Toshiba Tecra R850: Business Class on a Budget
by Dustin Sklavos on June 6, 2011 12:01 AM ESTAt Least the Viewing Angles are Good
We get tired of griping about LCD quality, but what more can we do? This is a 15.6" notebook with only one screen option: a matte screen with a 1366x768 resolution, and as expected that's a TN panel. As far as overall quality, it ranks among the worst we've tested. Even after calibration I'll admit I found it had an impressively difficult time actually producing accurate color. The nicest thing I can say (at least until we talk about viewing angles) is that it's bright...even on a dark image.
You'd think someone forgot to tell Toshiba's engineers that you don't want a high score on the black level and delta-E, as it ranks dead last in our charts for those areas. The R850's screen is usable, and mercifully matte, but its results rank among our worst and are very poor. But there's at least a silver lining to this story.
The R850 may have horrible color and contrast, but the viewing angles are actually pretty good. I didn't find myself having major sweet spot issues with the screen like I'd expect to, and you could probably safely have one or two people crowd around the screen without too much trouble.
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GotThumbs - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
I look forward to the day when SSD drives will be more of a mainstream option.Nice Review as always.
dananski - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
I've been thinking the same thing recently since I looked for a laptop for a friend on Dell's website and found she couldn't have an SSD without spending nearly £1000 (~$1650) for an Alienware gaming laptop she doesn't need (she has a desktop for gaming). Even then, Dell's only "SSD" option for non-business customers is actually a hybrid drive.A decent SSD makes even a low end system much more usable. It's not a feature that should be limited to the high end.
Stuka87 - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
You can get SSD's on Latitudes, which cost less than an alienware box.The issue is Dell SSD's suck. So its far better to go with a base HD, and then buy an SSD from NewEgg or something. Its both MUCH cheaper, and you get a better drive.
Shinobi_III - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
SSD would be more mainstream if general people understood why they would buy a laptop with 64gb instead of THREE THOUSAND!!!People are dumb, never underestimate the general public... :(
chrnochime - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
I might be behind on the latest status of SSDs but last time I checked they still die much faster than HDs do with repeated read/writes, because of them being NAND(or NOR) cells and not discs. I'd jump on SSD if that's not the case anymore.JarredWalton - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
General use with current wear leveling algorithms means the NAND should last upwards of 10 years on all current drives. The bigger problem is something else going wrong (i.e. faulty firmware, or some other glitch), so if you have critical data stored on an SSD I'd recommend a real backup strategy rather than just hoping for the best. If an HDD dies and you really need the data, you can pay data recovery firms a couple thousand dollars and usually get everything back. If you SSD dies, you're pretty much SOL.Roland00 - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
13.3 inchi5 2410m
Nvidia Geforce GT540m with Nvidia Optimus (it uses 2gb of ddr3 though instead of gddr5)
It gets rid of the crappy acer island keyboard, but keeps the glossy screen and has the resolution at 1366x768.
No Optical Drive.
4lbs 1 ounce.
It is $779 at frys, I don't know what the other places are going to have since this is a new product and hasn't made much news yet.
warisz00r - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
the also-new ASUS U41SV? It has pretty much the similar specs as the Acer above except it comes with a 14.1 inch screen, an optical drive, about 1" thick and comes in at about 2kg with an 8-cell batt. I'm hoping to get one of these as my new laptop.ppeterka - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
Agreed with both of you! 15.6" AND HD resolution, AND business class? Oh my god, when will this end?And there is the absolutely redundant, never used keypad. Why?
Acers have a bad reputation regarding build quality (Me, and ym colleagues were having display problems in the Penryn era 57xxG notebooks), but I wouldn't buy this over the Acer 3830 series even if I was forced to. Big. Crap. And not THAT cheap! Even here in Hungary, Acer prices are quite reasonable, and they pack quite a punch for the money.
aylafan - Monday, June 6, 2011 - link
I just saw your title and it is incorrect. Make sure you are buying the 3830TG and not the 3830T.3830T = ONLY has Intel Integrated Graphics
3830TG = NVIDIA GeForce GT540M with Optimus Technology