The large (16 inch) display is bright, crisp and a joy to behold. I’ve read some complaints about the keyboard, but we like it. There is a numeric keypad, which really saves time if you frequently work with numbers. The touchpad is not located in the middle of the unit, which troubles some people (although it is easy to get used to). If you look carefully at an image of the keyboard, you will see that the touchpad is located roughly in the middle of what I would call the traditional keyboard area (from the left shift key to the right shift key), which is where you will normally find your hands when typing. The two internal speakers are simply great for a laptop, but don’t expect miracles from 1.5 inch speakers. The “fusion” finish looks sharp, but it attracts fingerprints like honey attracts bees.

This Toshiba comes with a six-cell battery and an advertised 3 hours and 20 minute battery life, although we got closer to 2 hours and 30 minutes of battery use with normal settings. Regardless, we don’t run this on battery power that often, and if what you want is really long battery life, you should look at a netbook or ultra-thin. The Windows 7 software is 64-bit, which is where personal computing is headed, so that’s an advantage. However, you may find some compatibility problems with older software or hardware such as printers (many printer manufacturers will have compatible drivers available shortly).

Before you rule this laptop in for your situation, however, you should first rule out various alternatives. If mobility is a key concern for you, this isn’t the right choice. Yes, you can pick it up and carry it around, but at 15 inches in width and over seven pounds, I wouldn’t want to lug it around for long. For, say, a college student who wants to take notes in class every day (and who can accept the limited processing power of less capable machines), a smaller, lighter computer with much better battery life is a better choice. Get a netbook, or maybe an ultra-thin. If you are a serious gamer or video editor, then you need a high-end machine with a discrete graphics card and a more powerful processor. Just be prepared to pay up for it. And if you have no mobility requirement, consider a desktop.

However, if what you want is a desktop replacement laptop with plenty of memory, good processing power, speed, a large screen, a roomy hard drive, lots of ports, etc., then this laptop features an attractive combination of these features in a relatively economical package. It will be the right computer for many people.

I was told by several people that Toshiba has a great reputation for quality, and we are very pleased with this computer.