{"id":1380,"date":"2007-09-20T14:02:03","date_gmt":"2007-09-20T13:02:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.darrenstraight.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/20\/toshiba-tecra-a8-review\/"},"modified":"2007-09-24T22:08:17","modified_gmt":"2007-09-24T21:08:17","slug":"toshiba-tecra-a8-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.darrenstraight.com\/blog\/2007\/09\/20\/toshiba-tecra-a8-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Toshiba Tecra A8 Review"},"content":{"rendered":"

For the past week I’ve had in my possession a Toshiba Tecra A8 Notebook which I have thanks to Talk Toshiba<\/a> and it’s Tecra A8 triallist programme<\/a> in which they give bloggers, journalists and community leaders the chance to test out their laptops for a week (more if you request) in exchange for writing an honest, objective review on your blog, forum and community site etc.<\/p>\n

So as my week of tetsing the laptop is now coming to an end, I thought I’d better give you my review of it.<\/p>\n

First of all the hardware specifications for the Toshiba Tecra A8 Notebook are as follows (this was gatherd using SiSoft Sandra):<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\nProcessor<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nModel<\/td>\nIntel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T7200 @ 2.00GHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nSpeed<\/td>\n2.00GHz<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nCores per Processor<\/td>\n2 Unit(s)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nThreads per Core<\/td>\n1 Unit(s)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nType<\/td>\nMobile, Dual-Core<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nInternal Data Cache<\/td>\n2x 32kB Synchronous, Write-Thru, 8-way set, 64 byte line size<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nL2 On-board Cache<\/td>\n4MB ECC Synchronous, ATC, 16-way set, 64 byte line size, 2 threads sharing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nL3 On-board Cache<\/td>\n2x 4MB Synchronous, Write-Back, 16-way set, 64 byte line size<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMainboard<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nBus(es)<\/td>\nISA VL-VESA PCI PCIe PCMCIA CardBus USB FireWire\/1394<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMP Support<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMP APIC<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nSystem BIOS<\/td>\nTOSHIBA 1.60<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nSystem<\/td>\nTOSHIBA TECRA A8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMainboard<\/td>\nTOSHIBA Portable PC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nTotal Memory<\/td>\n1016MB DDR2-SDRAM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nChipset 1<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nModel<\/td>\nToshiba America Information Systems Mobile Memory Controller Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nFront Side Bus Speed<\/td>\n4x 166MHz (664MHz data rate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nTotal Memory<\/td>\n1GB DDR2-SDRAM<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nShared Memory<\/td>\n8MB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMemory Bus Speed<\/td>\n4x 132MHz (528MHz data rate)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nVideo System<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nDefault Monitor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nDefault Monitor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nDefault Monitor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nGeneric Television<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nGeneric Television<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nPlug and Play Monitor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMonitor\/Panel<\/td>\nPlug and Play Monitor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nAdapter<\/td>\nMobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nAdapter<\/td>\nMobile Intel(R) 945GM Express Chipset Family<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPhysical Storage Devices<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nHard Disk<\/td>\nFUJITSU MHV2100BH PL (93GB)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nHard Disk<\/td>\nEasy Disk USB Device<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nCD-ROM\/DVD<\/td>\nMATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-841S (CD 24X Rd, 24X Wr) (DVD 3X Rd, 3X Wr)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nLogical Storage Devices<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nHard Disk (C:)<\/td>\n93GB (85GB, 91% Free Space) (NTFS)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nCD-ROM\/DVD (D:)<\/td>\nN\/A<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nRemovable Drive (E:)<\/td>\n1.9GB (497MB, 26% Free Space) (FAT)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPeripherals<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nSerial\/Parallel Port(s)<\/td>\n2 COM \/ 1 LPT<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nIntel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller – 27C8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nIntel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller – 27C9<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nIntel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller – 27CA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nIntel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB Universal Host Controller – 27CB<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nIntel(R) 82801G (ICH7 Family) USB2 Enhanced Host Controller – 27CC<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Root Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Root Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Root Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Root Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Root Hub<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nUSB Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nUSB Mass Storage Device<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nFireWire\/1394 Controller\/Hub<\/td>\nTexas Instruments OHCI Compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPCMCIA\/CardBus Controller<\/td>\nGeneric CardBus Controller<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nKeyboard<\/td>\nStandard 101\/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS\/2 Keyboard<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nMouse<\/td>\nAlps Pointing-device<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nCommunication Device(s)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nDevice<\/td>\nTOSHIBA Software Modem<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPower Management<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nAC Line Status<\/td>\nOn-Line<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nBattery No 1<\/td>\n100%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nOperating System(s)<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nWindows System<\/td>\nMicrosoft Windows XP\/2002 Professional 5.01.2600 (Service Pack 2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nNetwork Services<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nNetwork Drivers Enabled<\/td>\nNo<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nPerformance Tips<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nNotice 5901<\/td>\nCD 1x= 150kB\/s; Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published ratings.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nNotice 5902<\/td>\nDVD 1x= 11.08Mbps Exercise caution when comparing measured versus published ratings.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\nTip 2<\/td>\nDouble-click tip or press Enter while a tip is selected for more information about the tip.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

Not only did I test laptop by using automatic testing software such as SiSoft Sandra, PCMark06 and 3DMark06 but I also took the laptop out on the streets to get a better feel what it was like to use on the open road, as that’s the whole idea of laptops, portability so you can take it out with you.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I think some of the Pros and Cons are of the laptop:<\/p>\n

The Pros (The Good)<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

The overall look and feel<\/strong><\/p>\n