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Toshiba Satellite A300-177 Notebook

Author Ardjuna Seghers
Published 11th Jun 2008
Manufacturer Toshiba
Price £433.91 (Exc VAT)
as reviewed £499.00 (Inc VAT)
Latest Price Click here
Design Score 6 for Design
Features Score 8 for Features
Performance Score 7 for Performance
Value Score 7 for Value
Overall Score 7 for Overall
Toshiba Satellite A300-177 Notebook
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What we are left with is a laptop that is fairly generic in most respects, except its design, which is largely unattractive, and its speakers, which are astounding. While turning movies and music into an aural joy, it makes this Satellite's inability to play most games (it only scored 16.4 frames per second on low settings in TrackMania Nations Forever) even more of a pity.

The A300's biggest problem, however, is the competition: the HP Pavilion dv6750ea is still available for only £20 more, and though the processor is slower and the hard drive smaller, the graphics card is superior and has digital out in the form of HDMI. Most importantly, as you can see from our charts, it offers much better battery life.


Another strong contender is the latest build of the excellent Dell Inspiron 1525, which for only an extra £40 gets you a similar system with customisable looks, a bigger hard drive, better camera, HDMI-out and Blu-ray drive! The only reason you might still go for the Satellite are its far superior speakers, or if you particularly like its quirky looks.


Verdict

The Toshiba Satellite A300-177 is an average 15.4in laptop with a slightly below average screen and battery life, while the unique design is at best an acquired taste. Overall it's not a bad machine, but for just a little extra the competition offers far more. The one area where it excels is in offering the best sound quality of any budget 15 incher we've come across, thanks to its truly excellent Harman Kardon speakers.

 

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Latest 4 of 5 Comments

Have your say: Leave a comment below about this article.

Comment Jonathan Fletcher said on 4th August 2008

I agree with Gordon. I went into my local PC store looking to order a new laptop, and I was instantly hit with the glossy great looks of the Toshiba A300. Myself being somebody who... more

Comment Mugly2000 said on 18th August 2008

I wrote an earier (and more detailed version) review but it disappeared before I could publish it and I won't rewrite it because it will take too much time but here it is in a... more

Comment nomailx said on 28th August 2008

well, this notebook is has the best price/performance rate I have seen. You can play the latest games, with descent graphic qualities (assassin creed, call of duty 4. (I played the... more

Comment ilovethemonkeyhead said on 26th September 2008

*nomailx*

i'm sorry, but "You can play the latest games, with descent graphic qualities (assassin creed, call of duty 4. (I played the same games on other ... more

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