Satellite A500-ST6621 - First Impressions

I customized and ordered this laptop on July 10th and it arrived at my house July 24th. After a little less than a week with it I thought it'd possibly be helpful for people possibly looking at this laptop. :]

I may make a full review if I get the time this weekend, seeing how I have nothing to do really until college starts.

Warning: Toshiba Satellites have Fusion Finish, if you didn't already know, if you hate fingerprints, do not buy this laptop. It gets quite fingerprinty.. but they are easy to wipe away if you feel like it.

Configuration:
Satellite A500-ST6621 (16" Display)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9600 (2.80GHz, 6MB L2, 1066MHz FSB)
- Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit version)
- Fusion Finish™ Sonic Pattern in Black Onyx with Edge-to-Edge Display
- Glossy Black US LED Backlight Keyboard
- 4GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM (2048MBx2)
- ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 with 1GB DDR3 discrete graphics
plus up to 255MB shared memory using ATI HyperMemory™ technology
- 320GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
- DVD SuperMulti (+/- Double Layer) drive.
- Bluetooth® Version 2.1 +EDR
- Lithium Ion battery (12-Cell, 3700mAh)
- Fingerprint Reader
- HD Widescreen Webcam
- Windows 7 Free Upgrade
- 3 Years Standard Limited Warranty
- 3 Year On-Site Repair.

Price: $1484.55

I know there is a board like this for the M500 but seeing how they are different models, different specs, i thought it may be usefull.

 

Nice! The GPU looks just great, but the price makes me love mine again and again... lol! anyways, thats a GREAT laptop... And true about the FusionFinish (which doesnt bother me at all), easily cleaned

 

How much was yours, again? And it was bought with graduation money, i figured it was worth it in the end because im hoping that it will last me through college. :]

And going from a Mobile Intel 965 Chipset to that GPU is godly. 10 FPS on a good day to 130.. ahh i love it.

 

About how long does the 12-cell battery last? 3 hours?

 

It lasted 3 hours for me, when I was playing Left 4 Dead on max settings. If you keep it in balanced mode while unplugged, and just use it for web browsing and minor stuff like that, I get about 5 hours. Even with World of Warcraft up I got that. 6 hours on eco mode if you keep the gaming off. it's worth it, in my opinion.

 

3 hours while playing a game on max settings?! That is nice. Hmm...I would imagine the 12-cell in the M500 would get even more than that.

 

Probably. :]

 

Sorry. I was kind of thinking out loud. A friend of mine is just trying to decide if he wants a bigger machine with a really powerful GPU or a smaller one with an above average one and good battery life. You saying that this gets that much battery life with the 12-cell has him leaning towards the A500 instead of the M500. Did you undervolt the battery or is that how much life it got out of the box?

 

I do not know what undervolting is.. so it is what I got out of the box. :]

 

How do games run, does it run very hot?

 

Well after coming from a Dell Inspiron 1520 that would get so toasty that it burnt my leg, this one doesn't *feel* hot at all. But if you could give me the name of a program that will let me get the temps. I'll gladly list what i get in all games and when idle.

At the moment, I have World of Warcraft, Sims 3, Left 4 Dead, Team Fortress 2, Portal, Zombie Panic: Source, F.E.A.R, and Fallout 3. ( Im getting more soon, hopefully. )

I run all of those on maxiumum settings and I don't lag and I never notice any issues with framerate. I don't know how to check exactly what framerates I get but I know, at least, in WoW I get up to 140 FPS. 90-100 is usually the average. 50 in Dalaran. haha.

 

Can u please look how is the GPU Core & Memory Clock? From what I've seen 600/800 Mhz should be normal...

 

The memory clock is 800MHz and the GPU said 550 MHZ but then it says 700 MHZ memory next to it in GPU-Z. I am not sure which information you needed but that is what I had.

 

Thanks, thats exactly what I wanted to know. So the GPU is clocked 550/700. A little bit disappointing

 

Typical these days to underclock the GPU, shouldnt be too hard to bringit back to GPU default.

How hot does it get when playing crysis?

 

I dont own crysis. Is there a demo? Then I can check.

 

Do you know what CSV Screen means? I am from India and the laptop available here are made using this screen.

 

Hi
I'm planning to buy Satellite A500-ST6621 as i can get a customized version according to my specification. I just want to know if this can be downgraded to win XP and will it be compatible with the system. I have a Satellite M55-S3292 laptop and a recovery cd along with it. Will it be compatible or should i get a new XP?

