X-bit labs

14" Widescreen: Most Optimal Solution? 10 Contemporary Notebooks Roundup (page 29)

Category: Mobile

by Vasily Melnik

[ 06/07/2006 | 10:56 PM ]

Toshiba Tecra A6-S513

Toshiba’s new Tecra A6-S513 is the last to be reviewed here.

Notebooks from Toshiba feature a very recognizable design, so you can guess the manufacturer without the prompting stickers. This consistency through generations is valuable for loyal fans of the brand that won’t be left without their favorite features after replacing their current notebook.

Like the notebook from Sony (see the previous section), this model offers but few interface connectors which are also not very conveniently placed around its case.

The intricately shaped front panel which is the result of the original relief of the notebook’s bottom (they even had to attach feet to it to make the computer steady) carries a Wi-Fi switch on the left…

…and headphones and microphone sockets with a volume control on the right:

Toshiba is not afraid of using such controls because their service time depends directly on the quality of the potentiometers and the company’s engineers have proved their quality in the numerous sold notebooks.

The notebook status indicators are located in the bottom left corner:

They are well visible even when the lid is closed. The back panel carries a power adapter connector, one USB port, and LAN and modem ports.

I can put up with the latter two, but I can’t understand why you would ever need a USB port at the back of your computer. The power adapter connector is rather too far from the edge, so you have to get used to it to learn to attach the adapter blindly.

The rest is ordinary enough. The right panel accommodates an optical drive and two USB connectors:

On the left panel, there is an external monitor output, one more USB port, S-Video output, FireWire port, PCMCIA slot, and card-reader.