A Review of The Toshiba Tecra A8 Notebook

Full disclaimer: I was contacted by Toshiba and asked if I would like to try out one of their notebooks for a limited time and review it. Toshiba made it clear from the beginning that I will have to return it after two weeks. I am not being paid nor have I received any other incentives to write this review. The courier costs have been covered by Toshiba.

When I was asked by Talk Toshiba if I wanted to try out the Tecra A8 Notebook and write a review of it, I jumped at the chance. My own laptop computer is over four years old and is showing signs of age so I thought this would be a good opportunity to see what advances have been made which may perhaps help to shape my choice when I eventually replace my current machine. I won't repeat all of the technical specifications of the machine as they can be seen at a glance from the link. The only difference (as far as I can tell) between the machine in the specifications and the model that I tested is that the Tecra that I received came with Windows XP rather than Vista. I was happy about this as I didn't have to get used to a different operating system and I could install my usual software.

The first thing I noticed about the Tecra is that despite its larger size (368 x 268 x 29.8/36.9 mm), it is, if anything, lighter than my laptop and it wouldn't be too much of an inconvenience to carry around. It also seems far more robust than many other notebooks (including mine) which is important for something which is supposed to be portable (Toshiba will be relieved to know that I didn't subject the Tecra to any stress tests). In their advertising, Toshiba say that the Tecra can withstand being dropped from the height of a table. One part of the machine which doesn't seem very resilient is the CD/DVD drive. As with all the portable computers I've used, it looks very flimsy. I doubt there is much that can be done about this without increasing the size and weight of the machine but it does seem to be noticeably less solid than the rest of the notebook and may well be the first part to wear out. I also found that it didn't read some of the CDs and DVDs on which I've backed up my data and occasionally I resorted to a an external USB drive.

Once I turned the machine on and started using it, I was struck by how quiet it is - even when the hard drive is being accessed. The only times I was aware of the noise was when the CD/DVD drive was in use. You don't often notice the noise a notebook computer can make until you turn it off. In the case of this machine the noise is barely noticeable in a quiet room. Also it doesn't seem to radiate much heat. Even when it had been in use all day, all parts of the casing were cool to the touch and only the warm air from the cooling vents betrayed its continuous use.

I very quickly got used to the Tecra's wide screen. At 15.4" it is like working at a desktop PC and I was reluctant to go back to my old machine which has a slightly smaller screen. The display is clear and sharp so it is easy to read small text and also to do fine editing of graphics. It's also easy to adjust the brightness and I found it was possible to work at the machine in bright sunlight, something that isn't always easy with other displays. I was interested to know how the Tecra handled graphics and I wasn't disappointed. I tried various drawing and animation packages and also a resource-hungry game. The screen refresh speed is very good.

One of the things I like about the Tecra is the layout of the top where the keyboard is. It looks simple and uncluttered. Having said that, I would have liked the hard disk and power LEDs to be near the keypad, where they are more instantly visible at a glance, rather that at the front of the machine where you have to move in order to see them. The keyboard is further back than on some other notebook computers which means that it's easier to type while resting your wrists on the casing which I find more comfortable when working. The keyboard itself has a very nice action so you don't have to press very hard on the keys. Also, because the keyboard is set well into the machine, there is less risk of keys becoming detached. Not only is this good for typing, it also means that the keyboard is easy to keep clean. The keyboard is said to spill resistant which is a very good idea although I didn't put that to the test. The touch pad isn't very different from those of other notebooks I've seen and I only used it rarely as I prefer to work with a combination of mouse and graphics tablet. However, for travelling it is more than adequate.

Because I often work as a VJ and one of the main reasons I use a portable computer is to do video shows at concerts and in clubs, the dual screen capabilities of the Tecra was one of the things I was very keen to test. It took a bit of fiddling about as I got used to a different graphics adaptor, but I'm happy to say that once I figured it out the Tecra performed very well in this task and I was able to display my material full screen through a video projector while keeping the control menus and a preview window on the notebook's monitor. I tested this function with both the S-Video port and the external monitor port and both worked well. This capability is very useful for working with graphic packages which have lots of menu windows; you can have all the menus displayed on one monitor and the artwork on another to save cluttering up one screen. Of course this function isn't unique on portable computers but it is important from my perspective. It also means that the Tecra is an ideal machine to use for multi-media presentations which would be a far more normal use for a notebook.

The Tecra has three USB ports at the back. I'm used to making do with two ports and resorting to a USB hub for my numerous accessories. I found that the extra port made quite a difference as I don't always need more than three or four USB powered accessories at once. I still found that I needed the hub at home, but for travelling, the extra port would be helpful. Of course, if Toshiba could squeeze in another one...

As you'd expect, the Tecra has a headphones port at the front which means it can be connected to external speakers. Obviously, the built-in speakers on notebooks tend to sound a bit tinny. However, the speakers on the Tecra are surprisingly good for their size. Not brilliant for listening to music, of course, but fine for most of the computer's sound functions or audio from web pages. They are also good for internet telephone conversations with applications like Skype. One quibble I have is the apparent lack of a built in microphone which means that in order to have vocal conversations over the internet, it's necessary to either have a microphone on the web cam or to plug in a separate microphone or headset. I prefer to be able to talk hands free without the need for extra accessories.

I was curious to see how battery technology has advanced over the last few years. One of the reasons the Tecra is lighter than my laptop is down to the smaller size of the battery. I found that I was able to work for two and a quarter hours before I got a warning that I should either save my work and shut down or plug the PC back into the mains. This is somewhat less than the three and a half hours battery time advertised in the specifications (.pdf) but perhaps that is with a different battery or without taxing the machine at all. I tested the battery without overly taxing the hard drive and CD/DVD drive as I wanted to see what 'normal' usage was like on battery power. It would be interesting to know how many charges it's possible to get out of the battery before it reaches the end of its life.

This notebook is advertised as being wireless enabled. This is something I wanted to test but I was unable to as I don't live in good reception range of free wireless networks. However, I did notice that the Tecra informed me when certain security enabled networks were in range. The built-in Bluetooth capability was straightforward to use and it didn't take long for the Tecra to find other Bluetooth devices in my home and exchange data with them. I had no trouble setting up my cable broadband on the PC and was soon surfing the web and collecting my e-amils.

There are a few interesting features on the Tecra A8 which were new to me. One is the Toshiba Assist button which, when pressed, can launch a predefined application or perform a predefined function. Another is the Toshiba Presentation button which can be used when another monitor is connected to change between internal, external, simultaneous or multi-monitor displays. I didn't get into the habit of using this but I can see that it would be very useful for working with multi-media presentations. Another feature I didn't fully explore is the Hot Keys which are specific key combinations which allow you to change the system configuration from the keyboard without having to run a system program.

All in all, I really liked the Tecra and would certainly consider buying one when I get around to replacing my current computer. The Tecra doesn't break the mould in portable computing, but then it doesn't have to. It has everything you'd expect from a quality up-to-date notebook from a trustworthy brand and it is comfortable to use as well as seeming to be pretty robust. With a gigabyte of RAM and 100 gigabyte hard drive along with its Intel Centrino Duo Processor with a clock speed of 2.0 GHz, it's more than adequate for most of the demands made of a modern computer. And the WXGA TFT display and graphics adaptor with 128 megabytes of RAM on it makes it a good machine for working with graphics or just gaming.

Tags: Toshiba, Tecra A8, Notebook Computers