Toshiba Satellite L755D review

Though AMD offers a different balance of performance to Intel, in terms of power efficiency the two are neck and neck. With a 4,200mAh battery charged to capacity, and the display calibrated to a brightness of 75cd/m2, the Satellite L755D lasted for 5hrs 33mins in our light use test. In our experience that’s about average for an Intel Core i3 laptop in this price bracket.

The Toshiba feels impressively sturdy. Despite its all-plastic construction, there’s precious little flex in the base and the lid feels up to fending off the occasional knock. And it’s remarkably pretty. The combination of red and black does a great job of hiding the Satellite’s budget origins.

Ergonomics are solid, if unremarkable. Though a numeric keypad has been shoehorned in beside the main keyboard, large square keys keep mispresses to a minimum, and they give a solid, responsive break at the end of each stroke. There is a little flex if you eagerly push down at the keyboard’s centre, but we didn’t notice it while typing. The touchpad, meanwhile, just goes about its business: it lacks niceties such as multitouch scrolling, but cursor control is smooth and we loved the large, clicky buttons.

The Satellite L775D’s most mediocre aspect is its glossy 15.6in display. The 1,366 x 768 pixel resolution is usual budget laptop fare, and image quality is merely average. With a maximum brightness of 216cd/m2 and a contrast ratio of 196:1, images look washed out and colours lack vivacity.

In a market that’s been utterly dominated by Intel for many years, it’s good to see AMD fighting back. The A6-3400M might not take the fight to Intel in desktop applications, but it combines fair all-round performance with casual gaming prowess. That suggests a bright future for AMD-powered newcomers, and makes Toshiba’s Satellite L755D a decent laptop for the price.