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This didn't come with Office - it seems a bit of a hefty price for Office not to be included, but they did bundle in Sonic Record!, a fairly good CD burning software, and OneNote, and all the Toshiba products for notebooks, such as Wireless Diagnoser etc. The CD writer is very good, it's ... Read review
Advantages: Very good spec and good performance with LONG battery life Disadvantages: Only a 15" screen, very bad audio speakers
...and OneNote, and all the Toshiba products for notebooks, such as Wireless Diagnoser etc. The CD writer is very good, it's 24X, which is fairly fast for a notebook, and it's CW-RW. I upgraded this to DVD-W, as it only came as a DVD-Rom when I bought it, and it's 4X. I haven't had any problems with the drive since I bought this. However, this does come with XP Pro, which is bloody good, working really well with Pentium M.
There are ... ...configure the notebook to work exactly how you want it.
I upgraded the harddrive space to 60Gb from 40Gb, and I would recommend this if you play games, edit photos, and like to generally need a lot of space.
The built in laptop speakers are EXTREMELY tinny, so if you listen to a lot of music I would recommend buying some USB speakers. I wish this had a few more USB ports, but you can always buy a external plug-in external ... more
This is a really good student laptop; it's very powerful (especially when you upgrade it like I did).
It's got a Pentium M 735 processor which works speedily with 512 RAM and Centrino means that this has a long battery life.
The wireless LAN is brilliant, it's just a shame that this laptop doesn't have infrared or bluetooth, which would make it a super relatively cheap laptop. I got this with student discount, which some universities provide with certain brands, so I got a good price for this.
This didn't come with Office - it seems a bit of a hefty price for Office not to be included, but they did bundle in Sonic Record!, a fairly good CD burning software, and OneNote, and all the Toshiba products for notebooks, such as Wireless Diagnoser etc. The CD writer is very good, it's 24X, which is fairly fast for a notebook, and it's CW-RW. I upgraded this to DVD-W, as it only came as a DVD-Rom when I bought it, and it's 4X. I haven't had any problems with the drive since I bought this. However, this does come with XP Pro, which is bloody good, working really well with Pentium M.
There are a lot of extra Toshiba controls to help you easily configure the notebook to work exactly how you want it.
I upgraded the harddrive space to 60Gb from 40Gb, and I would recommend this if you play games, edit photos, and like to generally need a lot of space.
The built in laptop speakers are EXTREMELY tinny, so if you listen to a lot of music I would recommend buying some USB speakers. I wish this had a few more USB ports, but you can always buy a external plug-in external USB ports. You can also buy a bluetooth dongle to solve the lack of bluetooth.
The depth of the laptop is 3.8cm - this is a SMALL laptop, which makes it very transportable, and it's only 2.6Kg. This model says it lasts for 3 hours 50 minutes, but it really depends what you're using it for. When I'm editing photos and such on it the battery power decreases a lot quicker than when I'm watching a movie, and with low-memory using activities my laptop seems to last for about 3 hours and a half, which is brilliant.
The Intel graphics card is probably not the best for gaming, but this is very much a business and student notebook, not really for gaming, but you will need to upgrade the graphics card if you wish to play very graphic heavy games.
Networks and such, and automatic hardware installation, is very easy to do with XP Pro, that comes with the notebook, which is good.
Even the laptop bag that I purchased additionally is very good for supporting the laptop during travelling; I often take my laptop with me wherever I go, sometimes on long journeys, and it's very comfortable, with a LOT of different pockets to hold paperwork, books, your wallet, phone, etc. It doesn't hurt my back, which a lot of shoulder bags do for me, because I have a bad back. There's also an option to turn it into a backpack, with backpack straps, which is brilliant for if you need to transport your laptop whilst riding a bike.
