Toshiba Satellite U845W
9 expert reviews - 0 user reviews
Follow
0
0
Want it
0
Have it
0
Had it
0
We have collected 9 reviews of the Toshiba Satellite U845W. Experts rate Toshiba Satellite U845W 6.8/10. Reviewsor.com helps you find reviews, best prices, user reviews of the Toshiba Satellite U845W and Toshiba Laptops.
- Writh a review
- Say something
- Ask a question
- Get support
Toshiba Satellite U845W Reviews
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430 review
Windows 8 seems destined to be appreciated the most on computers with touch screens. It's not that you can't have a perfectly decent Windows 8 experience on a standard PC, but you're missing out on a good deal of the design it was intended for. The Toshiba Satellite U845W, an ultra-wide-screen ultrabook I first reviewed several months ago, boasted a funky 21:9 aspect ratio, 1,792x768-pixel display crammed into a long, slim laptop. The U845W-S430 is that very same laptop, for the most part, with Windows 8 added. In case you're curious about the U845W, read the original full review. My feelings on it still largely stand: the wide screen is intriguing but not necessary for movie-watching (in fact, many 16:9 movies will end up with "reverse letterboxing" on the sides as opposed to the top/bottom in order to fit the screen). The speakers are loud. The keyboard is uncomfortable but oddly stretched. The whole experiment still doesn't cost much more than a "normal" laptop, at roughly $1,085, although it's a little more expensive than before (although another Windows 8 U845W for $1,000 with a seemingly identical configuration is listed on Toshiba's Web site, and retail prices are often lower).
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430 Review
When we first reviewed the Satellite U845W, we thought that it's unique ultra-wide display would be ideal for Windows 8's panoramic Modern interface. The 21:9 aspect ratio on this 14.4-inch panel also eliminates those pesky black bars when watching movies and--when its time to get down to business, the screen can show two windows side-by-side in desktop mode. Read on to find out just how good Toshiba's hardware and Microsoft's software mesh.Click to EnlargeThe 14-inch Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430 is essentially a carbon copy of the Satellite U845W-S410. That said, this is still one of the most uniquely designed notebooks to come through our lab. Its widescreen display and matching body look like someone stuck a few extra inches of screen and chassis onto an existing 14-inch notebook.Click to EnlargeAlthough it looks quite different than your typical 14-inch notebook, the U458W is exceedingly attractive. Roughly one-third of its lid is covered in a textured rubber, as is its base, making it very comfortable to carry around. The other two-thirds of the lid features a Midnight Silver brushed aluminum coating with a hint of bronze that lends the Toshiba an industrial styling.
Toshiba Satellite U845-S406
The Toshiba Satellite U845-S406 is a reasonably priced ultraportable laptop that still manages to pack quite a punch. It comes equipped with an Intel Ivy Bridge dual-core processor (the Core i5-3317U) that has a stock speed of 1.7GHz, but can rev up to 2.6GHz when using Intel's maximum Turbo Frequency. Those specs won't impress power PC enthusiasts, but the Core i5-3317U can handle most stressful tasks with ease. The S406 earned a mark of 127 on our demanding WorldBench 7 Benchmark Suite, which means that it scored about 27 percent higher than our base system--a desktop PC with a Core i5-2500K chip and a discrete graphics card. The system supports Intel's Smart Response technology. It ships with a small, 16GB solid-state drive for hard drive caching and a 500GB, 5400-rpm hard-disk drive for storage. The caching SSD probably boosted the system's WorldBench 7 score, and it also delivered average boot times of 17.3 seconds from a completely powered-off state to a fully functioning desktop.
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410
This is a unique time in the PC business. After years of turning out boring, 15.6-inch laptops and midsize-tower desktop PCs, PC makers are experimenting with new and intriguing designs. Case in point: the Toshiba Satellite U845W. Available in two preconfigured models, the S410 and S414, the ultraportable U845W ships with a 14.4-inch LCD panel whose native resolution of 1792 by 768 pixels translates to an unusual 21:9 aspect ratio--perfect for viewing widescreen movies without letterboxes. I examined and tested the lower-priced S410 model ($930 as of August 5, 2012). The key differences between the S410 and the S414 ($1430) relate to processor and storage: The S414 ships with the higher-end Core i7-3517U CPU and a 256GB solid-state drive. The S410 carries a 1.7GHz Core i5-3317U processor with a maximum turbo boost to 2.6GHz; a 500GB, 5400-rpm hard drive handles storage, and a 32GB caching SSD that uses Intel's RapidStore boosts hard-drive performance. The Satellite U845W's attractive metal chassis is partly covered with black, textured rubber. The rubber makes the Ultrabook easy to carry, and the laptop has an elegant air. When you open it, you'll find a standard, Chiclet-style keyboard with flat keys that lack any sculpting or texture.
