Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 16-Inch Laptop (Fusion X2 Finish in Slate)

I purchased the Toshia A665-S6094 from Best Buy in late Sept 2010. In mid March the laptop had to go back to Toshiba because the whole right side of the keyboard stopped working and the touchpad would stop working correctly after a few hours of use. They replaced the keyboard, but did nothing with the touchpad. A couple weeks later certain keys would stop working intermittently but after a few weeks they all started functioning properly again however the touchpad was still messed up to the point that I had to plug in and use a mouse. 13 months after buying this laptop (less than 1 month out of warranty), the hard drive failed completely so I had to have it replaced. Found out that the CD drive is also failing. There is no reason this laptop should be failing so miserably after just 13 months. Toshiba = FAIL!

Update 12/13/11 Another month has passed and now the display driver is failing and the screen often goes black. This computer is just over 14 months old but acts as if it is 10 years old.

I purchased this laptop in November 2010. It was working great till October (11 months in)still under warranty. I started getting errors that the hard drive was failing (both Toshiba's utility and windows utility). I contacted Toshiba, and the only options were I could send them the whole laptop, and they would put in a hard drive and send it back (optimal time frame for them was 10 business days) and would not transfer any of my data. Or I could go to an authorized service provider and have them change out the hard drive and I would have to pay for the hard drive (what is the difference here versus just walking in off the street?). In either case the warranty would only be active till November. I offered to send them the hard drive so they could verify it was bad and send another they responded that they needed the whole computer. The laptop is fine, but due to incredibly poor customer service I would recommend buying another computer unless this is a secondary computer and you do not need it for anything important.

Buy Toshiba Satellite A665-S6094 16-Inch Laptop (Fusion X2 Finish in Slate) Now

Just an FYI I purchased this laptop at a brick-and-mortar retail outlet and not Amazon.com.

I had a few key "wants" when I bought my next computer. I wanted:

1) A computer that would allow me to move my entire PC around the house easily -> laptop with 802.11 a/g/n wireless CHECK

2) Minimum i3 processor -> it has an Intel i7 Q740 quad-core processor @ 1.73GHz CHECK

3) Minimum 2GB RAM -> 4GB installed CHECK

4) Minimum 250GB hard drive -> 620GB hard drive installed CHECK

5) Minimum 720p display resolution -> CHECK

6) Good dedicated memory for video -> it has an NVIDIA GeForce 310M 512MB card with available 2270MB shared CHECK

7) A full keyboard with numeric keypad -> CHECK

8) A backlit keyboard -> NO (but hey that's my compromise for everything else I got) =)

The Windows Experience Index ratings(Windows 7 scores on this laptop) scale is 1.0-7.9:

Processor = 7.1

Memory = 5.9

Graphics = 4.9

Gaming Graphics = 6.0

Primary Hard Disk = 5.9

I bought this laptop in January 2011. It was a replacement for my 8 year old Pentium 4 desktop. I have run out of options to upgrade it and I felt it was time for a new PC. We all deserve that once in a while right? :) In that respect I am not disappointed and would personally have given it 5 stars. This laptop was a very good way to break into the i7 family of processors. There were quite a few i5 laptops that were smaller with a higher price at the time. It has no trouble running World of Warcraft on highest settings and will run StarCraft 2 but only at medium settings at best. That's the most I ask of it right now anyway. The Satellite feels very well constructed and not like a toy that will fall apart.

The laptop heats up very quickly when playing games but it has never shut down or even stuttered. However I would recommend a laptop cooler(like any other laptop). I have had a Zalman ZM-NC1500 cooler for a previous laptop and I put that under it. Keeps the operating temperature down very well.

A nice bonus I didn't even consider until I brought it home is the Harman-Kardon integrated speakers. They sound VERY nice and only crack under extreme duress(heavy bass at high volumes). I was amazed the first time I played a CD through them.

The 620GB hard drive is a very nice storage solution after being used to managing everything under a 160GB HDD for the last 8 years. The laptop has a DVD burner that also has CD-RW capabilities.

3 USB ports make it easy to access outside peripherals like USB sticks and game controllers. The placement of the USB ports is questionable though. I use a USB mouse and the ports are all at the front of the system on the left side(1) and right side(2) so when I plug it in the receiver sticks out right at the base of the unit.

There's a feature I rarely use but should mention the Satellite is equipped with 4G connectivity. All you need is a data plan with a carrier and it's ready to go. Nice thing about this is the laptop can also be used as a hub for tethering devices. I have used my iPad2 tethered to my laptop and it works great.

The biggest flaw is one that means the least to me personally BUT it is also what makes a laptop a laptop the battery. I have never gotten more than 1 1/2 hours of use out of it whether it is sitting idle or playing online. I don't understand why but these days a battery should get almost 3 hours if not more. Seems the industry standard is just under 3 hours. I don't know what Toshiba did to this laptop but it seems to be built with the most "un-green" components it can possibly have. Since I use a 2nd adapter in the living room it doesn't affect me much at all but to be a fair review I have to include this information and drop a star off the rating.

I have been exceptionally happy with my Toshiba Satellite A665-s6094 laptop since purchase and I expect to get years of service out of it. Unless battery life is a major consideration I would definitely recommend this to others.

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