Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD
Review Summary:
An affordable laptop that mixes good performance and attractive design with poor battery life and mediocre build quality.
Pros
- Good performance
- Satisfactory port selection
- Comfortable, easy to use keyboard
- Stylish design
Cons
- About 3.5 hours of battery life
- Below average build quality
- Easily smudged up: glossy surfaces everywhere
Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD Full Review: A Good Deal on a Budget Laptop?
On the bright side, the Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD is an entry level notebook with good performance thanks to the Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor and enough memory. It also has a fashionable design that's light enough to travel with. On the other hand, the notebook was only able to provide about three and a half hours of battery life and has an all-plastic, somewhat flimsy construction.
Build and DesignLike most of the entry level notebooks in the Toshiba Satellite series, the new 13.3-inch Satellite L735-S3220RD is made almost entirely out of molded plastics and has the familiar rounded clamshell construction on the display lid and around the chassis. This notebook sports a red and black dot matrix design with a glossy Toshiba Fusion finish. The glossy finish embodies the display cover, screen surround, keyboard, and palmrests. To add a touch of style, the area just below the LCD has a bumpy textured feel to it along with the dot matix design. The overall dimensions are 12.95” x 8.7” x 1.10”~1.45”, and it weighs 4.6 pounds without the battery. This notebook is meant to appeal to those who want to have a travel-friendly notebook with a slightly bigger screen size than your typical ultraportable netbook.
All in all, the structure and design of the Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD is made to fit the average budget-conscious consumers' needs while on the go. The design is quite stylish, even though the glossiness tends to collect fingerprints easily almost entirely throughout. Our only question now is, how will its build and construction hold up while traveling?
Pressing down with a good amount of pressure in the center of the keyboard resulted in the chassis giving way; this is due to the all-plastic construction. Although it didn't dip down horribly, it was certainly still noticable and might be a problem with users who normally press down hard while typing. The area above the keyboard and beneath the display gave way even more when we pressed down on it, which may cause problems while traveling. Likewise, the display lid flexed too much for comfort and caused "ripples" when bending the corners inward. The palmrests and bottom of the notebook were the only areas with firm construction. Overall, though, the build quality is not what we would call travel-friendly and it is of questionable durability--the notebook could be easily scratched or beaten up if you are a heavy traveler.
The L735 is somewhat upgradeable and getting to the hardware that you can upgrade is simple: remove two screws and pull upward on the access panel and you can remove the Toshiba hard drive and RAM. The L735 has two RAM slots for up to 8GB of memory.Ports and Features
The ports and features selection on the L735 is considerably above average. It has HDMI, VGA, three USB 2.0 ports, and an 8-in-1 memory card reader (not to mention a Blu-ray player). On the downside, it does not has a USB 3.0 port or eSATA. The memory card reader supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, and Multi Media Card formats. Strangely enough, you will not be able to notice the memory card reader unless you lift the notebook up...it's nearly beneath the chassis.
The ports and features selection on the L735 is considerably above average. It has HDMI, VGA, three USB 2.0 ports, and an 8-in-1 memory card reader (not to mention a Blu-ray player). On the downside, it does not has a USB 3.0 port or eSATA. The memory card reader supports SD, SDHC, SDXC, miniSD, microSD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, and Multi Media Card formats. Strangely enough, you will not be able to notice the memory card reader unless you lift the notebook up...it's nearly beneath the chassis.
Front: Activity lights | Back: Screen hinges |
Left: AC adapter, USB 2.0 x2, 8-in-1 memory card reader, Blu-ray disc player | Right: Headphone and microphone jacks, USB 2.0 'sleep and charge' port, HDMI, Ethernet, VGA, exhaust vent, lock slot |
Screen and Speakers
The L735 has a 13.3-inch glossy 720p backlit display. It has a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1366x768 resolution. Overall, the quality is below average for a notebook in its class due to its low contrast ratio of 162:1 and "sweet spot" viewing angles. The resolution is standard and expected; such a low contrast is not. When the lid is tilted forward or backward, images begin to distort about 10 degrees off center, and vertically, images begin to distort at about 30 degrees of center. The backlighting is uneven, too--the luminance jumps from 160 nits to 199 nits depending on the area. Although, the glossy screen does help a bit with clarity and overall screen quality.