Toshiba Satellite U845 Review
Toshiba's Satellite U845 Ultrabook improves upon the company's freshman effort, but still struggles to stand out in an increasingly crowded market.Toshiba's first entry into the Ultrabook market, the Portege Z835, was the most extreme of the early designs. The Portege's thickness of .63 inches and its weight of 2.5 pounds made it by far one of the lightest and smallest offerings available. Only the MacBook Air and the recently released Aspire S5 can rival it.Such extreme design actually hampered the laptop's quality, however. Toshiba seems to have learned the lesson and has now released a more mainstream Ultrabook known as the U845. It's part of the Satellite line, a fact that tells buyers much about where this laptop is positioned. Toshiba has always built Satellite products with the average consumer in mind.Our review unit arrived with a processor we're now familiar with, the Core i5-3317U. The rest of the specifications were equally unsurprising. Short-term memory comes courtesy of 4GB of RAM, and a 500GB hard disk combined with a 32GB solid-state cache drive handles long-term storage.The configuration we received is specifically designated the U845-S404. This configuration is not listed on Toshiba's website but can be found on Amazon with a retail price of $800. This also is no surprise.
Toshiba Satellite U845-S402 Review
When Intel launched its Ultrabook initiative, one of its aims was to make these super-slim notebooks affordable enough for the masses. Toshiba is targeting such a market with the Satellite U845-S402, a 14-inch Ultrabook that costs $719 (as cheap as $699). Hoping to find a happy medium among portability, power and price, Toshiba packs the U845 with a last-generation Sandy Bridge processor. But with so many competitively priced Ultrabooks on the market, is the U845 a bargain or a bust?Click to EnlargeThe Satellite U845 exudes an understated elegance, and we loved running our fingers over the Sky Sliver brushed aluminum lid. Not only does the lid feel cool and smooth against our fingertips, it's also highly repellent to fingerprints and smudges. The chrome diamond-cut Toshiba logo is a nice touch. The hard plastic strip along the top looks a little lame by comparison, but we suspect that's where the wireless antennas are located.The notebook's interior also sports a Sky Silver brushed aluminum finish. The black keyboard and the dark gray matte touchpad, both in shallow wells, provide a nice contrast from the smooth brushed aluminum.
Toshiba Satellite U845-S406 review
The time has come for more reasonably priced ultrabooks, and it seems like every Windows laptop manufacturer has one coming out this back-to-school season. Between the Dell Inspiron 14z, Asus Zenbook UX32A, Lenovo IdeaPad U310, and Sony Vaio T, ultrathin laptops have emerged bearing traditional hard drives and ultrabook-grade CPUs at prices as low as $700. Toshiba's first ultrabook to be classified as such was the Portege Z835; this year, its line has fragmented with the addition of the Satellite U845, a thicker 14-inch laptop that trades off price for size. Or does it? The entry price for the Satellite U845 is as low as $699 with an Intel Core i3 processor, but our review version has an MSRP of $879. Laptops like the Inspiron 14z, IdeaPad U310, and Sony Vaio T are all less expensive for similar specs. Depending on where you buy the Satellite U845-S406, it can currently cost as little as $779, but that's still not bargain-basement: in fact, it's middle-of-the-pack for "budget" ultrabooks. Note: this isn't the same laptop as the Satellite U845W, a similarly named ultrabook with an ultrawide 21:9 screen and a different chassis design, but it has the same processor and specs under the hood, just in a more normal and generic design.
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 review
Now that ultrabooks have hit the mainstream, the evolution of slimmer laptops has started to undergo Darwinian mutation. Consider the oddity that is the Toshiba Satellite U845W: a compact Core i5 ultrabook that has a ridiculously wide 21:9 ratio 14.4-inch display. Neither a standard laptop screen nor an ultra-high-resolution Retina Display-type experience, the 1,792x768-pixel maximum resolution amounts to a freakshow in the computer world. Is Toshiba putting us on? The novelty is not as absurd in practice as you'd think. The 21:9 aspect ratio amounts to Cinemascope-wide screen, enough to view a movie with no letterboxing. Apart from movie-watching, the screen is also ideal for side-by-side Web browsing or document editing. I'm not going to deny that the U845W is a bit of a concept car among laptops. However, its price isn't absurd: the U845W-S410 entry-level model I reviewed costs $999, which places it squarely in the normal spectrum of ultrabook prices, although with the 500GB non-SSD hard drive our configuration includes, you can find similar ultrabooks lacking tricked-out screens for as low as $700.
