>>> CPU Focus: The A10-5750M is literally the best you can do with AMD Laptops today. From a CPU side, it offers strong multitasking experience with 4cores / 4threads, and throttles anywhere between 1.3Ghz (to save battery) or 2.5 Ghz for performance. (Specs state it may go up to 3.5GHz, but I haven't seen this myself). Compared to Intel, the A10-5750M is slightly weaker than Intel's i5-4430M, despite the 2core/4thread nature of Intel's i5. The Intel i5-4xxxM series will offer better single-threaded performance, and tend to have longer lasting batteries. On the other hand, Intel i5-based laptops generally cost more than AMD A10 laptops. So you get what you pay for here. (There are cheaper laptops out there with Intel i5 chips, but they do not come with the same quality screen or GPU).
>>> GPU Focus: A hardcore gamer will only be satisfied by a $2000+ gaming laptop with a high-end Radeon 8970M or NVidia GeForce 770M+. In the great scheme of things, the iGPU offered on this laptop is weak. This is _not_ a gaming laptop. This laptop is also a *thousand* dollars cheaper than a gaming laptop. So lets just get those expectations out of the way. This GPU is competing against $750 laptops. That means Intel iGPUs or low-end dGPUs are its competition. The A10-5750M has the fastest iGPU in the current market. If an Intel machine wants to compete against this laptop in gaming, it'd have to have a dGPUs equipped. Benchmarks databases indicate that NVidia GT630M is comparable to the performance of this iGPU.
Reported tests on Youtube indicate that this laptop can run Spec Ops at 1080p / max settings and even Crysis 3 at 720p / medium settings. For proof, search youtube for "A10-5750M Spec Ops" and "A10-5750M Crysis 3". There's a good video to show gameplay footage on this particular laptop. My personal tests are various Touhou games, and this laptop ran Touhou 13 and 12.8 just fine. There were occasional FPS spikes however on Touhou 13.5: Hopeless Masquerade when certain supers went off however. Do not expect perfection from this laptop's iGPU, but it probably will surprise you at how much better iGPUs are today. This level of performance used to not be available in the laptop form factor. You can reasonably expect to download a Steam game, and just play it on this laptop. You may have to turn down settings, but hey, playable framerates in Crysis 3 proves it all, right?
Benchmarks indicate that the closest competition from a GPU perspective are various versions of the the NVidia GT 630M (Different GT 630Ms perform differently, making this a rough comparison at best). But these laptops containing these parts generally cost more and have a negative effect on battery life. Sticking with the iGPU A10-5750M hits a solid price/performance ratio. I dare say there is *nothing* out there like this laptop's combination of GPU and high-quality FHD 1080p screen at only $750. Advanced users can overclock the GPU and upgrade to 1866MHz RAM for better performance.
>>> RAM: The laptop is properly configured with dual channel sticks. 8GB RAM should be more than enough for the typical consumer, and dual-channel maximizes the performance of RAM-limited tasks.
>>> Screen: This is a large 17-inch 1080p glossy-type screen. (When the laptop is turned off, you can see your own reflection). This is one of the best screens you can get at this $750 price point. I argue that this is the primary selling-point of this laptop, the one thing that stands out most of all. No Dell, HP, or Lenovo laptop offers a screen of this caliber at this low of a cost. While I can find better CPUs at this price, or laptops with better GPUs at $750... I honestly couldn't find anything else with 1080p screen. (Keywords: FHD, or "Full HD" for 1920x1080 resolution)
>>> Keyboard: As expected, this 17-inch laptop comes with a mostly full-sized keyboard, including the numeric pad. While looking at the keyboard, it *seems* like the space bar is too small. But in my experience, it is just the right size for my hands. Again, I personally have had no issues at all with the keyboard.
>>> Touchpad: This was the first time I tried an ELAN touchpad. I'm pleasantly surprised at the accuracy of various gestures, and the ELAN Windows 8 driver allows for a huge amount of customization (including two-finger scrolling, three finger and four finger swipes, pinch to zoom, Windows8 style "edge swipes", etc. etc.). Like most laptops in this price range however, the buttons on the touchpad are subpar. While gesture and mouse accuracy is quite good with this touchpad, it is only the "click" on the touchpad gives a poor feel. The touchpad finish is also smooth to touch, unlike many HP-touchpads (HP Envy has "concentric circles" that annoy my fingers). Moving, gestures, and feeling the touchpad overall is just fine.