The money you pay for this is worth every penny. Essentially, the bare package is £660 when bought with the student discount through your university; however it normally retails at £740+, however with all my upgrades, insurance, and warranty, and a laptop bag it came to just over £1K. I upgraded the memory, the harddrive, and had a DVD-R installed, amongst other smaller features added. It's a lot for a laptop without bluetooth or infrared, but I really get on with this laptop, and living in student residence I really needed insurance and warranty to cover me. I haven't had any problems with this!
crazyforyou12 15.04.2005 (15.04.2005)
Ciao members have rated this review on average:
very helpful
Review of Toshiba Tecra A2
Speed
Look & Feel
Memory / capacity
Comfort & Portability
Robustness & Durability
Ease of use
Range of Extra Features
Instruction manual
Manufacturer Support
Value For Money
Quick review of Toshiba Tecra A2
Does everything that I need it to and consistant with the requirements of my family. Easy to upgrade with software and hardware.
Recommend! ...
pumaeq 08.08.2007 (07.08.2007)
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Toshiba Tecra A2
Quick review of Toshiba Tecra A2
this is a great laptop. i instently upgradeed the ram 2 1gb but apart from tht its the same it is a fast and reliable laptop that preforms wen needed. not a gaming laptop, dont be miss judged by the intel extreme graphics! the only thing wrong with this laptop is next to the plug in for the charger it has torn and wires are showing tht is the only thing wrong ...
timmyisgay 27.08.2008
Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Toshiba Tecra A2
Advantages: Stylish design, lightweight, long battery life & very fast once another 256MB is installed (or more) Disadvantages: Bios system requires updating to Service Pack 2. Requires more memory optimum performance.
This machine is excellent for high or mid-useage. Whether you are a business user or for domestic purposes you are guaranteed quality with this sleek & powerful structured design by Toshiba.
The portability aspect is great as it is not heavy and is stylish enough to pull out and use almost anywhere! With an average battery life of 3 hours (on a fully charged battery) I've never had issues using it when required to do so. There is also many addtional ...
LaMottaXI 22.01.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Toshiba Tecra A2
First off, i'm not going to write a lengthy review as i have only just bought this laptop, however i will give some general specs of the machine and my first opinions.
Built-in Devices Stereo speakers, wireless LAN aerial Width 33.8 cm Depth 27.4 cm Height 3.8 cm Weight 2.6 kg Processor Processor Intel Pentium M 735 1.7 GHz Data Bus Speed 400 MHz Chipset Type Intel 855GME Cache Memory Type L2 Cache Installed Size 2 MB RAM Installed Size 512 MB / ... ...Storage Controller IDE Hard Drive 60 GB Optical Storage Type DVD±RW / DVD-RAM Read Speed 24x (CD) / 8x (DVD) Write Speed 16x (CD) / 4x (DVD-R) / 2.4x (DVD+R) CD / DVD Rewrite Speed 8x (CD) / 2x (DVD-RW) / 2.4x (DVD+RW) / 2x (DVD-RAM) Display Display Type 15" TFT active matrix Max Resolution 1024 x 768 / 24-bit (16.7 million colours) Video Graphics Processor / Vendor Intel 855GME Video Memory Dynamic Video Memory Technology 2.0 Audio Audio Output ...
Scotslad20 15.04.2005
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Toshiba Tecra A2
Dynamic Video Memory Technology 2.0, Shared Video Memory (UMA)
Audio
Audio Output
Sound card
Compliant Standards
Sound Blaster 16, DirectSound3D, AC '97, DirectSound, DirectSound3D, AC '97
Audio Codec
STAC9750
Audio Input
Microphone
Input device(s)
Type
Keyboard, touchpad, multimedia control panel, Keyboard, touchpad
Operating system / software
OS Provided
Microsoft Windows XP Professional
Software
Drivers & Utilities, InterVideo WinDVD 2000, Toshiba Management Console, ConfigFree, Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, Connectivity Doctor, Microsoft Office OneNote
Environmental parameters
Max Altitude Operating
3 km
Max Operating Temperature
35 °C
Min Operating Temperature
5 °C
Humidity Range Operating
20 - 80%
Manufacturer's product description
Offering an ideal balance of value, performance and connectivity, the Tecra A2 empowers your mobile professionals to be their most productive. With improved platform stability, advanced battery life and the latest wireless features it is a cost-effective business computing solution within a highly desirable and well built notebook platform.
