep. These touch-sensitive buttons (located on the top right corner of the keyboard) are very responsive, but by default they produce a very annoying system beep every time one or the other is touched. I found through the Sound settings in Control Panel an option that let me turn that off which improved my experience with the volume buttons 100%. Before, sometimes after holding the + or button for a few second, I guess because the annoying system beep itself was glitchy, it'd get "stuck" and would continue to beep even after I let go... That's resolved now that I turned off the system beep associated with it. The touch buttons now function the way they ought to. The buttons are lit so when you touch one or the other, the light goes off for each touch indicating the volume is going up or down one notch. No need for the buzzing system beep... Anyhow, thought to share this...
VERY IMPORTANT-----READ!!!!
Last night, as my wife was using the laptop, it just died.... literally, the whole screen went out.... The power button and battery button were both on; the hard drive light was off; the indicators right below the screen (top of the keyboard) were all off; the power button was fully lit. The fan (yes, it actually has a fan... I found it, but it's SUPER quiet) was functioning but the keyboard didn't seem to respond....... Long story short after troubleshooting for at least 45 minutes and getting nowhere, I called the tech support. It was a call center overseas but the response was quick and tech seemed knowledgeable enough I guess; troubleshooting steps were exactly same as what I had already tried...... sadly, he declared the laptop dead at 10:46 p.m... Cause of death: Unknown (hardware related!). So the tech support tells me I have to ship it to their depot... nothing is done overnight! They would ship the empty box -ground shipping --, then I'd ship it back to them -again GROUND --, then it'd take them 7 to 10 business days to repair, and then they'd ship it back to me -GROUND! I am sorry, but my poor Sony laptop after 10 or so months of heavy use, started having problems with its Wi-Fi card; long story short, I had my laptop picked up, repaired, and sent back to me within 5 business days good as new.
Back to this review, Amazon at the end saved the day... They overnighted one for me last night and I'll have the brand new laptop tomorrow, and then I have to send them this one back... just like that. So as of right now, I am disappointed with Toshiba's overall customer service.... The laptop was doing fantastic, and I have no idea why it died so suddenly... but it did and it's a done deal.. Moral of the story: 1) Sometimes you just end up getting a lemon 2) You get you what you pay for. With the money I bought my Sony laptop I could've bought 6 (I am not joking) of these laptops.... and neither their service nor their product has ever stopped short of being perfect... I am just sayin'...
With over two years of heavy duty use, it's still working for my wife... The only thing that happened to it was a few days ago when both Enter keys stopped working... Air can sprayed the keys after removing them and nothing helped really. Since both stopped working and not just one, it's got to be either the motherboard or something deep within the keyboard. Took to Geek Squad who couldn't figure it out on the spot and didn't give me much hope. They suggested using an external keyboard, which we bought for it... but then it occurred to me that I had heard of such programs as key re-mapper. Sure enough, downloaded one such program and minutes later I re-mapped one of the keys she never uses on her keyboard to her Enter key. It's not as convenient as the Enter button, but she's so happy that she now has an Enter key that she doesn't care about the location of it! But I'd think in a few month or so, this will be retired...
This is the third Toshiba laptop in my household. We have absolutely loved all of them. This new one is definitely incredible, and the best of the bunch. The things that I find they all have in common are They stay very cool (I use them all on laptop stands, mostly Rolodex Laptop Stands) and they are beautiful.
The A505-S6973 is no exception. This laptop comes equipped with everything I could possibly need and more hard drive than I will ever use. I didn't find that there was too much junk I had to uninstall...just the usual Norton hogzilla software and some internet type software (netzero) that seems to always come on computers these days. I usually have to spend the better part of the day uninstalling, updating, installing my own security software, and cleaning up. With this laptop I only spent a couple of hours with all of that.
The speed of the processor is wonderful. The premium speakers are quite noticeable as it seems like most mid-range laptops have junky speakers. I would actually listen to music or watch a movie on this one without even having to plug in my headphones.
