I purchased this laptop 6/30. I received and un-boxed it 7/5. It is well-equipped for the price.
Positives
-The 2nd Gen Core-i5 has excellent benchmarks, comparable and even better than some 1st Gen Core-i7. (See Passmark Benchmark ratings)
-The video card puts out 1080p video without issue. It is not really capable of doing any gaming but that is to be expected at this price from the Intel HD 3000.
-For the price point the theoretical specs are fabulous, hence my purchase and excitement upon arrival.
-It comes with a full size keyboard built in which I enjoy. The sizing and spacing is all acceptable although the backspace is a touch smaller than I would like.
As far as negatives are concerned,
-The webcam is horrendous, I mean, it works, but the resolution and video quality is pretty shameful. I knew this going into the purchase and was willing to accept it, but if you are hoping for a decent integrated webcam this is not a computer for you. Of course you can always get a very high quality external webcam which will best any internal.
-Toshiba Bloatware, I haven't fully investigated them, but a lot of them are redundant to services that windows provides, or just excessive little power hungry toys. Thus far I do actually like the extra power settings, but that is the only one among many.
-Other Bloatware (Extra links to install trial programs...etc)
Now, the reason for 1-star.
The laptop I received on 7/5 was defective. The audio card integrated on the motherboard was deemed defective by Toshiba. Of course Toshiba customer support made me re-install the driver, and "revert to factory settings". I found this excessively annoying as I has just opened the box and reverting to factory settings wouldn't do anything. Regardless the problem remained and they agreed it was defective and told me I could send it to a repair facility (a brand new laptop? and wait a few weeks, i think not). Or Amazon could send me a new one. I have had better dealings with Amazon than Toshiba so I opted for a replacement. Props to Amazon for the prompt replacement (it arrived within 24 hours). Now, believe it or not, the 2nd laptop is also defective. I then had to call Toshiba again to inform them of this. They didn't seem to find it odd that two of the exact same computers are both defective. Anyway Amazon is refunding me the money and I intend to get something else. Preferably not Toshiba despite my previously high impressions of them.
I would be interested to know if anyone else is having these issues. For anyone who may be skeptical as to the fact that two computers are both defective let me assure you sound was tested with several samples of audio from the HD, and the internet. It was also tested on both computers using the laptop speakers, Sennheiser Headphones, and a high quality system with Polk Audio speakers.
Bottom Line:
The specs are great, but I cannot recommend a computer that has come defective 2/2 times. Once is acceptable, it happens, but twice is not acceptable and both Amazon and Toshiba should be ashamed to be selling faulty merchandise repeatedly.
[UPDATE]
After receiving a third defective laptop I have ordered a Lenovo from Best Buy. I cannot fathom that nobody else is having this issue. This has been tested on numerous receivers, numerous cords, numerous speakers. I have had friends with me to verify that I am in fact not going insane, and Toshiba has verified they are all defective. The error occurs upon setup without changing factory settings at all.
Stay away.
In other news the touchpad is definitely a little far to the left and while typing I often touch it with my left palm. Minor issue though.
Bear with me here folks, I'm still trying to pull together my thoughts on my brand new laptop here, consider my review a "first draft". :)
Received this laptop early this morning. My first impression is pretty good, but I've only been with it for a few hours thus far. I've surfed around online some, streamed some HD video, played a couple games, and removed a ton of bloatware.
Was a little worried at first, because the first boot-up took quite awhile, but once I removed some bloatware, shut down, and booted up again, it's ready to go within 20-30 seconds. After running it for 2 hours straight, mostly surfing around online, it's not hot enough to even call it warm, so it should be good about keeping cool. The fan seems to come on pretty often, but it's not very loud, it's mostly just the sound of air moving in and out. Wireless internet seems to work perfectly, and I easily connected to my network.
I actually quite like the touchpad on it, which is strange for me to say, because I'm picky about touchpads. I think it works well, and it's slightly textured, but not overly so. The keyboard seems nicely built for a laptop too.
I don't own much in the name of games, but I've played some Sim City 4 and The Sims 2 on high settings without any hiccups. HD video streamed smoothly as well.
Overall, I'm quite happy with my purchase. I'll be updating this review once I spend more time with it and finish getting my thoughts together.
Edit: Okay, so I never updated my review, too lazy to do it. However, it is now February 3rd 2012, and this computer is still up and running like new. I've owned it for 7 months and I have had no problems, even though I run it about 7 hours everyday. It continues to run cool, fast, and with no issues at all.
Buy Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Now
This is my first laptop, and even though I've only had it for 9 days, I believe I've drawn a conclusion already.
Pros: 6gb ram and huge 640gb hard drive
Extremely smooth Youtube video playback
USB 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, HDMI and VGA out
Quiet
Great battery life (in my opinion?)
The "chiclet" style keyboard is incredibly easy and satisfying to type on. The keys give off a satisfying light click, and they're far enough away from eachother so I rarely hit another key.
I have never seen an HD Youtube video play back so smooth before, not even on my desktop with an Nvidia Geforce GTS 250.
Speaking of video performance, Minecraft plays as smooth as my desktop plays it. I have not played other games, but DO NOT buy this laptop for gaming; you'll likely regret it.
It takes 22 seconds from power on (with the BIOS option "Load BIOS onto harddisk" checked), until you get a usable Windows 7 login screen.
The laptop has quite a few ports and features including: USB 2 and 3, Bluetooth 3, Wireless B/G/N, and HDMI and VGA out. Very handy to have and use all of them.
Internet browsing is far from slow, it feels much faster than my desktop.
You can only hear the fan occasionally speed up, if you strain to hear it in a quiet room.
