Toshiba Satellite U920t review

£898
Price when reviewed

As this is an Ultrabook, connectivity isn’t generous. The right-hand edge houses an SD card reader and audio jack and there are only two USB 3 sockets. The only socket is an HDMI output, and there’s no sign of a stylus.

Performance, battery life and display

Inside, the Toshiba is powered by a dual-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i3-3217U processor, backed up by 4GB of RAM, and it scored 0.51 in our Real World Benchmarks. It isn’t as quick as the Sony with its beefy Core i7, but it’s a score that still means the U920t is capable of running most applications without leaving you twiddling your thumbs.

In day-to-day use it proved perfectly responsive. Scrolling back and forth across the Windows 8 Start screen felt smooth and glitch-free – unlike the jerky experience we had with Toshiba’s touchscreen all-in-one, the LX830. The U920t delivered the same fast, fluid response when browsing, zooming and panning in Internet Explorer, and startup times, aided by a 128GB Samsung SSD, were swift. Press the power button on the left-hand edge and the Toshiba U920t will boot into Windows 8 from cold in a rapid 11 seconds.

Toshiba Satellite U920t

Battery life brings it back down to earth with a bump, though: it ran out of juice after 5hrs 40mins in our light-use test – way behind the Sony’s 7hrs 6mins result. The display is better, with brightness measured at 320cd/m2, but it still can’t match the Sony’s 451cd/m2 result nor its Full-HD resolution. (Note: an earlier version of this review put the Toshiba’s screen brightness at 180cd/m2 – this was, however, with Windows 8’s automatic brightness control on.)

Toshiba Satellite U920t

Verdict

We like the idea of a hybrid Windows 8 tablet/laptop, but we’ve yet to see a truly great example. The Sony VAIO Duo 11 suffered from ergonomic problems, and this Toshiba just adds to the disappointment.

It’s too heavy and cumbersome to function well as a tablet, and although general build, usability and performance are all perfectly acceptable, the battery life isn’t good enough for a machine that costs the best part of £1,000.

If you’re absolutely desperate to buy a Windows 8 hybrid right now, we’d go for the VAIO: it has a superior screen and a more attractive design, is much lighter and has longer battery life – plus, if the price is too high, you can always opt for a cheaper configuration. Our advice, though, is to hold onto your cash until something more compelling arrives. Either that or buy a proper laptop or tablet instead.

Warranty

Warranty1 yr return to base

Physical specifications

Dimensions326 x 213 x 20mm (WDH)
Weight1.500kg

Processor and memory

ProcessorIntel Core i3-3217U
RAM capacity4.00GB
Memory typeDDR3

Screen and video

Screen size12.5in
Resolution screen horizontal1,366
Resolution screen vertical768
Resolution1366 x 768
Graphics chipsetIntel HD Graphics 4000
HDMI outputs1

Drives

Capacity128GB
Hard disk usable capacity119GB
Hard diskSamsung PM830 SSD
Replacement battery price inc VAT£0

Networking

802.11a supportyes
802.11b supportyes
802.11g supportyes
802.11 draft-n supportyes
Integrated 3G adapterno
Bluetooth supportyes

Other Features

Modemno
3.5mm audio jacks1
SD card readeryes
Pointing device typeTouchpad
Integrated microphone?yes
Integrated webcam?yes
Camera megapixel rating3.0mp
TPMno
Fingerprint readerno

Battery and performance tests

Battery life, light use5hr 40min
3D performance (crysis) low settings29fps
3D performance settingLow
Overall Real World Benchmark score0.51
Responsiveness score0.60
Media score0.56
Multitasking score0.37

Operating system and software

Operating systemWindows 8 64-bit
OS familyWindows 8

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