The L735 has a 13.3-inch glossy 720p backlit display. It has a 16:9 aspect ratio and 1366x768 resolution. Overall, the quality is below average for a notebook in its class due to its low contrast ratio of 162:1 and "sweet spot" viewing angles. The resolution is standard and expected; such a low contrast is not. When the lid is tilted forward or backward, images begin to distort about 10 degrees off center, and vertically, images begin to distort at about 30 degrees of center. The backlighting is uneven, too--the luminance jumps from 160 nits to 199 nits depending on the area. Although, the glossy screen does help a bit with clarity and overall screen quality.
The notebook comes equipped with two smaller-sized Conexant SmartAudio HD speakers. There are two of them located above the keyboard and there's also a subwoofer located on the bottom. The positioning of the speakers helps to carry the sound up and outward to the ears. Audio quality is about average; when you enable the Windows and Dolby audio enhancements there is a definite improvement, nothing too major, but it makes the listening experience much more enjoyable. All in all, the audio sounds crisp and there is a good amount of high and low tones.
Keyboard and TouchpadThe L735 comes with a full-sized keyboard that has a mix between a "Chiclet" and traditional style layout. The keys are flat, somewhat raised, and extend out on the bottom. They are also spaced apart from each other a bit to help with key throw. Toshiba has included separate keys for the page up/down, home, delete and end keys. The keys provide excellent responsiveness and travel is great. Not only that, but the surface of the keys is smooth and glossed over, making for an extremely comfortable typing experience. The only complaint we have here is that after about 10 minutes of typing, the keys get extremely smudged up due to the aforementioned glossy surface.
The multi-gesture Synaptics touchpad has a slightly bumpy textured surface; Toshiba
decided this would help the fingers get from one place to another easier. Instead, it would have been better if the surface was smooth and matte. While the touchpad works the way it should and provides excellent non-jumpy cursor movement, the surface is slightly uncomfortable to use. The touchpad isn't bad, it just could have been better. The touchpad also has dedicated buttons that make a loud clicking noise when used.
decided this would help the fingers get from one place to another easier. Instead, it would have been better if the surface was smooth and matte. While the touchpad works the way it should and provides excellent non-jumpy cursor movement, the surface is slightly uncomfortable to use. The touchpad isn't bad, it just could have been better. The touchpad also has dedicated buttons that make a loud clicking noise when used.Our Toshiba Satellite L735-S3220RD review unit has the following specifications:
- 13.3-inch glossy 720p backlit display (16:9 aspect ratio, 1366x768 resolution)
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor (2.3GHz, up to 2.9GHz Turbo Boost, 3MB cache, 35W TDP)
- Intel HM65 chipset
- Intel HD Graphics
- 4GB DDR3-1333MHz RAM (2x2, max. 8GB)
- 640GB 5400rpm Toshiba hard drive (MK6476GSXN)
- Atheros 802.11b/g/n wireless network adapter
- Bluetooth 3.0 + HS
- Integrated webcam
- Blu-ray and DVD SuperMulti
- 6-cell Li-ion battery (48Wh, 12.1V)
- Weight: 4.6 lbs without battery
- Dimensions: 12.95” x 8.7” x 1.10”~1.45
- MSRP: $799.99
Performance and Benchmarks
The Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor at 2.3GHz and 4GB of DDR3-1333MHz memory worked very well for multitasking; we were actually very pleased with its ability to process several different tasks at once--videos, Microsoft Office, music, and several other programs could all run simultaneously without interference. The notebook can also play 1080p video well, despite it having native support for 720p content and integrated Intel HD graphics. At this price range, the only piece of hardware that is a little disconcerting is the hard drive with the 5400 rotational speed. According to Crystal Disk Mark, the hard drive was able to reach about 87 MB/s read speed.
