The nice folks at Talk Toshiba asked me to review a Tecra laptop. They sent me the laptop to try for a week, I received no payment for the trail and had free reign to write an independent review so...voila!
Apologies to those who like a review full of numbers and letters, as this isn’t the one for you! To me GB remains the sticker on a car from Great Britain and RAM is a male sheep.
So when the Toshiba Tecra was carefully delivered to my door I wasn’t looking for technical wizardry, I just want to be able to use it without harming myself or it.
I should say I have the very nice pleasure of a Toshiba Qosimo in the household which was a laptop panic buy that turned out very well for the family but perhaps not the wise buy for plans of travelling and writing on the go. As I opened the Tecra I immediately thought ‘ah, that’s probably more along the lines of what I should have bought for being writer about town (and race circuits)’
When I opened the lid there was a tardis effect as the screen size seem so much compared to the comfortable weight. And the opening action was very smooth and felt strong – during the panic laptop buy saga I opened some which I thought would snap. Feeling sturdy I felt confident that it would be the type of machine that whilst I would treat with respect, would survive the undoubted knocks of travelling and media centre chaos!
Admittedly there is little to report back on the look. It’s grey. It’s a laptop. A comfortable keyboard which I could really bang out the writing on without the fear killing the keys. Oh and the simple things that make me happy – the little green on light on the caps key.
The easyguard hotkey – now that was a dream for a user like me. One click and in front of me was an easy to interface to all the security and wireless options etc. It made the whole system very unthreatening.
On to the wifi internet access and I’m surfing around the net. No problems. The screen was very impressive. Good contrast, deceptively large and clear resolution.
Flitting between programs – the speed was just as I experience on the everyday desktop or the Qosimo so in terms of performance, I don’t come out with numbers and speeds I simply smile because the laptop kept up with my random and badly planned user style. With windows opened left, right and centre it never groaned or gave up the ghost.
Next stop, looking round to where I can use memory sticks etc. To the left hand side, the card slots. Perfect, when out at the race circuit and I need to download a load of digital snaps, easy peasy. And what of the memory sticks I have to use sometimes…three USB ports, fine but round the back and I am use to the luxury of a usb on the edge of the Qosimo. Now this may sound very fussy but in tiny media centres etc, anything which makes like easier is welcomed with open arms.
The one disappointment I had with the laptop related to sound. The sound was clear and loud but did sound tinny, and probably moreso to my ears having had the luxury of a multimedia Qosimo sound system as a reference. The sound was fine but just sounded a little cheap and if like me you listen to a lot of online radio or music it is mildly disappointing. And the other slight disappointment was the volume button at the front of the laptop, as it was a spring type button which you push side to side. I felt it like something I could break! It was also small and fiddly – you can’t beat a good old fashioned dial!
The battery comfortably powered it for well over three hours with power left over, and in this respect it was far more efficient than Qosimo I am used to. So in an instance where I could use mains power, this laptop would really fulfil my needs say when travelling and writing. Light, ample battery length and comfortable to type on.
Bar the sound issues I was impressed overall. As someone who is not technically minded I found it a very undaunting machine and one I felt comfortable to power up and be on my way without relying on others for guidance, yet it was obvious it’s simplistic approach hid a powerful, well equipped and user friendly machine.
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You've pretty much sold me on this - very apt given that I am seriously considering a new laptop. Mind you, Dell do them in pretty colours ...
Posted by: Thursday | 14 August 2007 at 01:34 PM
Good stuff, very nicely done.
http://srubibablo.com
Well, thanks!
Posted by: Misemabiele | 30 November 2007 at 12:41 PM
Great, thank you for a normal language review for someone who just wants to type away and listen to the radio.
Posted by: KF | 02 April 2008 at 05:18 PM