I'm Dan Ackerman and we are here taking a look at the Toshiba Satellite P755D.
Now, this is a $700 laptop that's got a 15-inch screen.
It's got a Blu-ray drive and it's even got some discreet graphics.
That sounds pretty good, right?
There's gotta be some kind of catch.
Of course there is.
The catch is that instead of using one of Intel's Core i3 or Core i5 CPUs, whether the older Sandy Bridge version to the newer Ivy Bridge versions, this actually has the AMD Quad-core A8 processor.
They don't even call it a CPU.
The call it an APU for I think Accelerated Processing Unit which just means that it's the CPU and graphics chip mashed up together and that's what AMD can do 'cause they make both the CPUs and the graphics chips unlike let's say Intel who just makes CPUs and has their own you know low integrated graphics that's not quite the same thing.
So that's basically what you're trading down to here getting the AMD chip instead of the Intel one and it's kind of a thick bulky plastic body that's not going to impress anybody at the coffee shop.
Now, for basic webster thing and going on Facebook and sending e-mails, the AMD CPU is fine but you know, performance test, it wasn't as fast as let's say a comparable mid-level Intel Core i5.
It was more like the super low level Intel Core i3 even though the AA is pretty much the high-end of AMD's line 'cause that's really...we have to pay the price for spending less on this particular model.
The graphics are actually pretty good.
You can play some mainstream games.
It's just kind of medium or lower settings a lot better than you could if you got an Intel CPU which is the basic integrated Intel HD3000 graphics but we've been testing the next generation of that from Intel, the HD4000 and the scores there are actually kind of similar.
So the advantage you're gonna get from this AMD APU may disappear in kind of these mid-priced systems going into the later half of 2012.
You know that said, if you got $700 to spend and you want a big 15-inch laptop but with a separate number pad and the Blu-ray drive, this is not a terrible choice over all but you can trade up for an Intel Core i5 if you skip some of those other extras for maybe 100 bucks less.
So really test to see a lot of the value here.
I am Dan Ackerman and that is the Toshiba Satellite P755D.