The Intel Core i5-2410M dual-core processor at 2.3GHz and 4GB of DDR3-1333MHz memory worked very well for multitasking; we were actually very pleased with its ability to process several different tasks at once--videos, Microsoft Office, music, and several other programs could all run simultaneously without interference. The notebook can also play 1080p video well, despite it having native support for 720p content and integrated Intel HD graphics. At this price range, the only piece of hardware that is a little disconcerting is the hard drive with the 5400 rotational speed. According to Crystal Disk Mark, the hard drive was able to reach about 87 MB/s read speed.
The benchmark scores below also indicate that the L735 will not have a problem handling most tasks you throw at it aside from gaming. The L735 did just about as well as the popular newest-generation Dell Inspiron 15R as far as the synthetic scores go.
wPrime processor comparision results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark Vantage measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
PCMark 7 is a newer benchmark which measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark Vantage is a newer benchmark which measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:
Battery Life
Our review unit has a 6-cell Li-ion battery (48Wh, 12.1V). In our standard battery life test, we set Windows 7 to the "Balanced" power profile, reduced the screen brightness to 70%, enabled Wi-Fi, and refreshed a web page every minute. The L735 lasted 3 hours and 38 minutes; we were surprised by this result because notebooks with similar hardware have been able to surpass the four hour mark.
Our review unit has a 6-cell Li-ion battery (48Wh, 12.1V). In our standard battery life test, we set Windows 7 to the "Balanced" power profile, reduced the screen brightness to 70%, enabled Wi-Fi, and refreshed a web page every minute. The L735 lasted 3 hours and 38 minutes; we were surprised by this result because notebooks with similar hardware have been able to surpass the four hour mark.
Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):
Heat and Noise
The L735 has a few temperature control openings on the bottom and one main exhaust vent on the right side. While running our benchmark tests, the highest temperature the L735 reached in any one spot was 98 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature was taken on the center of the notebook's bottom panel. The lowest temperature recorded was 79 degrees, taken on the left of the touchpad. The palmrests both stayed very cool during the tests. We were extremely pleased with its results; the L735 is a very lap-friendly notebook. As far as noise goes, even working at a high capacity, the notebook emits hardly any sound.
The L735 has a few temperature control openings on the bottom and one main exhaust vent on the right side. While running our benchmark tests, the highest temperature the L735 reached in any one spot was 98 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature was taken on the center of the notebook's bottom panel. The lowest temperature recorded was 79 degrees, taken on the left of the touchpad. The palmrests both stayed very cool during the tests. We were extremely pleased with its results; the L735 is a very lap-friendly notebook. As far as noise goes, even working at a high capacity, the notebook emits hardly any sound.
Conclusion
The Toshiba Satellite L735 is a price-conscious notebook that delivers good, solid performance. It also has a comfortable keyboard, a pretty good port selection, and a Blu-ray player. The design is also something we should take into account; it has a fashionable red-spotted "Dot Matrix" style throughout nearly the entire notebook. The glossy surfaces are nearly everywhere, though--palmrests, display and screen surround, lid--and this means your notebook will become smudge-central due to your fingerprints.
The Toshiba Satellite L735 is a price-conscious notebook that delivers good, solid performance. It also has a comfortable keyboard, a pretty good port selection, and a Blu-ray player. The design is also something we should take into account; it has a fashionable red-spotted "Dot Matrix" style throughout nearly the entire notebook. The glossy surfaces are nearly everywhere, though--palmrests, display and screen surround, lid--and this means your notebook will become smudge-central due to your fingerprints.
Even though this notebook can be easily carried around during your daily travels, the build quality may jeopardize the lifespan of the notebook in the long run. We found that the display lid quality is the biggest factor here; it's flimsy and bends easily. Another deterrent could be its battery life, we clocked only about 3 and a half hours of mobile run time, whereas some other machines with similar hardware are able to pull four to five hours of battery life. In the end, you simply can't demand perfection at this price range, and we believe the performance, port selection, and keyboard are some of the most important factors when choosing a notebook.
Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
Software & Support
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
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