 

I have never successfully downgraded ANY laptop but then again, I do not exactly know how. I know you get windows 7 free with the customizable purchase so if you are interested in that, do not downgrade!!!! You would have to wipe your harddrive in order to install Windows 7 at a later date.

If you do chose to downgrade. Your recovery disk would not be a valid option due to the authentication code. It is already in use. I learned this the hard way because I tried to use BootCamp on a mac and used reinstall disks from my Dell and the code was not valid and I could only use the OS for 30 days. ( But then I returned the laptop. )

 

Hi,
I'm really interested in buying this laptop and was wondering if I could ask you some questions?
First of all I'm wondering how well it does in 3dmark06. Have you tried it? If not you can download the trial for free at futuremark.com. Next is fan noise and keyboard. Is the fan noisy? Like does it allways go on full blast or does it act when needed to?
The keyboard is new, right? Look a bit more flat than the old keyboards. Last one I tried was from 2005 so it can't be worse, hehe. Is it comfy to type with?I plan to use it for gaming and studying, so it's a bit important to have a comfortable keyboard.

Hope you'll be able to help me!

An I do appologize for any weird spelling mistakes. I'm writing this on an iPhone with norwegian grammar control.

Regards,
mopp

 

I think Hardware monitor(HWMonitor) would give u the temperatures for the processor n HDD

 

I have never tried 3Dmark06 and I will download it and get back to you ASAP. Also, the fan is quite quiet and only turns on when it needs to. :] Right now I have sims 3 open in the background and The fan is barely going. I feel a SLIGHT draft out the vent but it is nothing. THe laptop has been all day and the bottom is cool to the touch. Also, I do like the keyboard very much. It's nice having a numpad again and the keys are easy to type with and, in my case, are backlight! =D The arrow keys are kind of small, but it is not something I cannot deal with. My palm also hits the touchpad when I type sometimes but I usually use the button above the touchpad to turn it off when I have a mouse plugged in for gaming.

 

http://img11.imageshack.us/img11/263/49835782.jpg <--- 3dmark06

 

Nice score, I notice 3dmark06 recognizes your display adapter as generic vga.
Does device manager show Ati 4650 under display adapter?

 

Yes it does. I just noticed that on 3dmark06. hrm. weird. Before I started the test it recognized the ATI HD 4650.

 

hi! I have a quick question:

Does the battery stick out of the laptop? I heard that some models of Toshiba will have the 12-cell battery stick out of the back.

I appreciate it in advance

 

Yeah. It sticks out about an inch. Took a picture for the best explination. ( I am stuck visiting family so I have nothing to do. ) Pardon my aunt's dusty desk. :]

http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2759/dscn2443.jpg

 

I typically purchase laptops with the minimum RAM and then add RAM later -- seems to save some dollars. If you've done this for your A500, I'd be interested in knowing what RAM you purchased?

 

That isn't bad at all. The 9-cell on my 1555 sticks out more than that.

 

Yeah. My old Dell Inspiron 1520's battery stuck out much more than that in the back, so it didn't even lift it up.

 

What resolution webcam does it have 1.3 or 2MP?

Thank you

 

I am leaning toward 1.3. But I am not exactly sure. Wish I could find it in the manual.

 

thank you so much for letting me know! The sticking out part isn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Sorry this took so long to respond, I forgot the link to this page. I can't wait to get this laptop. I even decided to upgrade the processor to 2.8Ghz.

Did it take 8-10 days to configure like the website says? I'm expecting it to take that long, but I would love to hear that it didn't take long at all (who wouldn't?).

 

Yeah. I ordered it July 10th and got it July 25th. =\ The 10th was a friday night so I am guessing that made it a LITTLE slower. It didn't process till that monday. I've had it for a month and <3 it. :3 You'll love it. 2.8GHz is nice. I went from 1.8Ghz to that. Dont notice a VAST difference but I recently put them side by side and it IS noticeable. :3

 

Well, I ordered it! I can't wait to get it. I ended up getting the 2.80 Ghz. I just couldn't pass it up. I'm so excited. Thanks for the review and giving me a lot to go with on this laptop!

 

No problem! Hope you enjoy it. :]

 

I think you mentioned the display, but I was wondering how accurate the colors are and if the brightness and contrast on the display was good or not? I mainly do Graphic design work and im really looking for a good machine with a good display. mind giving an in depth look on this?