Clicking on items with the touchpad is best accomplished with the "tap" gesture, which is IMO slower than a click. The "mouse click" just feels cheap, leading me to subconsciously focus on "tap" selecting. I'd criticize the touchpad more, but this unfortunate experience seems to be the norm. Integrated clicks are becoming the mode of operation in 2013-era laptops. Its hard to find a laptop manufacturer that takes the mouse-button issue seriously anymore.
>>> Networking: The laptop is equipped with a Realtek RTL8188E 1x1 network card. While it does support Wireless N, this is about as cheap as you can get with networking. I have connectivity issues with my free Verizon router (I admit however, I'm basically asking for it by keeping the crappy Verizon Router). I've tested the WiFi on a couple of different networks, and it is unfortunate that my _home_ network is the worst one. Despite setting the network to WirelessN, the crappy Verizon Router can only push data at a rate of 700kbps. Again, this is an isolated case, most likely related to the Verizon Router on my home network. But it is annoying because my other devices work fine on the Verizon Router.
>>> Customizability: Toshiba laptops are not known to be modded. The user manual does not have a technical diagram... and without a guide, I was only able to remove the Hard Drive, RAM, and DVD Drive. Most noticeably, I was unable to switch out the Wireless network card (I just couldn't figure out how to remove the back). Hopefully, another online hacker will figure out a way to disassemble this laptop. But for now, only expect to be able to switch out the HDD, RAM, and DVD Drive (If you can figure out which DVD Drive actually fits into this laptop anyway...)
>>> Connectivity: Two USB3.0 slots, One USB2.0 slot, 10/100 RJ45 Ethernet, VGA Out and HDMI Out. DVD-drive / burner, and SD card reader. A relatively unique feature is USB3.0 "Sleep and Charge", which allows you to charge your phone from your laptop even when the laptop is off. As far as I'm aware, only Toshiba (Sleep and Charge), Lenovo (Always On USB) offer this feature, and even then, only on certain laptops.
A futurist may want more from this laptop. Futurists will want 10/100/1000 Ethernet, Wireless 2x2 b/g/n/ag, a display port and possibly a BluRay Drive instead. Futurists also will want a SSD instead of the HDD. Fortunately, an SSD upgrade is pretty easy to do with this laptop.
The legacy user is pretty happy with this laptop. This laptop supports DVDs, SD Cards, and VGA Out. Fewer and Fewer laptops today support VGA and DVD Drives, so this is one feature to look out for.
>>> Battery Life: I've done a few battery tests on this computer. On the average, I'm getting around 3 hours with typical use. Worst case (Battery Eater test), it lasted only 1 hour 10minutes (worst case) to 5 hours (best case with WiFi and screen turned on). Toshiba only ships a 53 Whr battery with this laptop, which is pretty small for its category (17-inchers usually have 70+ Whr batteries). Historically, these are "typical" battery lives, but in 2013 they are subpar overall.
On the plus side, due to the small battery, this Laptop feels unusually light for its size. 17 inches looks big, but it's weight class is in the same league as the smaller 15-inch laptops. The battery also charges very quickly, within 1.5 hours. The battery _is_ removable, so if battery life is a concern, it is possible to buy new batteries and carry spares. I have not seen any extended battery option.
>>> Thermals: During the Battery Eater test, I rested the laptop on my lap and felt the heat coming out of it. While warm, I think the thermals were overall acceptable. I don't expect anyone to burn themselves like they used to with older, hotter laptops.
>>> Linux: With exception of WiFi, Ubuntu 13.04 LiveCD worked straight out of the box. It appears that WiFi drivers may require kernel compilation, a relatively advanced move for Linux administrators. I do not suggest trying to run Linux on this system if you are a beginner. I'd expect that an advanced user would be able to install Ubuntu, but only after some partition table fixes, and a few kernel module fixes. Linux is not an advertized feature of this laptop, so I cannot hold it against it. It would have been nice if Ubuntu worked out of the box however. Everything except WiFi and lol the install button seemed to work in the Ubuntu LiveCD, so I'm relatively confident that I can get it working eventually. But its not a trivial task.