Lastly, this is one beautiful laptop. The shiny black finish on the exterior top and the inside has a cool, subdued, lined design on it that you don't see in the online pictures. It is sleek and smart looking. It feels solid and well-built. I would not hesitate to recommend this laptop. I have had the best of experiences with every Toshiba brand product I've had over the years and the 3 laptops in my household, now including this one, are stellar in their performance.
Buy Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey Now
This is an excellent buy, and the best deal out there. It's no wonder why it's Amazon's best selling computer.It's a beauty to behold. Beautiful black finish with just the slightest hint of curvy lined design.
Beautiful keyboard. Love the multimedia touch controls. The Eco feature button is great and easy to reach. The Eco feature easily can give you an additional hour or more of battery life. The 16" screen is bright and gives great color and great for movies. The speakers are awesome for a laptop! And the one thing that was really a surprise...it's super cool, as in the battery doesn't heat up. Everyone was amazed that after hours of use, the battery wasn't hot at all. It may get SLIGHTLY warm on the left..but not too much. If it wasn't, then it would be a near miracle!
With 4G of Ram, run multiple programs at once with no hiccups. On my Dell I couldn't run Outlook, Limewire and Windows Live Messenger without something freezing. This Laptop does it flawlessly. With the huge 500G Hard drive, PLENTY of room for pictures, videos and downloads (movies, games..etc.) My wireless internet on this laptop zooms.
For $649, you CANNOT go wrong! It is the BEST value you are going to get for this price. 4G Ram, 500G Hardrive, 16" HD Screen, excellent speakers, gorgeous styled keyboard and cover, Cool battery making using the laptop comfortable.
If you are looking for a laptop in this price range...this is the best choice, hands down.
Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey Here
The Toshiba A505-S6973 Laptop is a slick, lightweight, very fast machine with an incredibly bright & clear display.Beware!! This is a "64-bit" version of Windows Vista Home Premium, which made all of my legacy software (Office 2000, FrontPage 2002, etc.) obsolete. My circa 2007 HP 9417 Laptop with Vista Home Premium ran all the legacy software without problems. Unfortunately, the HP computer was a dud, but that is another review... Bottom line I was able to purchase used 2003 software (Office & FrontPage), which seems to work well.
Here are some things I like about the Toshiba A505-S6973..
Excellent Value 4 MBs RAM & 500 GB HDD
Incredibly Fast
The best display of any computer I have seen or used
Great Speakers
Lightweight for its size
Very Lightweight A/C Adapter with a very long cord
Here are some things I do not like about the Toshiba A505-S6973
The Laptop does not have a latch to close the screen. It is only a sprung hinge...
The touch pad is hard to distinguish from the adjacent areas, and the touch-scroll is integrated into the edge of the pad Hard to control
The keyboard has a very light touch and the space bar, enter key, and delete keys are way too small.
The input for the headphone jack is poor Partial connection, static, etc.
If you are planning to purchase or already own current versions of MS Office, etc. this is a great value. If you have legacy software with upgrades from 1997-2000-2002, etc. please beware.
Want Toshiba Satellite A505-S6973 16.0-Inch Laptop - Black/Grey Discount?
I am not a computer tech type person like a lot of you so i can't give you a detailed review on what this computer does on the inside. I am an everyday computer user and I love this laptop. I have only had HP computers in the past and I took the chance on a Toshiba. I wish I had changed a long time ago. I can't believe the ease of installing programs and my printer. If i didn't know what i was doing a box came up to tell me. This laptop is beautiful and so well made. I can't believe I got it for this price. Everything came working with no problems at all. There wasn't a lot of "stuff" I had to take out before using it. The widescreen is great and I feel like i'm sitting in front of my desktop. I had originally gotten it for my daughter but I am ordering another one for her. I'm now sold on Toshiba. I went to the Toshiba site and filled out forms to get the windows 7 free. I had to upload a copy of the receipt. It said I could mail or fax it if that was easier. They will send me an email when they mail it to me in October. I didn't expect to get such a nice computer for this price.
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