Toshiba Satellite Pro NB10-A review

The 11.6in Satellite Pro NB10-A is aimed at schools and businesses seeking a sturdy, functional Windows 8 laptop; a glance is all it takes to confirm that Toshiba has put practicality first. The laptop is finished in tough, matte-black plastics, and the 1.3kg chassis feels like it would survive a serious amount of punishment. See also: what’s the best laptop you can buy in 2014?

Toshiba Satellite Pro NB10-A: Display and touchscreen quality

The glossy 11.6in touchscreen offers a resolution of 1,366 x 768, and it works perfectly well, responding to edge-swipes and finger-taps reliably and accurately.

Image quality is a little more patchy. Contrast is what we’d expect from a £300 laptop at 260:1, but as Toshiba has used a TN panel, viewing angles are narrow and colours are muted. Brightness is low, too, with the LED backlight topping out at a modest 195cd/m2, and this makes it difficult to see the screen in direct sunlight.

Connectivity is a high point. Despite the Satellite Pro NB10-A’s low price and compact dimensions, it’s better appointed than many Ultrabooks at several times the price. Toshiba has found room for both HDMI and VGA video outputs, a 10/100 Ethernet port, SD card reader, two USB 2 ports and a single USB 3 port. A panel on the underside is removable with a single screw, and this gives access to the 2.5in HDD bay and the two RAM slots.

Toshiba Satellite Pro NB10-A: Performance

Inside, the Toshiba is equipped with a 2GHz Intel Celeron N2810 CPU, 4GB of DDR3L RAM and a 500GB HDD. The Celeron CPU is based on the same architecture as Intel’s Bay Trail Atom processors, but equipped with two rather than four cores. A result of 0.3 in our Real World Benchmarks isn’t lightning-quick, but it reflects enough power for most office applications.

Stamina, however, is limited by the tiny, removable 24Wh, 2,100mAh battery. In our light-use test, the Toshiba ran dry after only 4hrs 22mins, so you’ll need to factor in the cost of a spare battery if you’re intending to use it on the go.

Ergonomics, meanwhile, are something of a mixed bag. The touchpad works without fuss, and the dedicated buttons are a sensible choice. We’re not so convinced by the keyboard, however – the Scrabble-tile keys are a little too small for larger hands, and feel dead and unresponsive whilst typing. The placement of the Page Up and Page Down keys make them easy to press by mistake as well.

Toshiba Satellite Pro NB10-A: Verdict

The Satellite Pro NB10-A’s removable battery, connectivity and build quality are all big plus points, but the identically priced Asus VivoBook X200CA serves up better ergonomics and faster performance in a much prettier package.