Anyway, is there any flex on the notebook when you grab it, hold it from the edges, or peeling up the screen?

Oh an how heavy is it with the 12 cell battery attached?

I WANT THIS SO BAD!

 

It's lighter than I expected it to be but it obviously has weight. I barely felt it until I started carying this beast to college. Being a commuter.. my backpack is HEAVY. ;; I am unsure how to check anything relating to contrast. I just know it is 720p. They have info about it on the Toshiba website.

Also, there is no flex. It's pretty solid. :]

 

Hahah! good to hear about the solid build. The only laptop I have right now is also a Toshiba and was hoping ill have yet another solid Satellite.

I'm a commuter student too which is why I was wondering about the weight. I think i'd be fine carrying a weight of 6.5lbs but anything exceeding 7 is pushing it for my commuter needs.

This will be my next notebook!

 

Yay!! I hope you like it. :] I should've also mentioned that the reason the weight effects me so much is because I am 5'4" and under 100 pounds. The laptop is probably wider than me when you look at it sideways. sooo.

 

Hey I'm also just about decided on getting this laptop, although with a few more customizations. My current toshiba satellite has lasted me about 5 years throughout my last college years and my first working years, and although it still works its definitely time for an upgrade.

A few question though... (I realize some of these may already be answered on toshiba's web site, but I want to confirm with you just in case your customizations caused any changes in this)

1) How many USB ports does this satellite have?
2) Does it include output display connections for extending the desktop? If so... which type? VGA? HDMI? Both?
3) Could you possibly put your laptop on a weight reader with the battery as well so you can give us your actual reading of the weight?
4) I see you decided on the 64-bit OS version, have you had any issues with finding the 64-bit version of drivers for any peripherals?
5) How long is the included power cord? Does it seem like it might come up too short for some situations? (I once had this problem with an HP).

I would really appreciate any answers you could give me.

Thanks

 

1) It comes with 3 usbs ports and 1 SATA/USB port
2) It have both HDMI and VGA port
3) My guess it weighs like 6lbs
4) All of 64-bit drivers are on the Toshiba site
5) The cord is pretty long

 

The cord is currently plugged in about.. 4 feet away and it has is still wrapped over itself. Im laying on my bed which is mainly in the center of my room not near a plug. So it works.

 

Great! Thanks for the quick responses! Tomorrow morning I will place the order. I just hate having to wait for it... but I'm sure it will be well worth it

 

Haha. I have nothing to do during breaks between class so.. I troll these forums. Im a winner. That's why the responses are quick.

I hope you will like your new laptop! I've had it over a month and my only complaint is that you can see fingerprints. Ohwell. <3 This laptop is like my child.

..That's unhealthy isn't it.

 

Hey there I just ordered this laptop with the same exact specs earlier today. I just happened to stumble upon this thread...I have some questions for you though.
1- Is the 7200 rpm noticebly faster than the standard 5400rpm?
2- Have you played crysis on this? if so how did it do?
3- have you ever experienced any lag whatsover?
4- have u had any problems installing games on the 64-bit vista?
5- im going from 1.8ghz dual core to 2.8...will i notice a big difference?
6- Can you turn off the keyboard backlight?
7- how heavy is it?
8- how hot does it get?

Thanks!

 

1- I dont know. this one 5400rpm
2. - No I haven't played Crysis.
3- Once in a while if I have multiple games open without noticing.
4- Only thing I had an issue with was F.E.A.R updating but since it is such an old game, it doesn't know about vista's existance. Hehe. Anything that uses vista hasn't had an issue.
5-. I notice a difference. It's not SUPERNOTICEABLE but i put my old 1.8GHz laptop next to this one and you deffinatly can see it.
6. Yep. Toggle it on and off using Fn+Z
7. Six pounds?
8. I dont have a program that tells me how hot. But it barely feels warm to the touch for me.

 

Hello. I was wondering where you purchased your laptop, or anybody else has, for that price? I am going to be purchasing a new laptop soon and I am looking at Toshiba.

thank you

 

You can find that model laptop at your local Best Buy and also you can also order from here

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9371556&type=product&id=1218093379440

 

You can get it directly from Toshiba either pre-built or customized in addition to stores (e.g. Best Buy, Amazon.com, NewEgg.com, etc).