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Overall, this laptop does do its job, and I've been satisfied with it. With a 1TB Hard Drive, its unlikely that I'd ever run out of space. I'm overall impressed by its impressive iGPU performance paired with the best screen I've seen in this price range. The weaknesses include a weak mouse click and poor WiFi (in my experience). Battery life is poor in comparison to other 2013-era computers... But is comparable to the battery life of older 2007-era computers (except this modern model has better thermals and much better performance). So regardless, this laptop will feel like a standard laptop upgrade with modern parts and more modern performance.
More hardcore computer users will be happy with the superior AMD integrated GPU, the high quality screen. However, hardcore laptop users may want better customization options. Fortunately, they do exist... for the Intel Version of this laptop. Its a bit more expensive, but it is possible to order higher quality parts (Ex: Upgrade to higher-quality 2x2 Intel Centrino WiFi and BluRay player) on the S70 over at ToshibaDirect.com.
Buying it retail here on Amazon means you only get what Amazon stocks. Nonetheless, this base model hits a solid price point, and will be cheaper than the customized Intel-based laptops even over at Toshiba.
Comparable Products:
* Toshiba Satellite P70-ABT2N22 Customizable Laptop Notebook Windows 8 -More expensive Toshiba laptop with significantly faster i7-4700MQ Processor. (Haswell, Intel Quadcore)
* Toshiba Satellite S70-AST2NX1 Laptop Notebook Windows 8 Intel i5-3230M Up to 3.20GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 12GB RAM 1.0TB HD 17.3 inch display -Roughly the same cost Toshiba Satellite laptop equipped with Intel technology. "Last Generation" Intel i5-3230M Ivy Bridge, a bit more RAM, weaker iGPU, only 1600x900 screen, more reliable WiFi.
* Lenovo ThinkPad T430 23426QU 14' LED Notebook Intel Core i5 i5-3230M 2.6GHz Black Lenovo Brand, of the legendary T-series. Well known for its keyboard and mouse design (both "nib mouse" and touchpad). With a last-generation Ivy Bridge i5-3230M, 4GB single-channel RAM, and 1368x768 screen, its only spec superior to this laptop is the i5 CPU (Better battery life and CPU Performance). All other specs: iGPU, screen, RAM are all weaker (weaker gaming performance, inferior screen). But with a keyboard and mouse design virtually unchanged since the year 2000, I argue its a timeless classic. At $720, its a strong competitor to this product off brand name alone. 14-inches means it is a much smaller laptop than this 17-incher.
* Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E535 3260EFU 15.6-Inch Laptop Drop the stats in all categories and you get this smaller, cheaper laptop from Lenovo. A8 is weaker than A10, 4GB of RAM is less than 8, etc. etc. Its not a T-series, but its cheaper!d
* The Sager NP2650 is offered by the niche company XoticPC at a solid price point. At around $910 for an i7-4700MQ, HD4600 iGPU, 1080p screen, 8GB RAM and Windows 8 (or 7), you get a good price for a quality "working-man's" laptop (some gaming performance will suffer due to weaker GPU, but the i7 MQ class CPU is much much more powerful). The main benefit of XoticPC is the extreme amount of customizations they offer on their site, offered at a solid price. Overall, this would fall into the category of a more expensive, but overall higher-quality build, especially when you factor in the customization options. You can even save $100 by buying the laptop _without_ Windows installed.
EDIT: I've noticed the price has been changing recently. Keep in mind that this review was written in August 2013, while the laptop was $750. Market conditions change, but it is unlikely that I can keep this review up-to-date in the long term. The prices for the other laptops above were accurate at one point in time... but they may have changed as well.
There are either cheaper products, more expensive premium products, or different products at the same cost. Those who want the best need to pony up more cash and buy a more expensive laptop. Those who wish to save money need to get more compromises, and those who want different tradeoffs probably can find one somewhere else in the market. Nonetheless, the S75D draws out a unique niche with its powerful AMD A10 integrated GPU paired with a fantastic screen.
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This is a great laptop it surfs the web almost flawlessly and does great! with gaming. People are rating this laptop low because it is not a touchscreen, GUESS WHAT, TOSHIBA NEVER ACCLAIMED THIS LAPTOP AS TOUCHSCREEN i swear the previous 1 star comments people sound like spoiled little brats who are crying for a touchscreen. THIS IS NOT A TABLET, THIS IS NOT A PHONE ITS AN AWESOME PIECE OF MACHINERY.
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