Battery life is awesome, I was able to type an entire 725 word essay from start to finish with 10% left.(3 hours at least, maybe 4. I lost track of time)
Speedfan claims both cores are idling at 109f, but you can hardly feel any warmth from the laptop even after several hours of use.
Display is glossy, vivid and bright. Some may see it being glossy as a con; it's fine indoors, but tough to use outside (I never use it outside).
The numpad is an awesome feature to include, it was one of my main requirements in a laptop.
Windows 7 makes everything feel instant and responsive.
I've never run out of ram with the included 6gb.
Now onto the bad stuff (Minor whining on my part)
Cons: Keyboard is not backlit
Off center touchpad location interferes with typing
Dust magnet
Bloatware madness
Speakers suck(ish)
This laptop has doesn't have backlit keys, not a con if you know how to type; I just always thought they looked cool at night.
Regularly while typing, my hand rests on the touchpad and jumps the mouse around as another reviewer also mentioned. Annoying at times, just reposition your left hand slightly.
Needs to be wiped off daily or it grows a beard of dust. (Or maybe I just need to vacuum my room more than once a year)
Copious amounts of bloatware -some bundled with drivers. Google a program before deleting to make sure you don't inadvertently kill flashcards or the touchpad.(Happened to me)
Extremely slow until you kill off bloatware and stuff you don't plan on using.
As another reviewer stated, I have had the laptop claim it had an hour of battery life left, then 5 minutes later, it shut off. I remember reading through the Toshiba manual, and apparently it has to kind of "calibrate" the battery meter and run itself down once in a while to be accurate; I am guessing this applies to the first cycle especially. It has not done this since.
Speakers are clear, but severely lack bass. Using skullcandy earphones remedies that problem.
The bright Satellite letters and line above the touchpad can be turned off in the BIOS. I believe another reviewer said that already.
I am not a picky person, so these cons don't annoy me enough to be worth subtracting a star. The bottom line is that this is an awesome laptop for everything except gaming. (After you get over the minor quirks.)
Read Best Reviews of Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Here
I've had this laptop for about two weeks and I love it. It's fast and loaded with a lot of useful features. Multi-tasking, installing programs, removing crapware and transferring data onto this machine have been a quick breeze.
I love the keyboard and number pad. They both have a normal set-up so you don't have to spend a lot of time trying to figure out where a certain button has been misplaced (an issue I've had previous laptops/netbooks I've owned and other models I've tried out in stores). Keys are pretty easy on the fingers and feel nice to the touch. Keyboard is NOT backlit as far as I can tell but it wasn't an important feature for me so no minus marks there.
Screen is crisp and has good contrast; it's not washed out like a lot of laptop screens I've come across in my research. It's viewable from almost any angle so it doesn't need to be at an exact precise angle for you to see the screen well-lit.
Speakers can go pretty loud for laptop speakers. They aren't the best speaker quality but pretty darn good for a laptop.
Unlike previous laptops I've had, this one runs pretty cool. Haven't had an issue with heat at all (even when I've absentmindedly left it running on top of the bed or on carpet). I do feel heat being pushed out by the fan but the system itself remains pretty cool to the touch (ie you won't burn your lap if it's resting on your leg and you'll probably have no need for a laptop cooler fan).
Other people have commented on the placement of the touchpad. This was a concern for me before I purchased it but it turns out that I rarely have an issue with it. Once in a while the touchpad does act up while I'm typing but in comparison to a lot of other models I've tried out it's a pretty minor problem. The touchpad on/off key is conveniently located near the touchpad so it can be switched off right away if you need to do some heavy-duty typing.
Laptop has a high-quality plastic feel (yes, it's plastic). No flexing in the keyboard or case; feels very sturdy. The grooved design all over the laptop is a nice touch that prevents fingerprint smudges.
An added bonus is the free Xbox for students. I haven't received the xbox credit yet. I'v contacted Amazon and they swiftly replied that the xbox credit is on it's way so we'll see how that goes.
It took me a while to decide on buying this laptop since I couldn't find the exact model in any brick and mortar store to try out personally. You can't go wrong with the specs but I would recommend going to an electronic store and trying out similar Toshiba models to see if you like the configuration of the keyboard, touchpad, etc since those are all based on personal preference. I think I tried out P755-S5215 at Best Buy; it has nearly an identical appearance. For the price the specs on this machine are great. No regrets so far, very happy customer.
Want Toshiba Satellite P755-S5274 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Black) Discount?
I replaced an 8 year old Satellite with this computer. This new computer is very quick, keyboard keys have a nice touch. Fairly quite, lightweight and solid feeling. Windows 7 seems to be pretty good.
I find that the dolby advanced audio is not good and distorts music, try turning it off to make your music sound good. Also when you plug your speaker line into the headphone jack, select the headphone option, otherwise the line-in option also takes away from the music.
I was afraid that off center keyboard would be awkward and it is. Maybe I will get used to it. There is very little room for the left palm to rest on the computer and frequently inadvertently touches the mouse pad causing the mouse to do things I don't want it to do.
I chose toshiba again because my previous satellite served me near flawlessly (replaced hard drive once)for 8 years.
This laptop is a good alternative to a netbook, if you were thinking about getting a netbook, get this one instead. It has a big screen to work with, and has a well-sized keyboard. The keyboard buttons are not crammed together since they forego the numeric keypad. I personally don't use Windows, and i took a chance and was able to easily install Debian Squeeze (6.0). The laptop comes with the latest chipset from Realtech (the RT8188) and if you use any type of Linux, you can compile the drivers easily from the source (provided by RealTech). If you use the preinstalled Windows 7, then don't worry about this, it'll work out of the box. The only complaint I have is that the trackpad buttons (left click, right click) have a cheap feel. This isn't a dealbreaker by any means.