Toshiba Satellite U845W Review
Now that almost all TVs and tablets are shaped to fit widescreen movies, why not laptops, too? That's the thinking behind the Toshiba Satellite U845W, whose 14.4-inch screen has an ultra-wide aspect ratio of 21:9. That means when you play the latest movies, it won't show the black bars on the top or bottom. The unique 1792 x 768-pixel display also makes it well-suited for road warriors who like having two documents open side by side. Better yet, its squat dimensions means you don't have to worry about the person in front of you reclining his or her airplane seat. Is this the ultimate work and play Ultrabook?Click to EnlargeOne of the more unusual notebook designs to come along, the Satellite U845W looks like Toshiba took a 15-inch notebook, and sliced a few inches off the long end. Measuring 14.5 x 7.8 x 0.72 inches, it's as long the 15-inch Acer Aspire TimelineU M5-581TG, (14.4 x 10.1 x 0.79-0.81 inches), but much narrower. If anything, its dimensions reminded us of a legal notepad, or a supersized Sony VAIO P. While slim and light (the U845W weighs about 4 pounds), its length stretched, ever so slightly, our messenger bag.
Prices
| Retailer | Information | Prices | |
|---|---|---|---|
 |
Toshiba Satellite 14.4 Core i5 532GB Ultrabook | $589.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S400 14.4 Ultrabook (3rd generation Intel Core i5-3317U 1.7GHz, 6GB DDR3, 500GB HDD + 32GB SSD, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit) | $619 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845w-s430 Ultrabook 1.7ghz Intel Core I5-3317u 6gb 32gb SSD 500gb Bt Webcam 14.4 Windows 8 Psu5xu-001003 | $639 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook, Intel Core i5-3317U, 6GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 32GB SSD, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit) | $639.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 14.4-Inch Ultrabook (Midnight Silver) | $648.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook | $799.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4 LED Ultrabook - Intel Core i5 1.80 GHz - Midnight Silver Aluminum - 6 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - 32 GB SSD - Intel HD 4000 Graphics - Genuine Windows 8 - 1792 x 768 Display - Bluetooth | $816.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4 LED Ultrabook - Intel Core i5 1.80 GHz - Midnight Silver Aluminum - 6 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD - 32 GB SSD - Intel HD 4000 Graphics - Genuine Windows 8 - 1792 x 768 Display - Bluetooth | $817.62 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook | $817.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4 Ultrabook Computer, Intel Core i5-3337U 1.8GHz, 6GB DDR3 RAM, 500GB HDD, 21:9 Aspect Ratio, Windows 8 Home Premium | $839.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Psu5xu-00r004 14.4 I5 500gb 6gb Win8 1 | $884.58 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 Laptop Notebook Windows 8 - Intel i5-3337U Up to 2.70GHz wit | $899.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4170 14.4In Ultrabook (Midnight Silver) - Intel Core i5-3317U | $919.95 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S414 14.4-Inch Ultrabook (Midnight Silver) | $958 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 14 Ultra-Wide Cinematic Display Ultrabook | $959.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 14.4 LED Ultrabook Intel Core i5-3317U 1.70 GHz 6GB DDR3 500GB 32GB SSD Intel HD Graphics 4000 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Midnight Silver Aluminum | $974.64 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite 14.4 Laptop PC (U845WS4170) with 500GB Hard Drive, 6GB Memory - Black/Gray | $999.99 | See it |
 |
Satellite U845W-S410 - 14.4 - Core i5 3317U - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - 6 GB RAM - 500 GB HDD | $999.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S410 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook, Intel Core i5-3317U, 6GB DDR3, 500GB HDD, 32GB SSD, Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit) | $1063.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S414 14.4-Inch Ultrabook (Midnight Silver) | $1099.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4180 14.4 LED Ultrabook - Intel Core i7 2 GHz - Midnight Silver Aluminum - 6 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Intel HD 4000 Graphics - Genuine Windows 8 - 1792 x 768 Display - Bluetooth | $1182.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4180 14.4 LED Ultrabook - Intel Core i7 2 GHz - Midnight Silver Aluminum - 6 GB RAM - 256 GB SSD - Intel HD 4000 Graphics - Genuine Windows 8 - 1792 x 768 Display - Bluetooth | $1184.62 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4180 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook | $1186.99 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4180 14.4 Widescreen Ultrabook | $1199.99 | See it |
 |
Toshiba Notebooks PSU5RU-00Q003 14.4 in. i5 500GB 6GB 3 | $1246.09 | See it |
|
Toshiba Satellite U845W-S4180 Laptop Notebook Windows 8 - i7-3537U Up to 3.10GHz with Inte | $1329.99 | See it |
-
Toshiba Satellite U845W : (6.8/10)
9 expert reviews
0 user reviews
