| uwestolt | | Administrateur | | 4 messages postés |
|  Posté le 22-04-2013 à 06:49:16   
| Toshiba Satellite U940-101 Ultrabook
The first ultrabooks were launched more than a year ago. Since then, an impressive variety of models have become available, which are continuously enhanced by several manufacturers.
Toshiba also expand their product range and launch the first 14-inch ultrabook. Compared to previous models like the Portégé Z930, the Satellite U940 does not only feature a bigger display, but should also attract price-conscious customers. The entry-level configuration with Core i3 is priced at 700 Euros (~$931). Our U940-101 test model is available for about 800 Euros (~$1065) and features a Core i5-3317U, 8 GB RAM and a 640 GB hard drive with 32 GB SSD cache. Its price-performance ratio is excellent, but does this have a negative impact on build quality? [b]ASUS C23-UX21[/b]
In our review, we will scrutinize the laptop and compare the Satellite to its direct competition. This includes Lenovo's IdeaPad U410 and Dell's Inspiron 14z, which performed excellently in the past.
At the first glance, the Satellite looks like a typical ultrabook with high-quality metallic surfaces. But, when looking closer, you'll realize that it is not made from aluminum. In order to keep the price low Toshiba instead use significantly cheaper plastic. Besides that, the bluish shining U940 looks elegant. ASUS N56 battery
The especially thin display frame (about 14 mm) intensifies this experience. As a result the case looks smaller than many competitors'. The laptop can be easily transported as it weighs barely 1.7 kg and is only 20.7 mm high, although it cannot compete with 13.3 inch laptops in this aspect, as these are often 0.5 cm thinner and several grams lighter.
The omission of solid light metals has a negative impact on the stability. The chassis notably gives in under light pressure at many parts, but this does not have an impact on usability. In addition, the display's torsional stiffness is also just moderate. As with many laptops in this price range, the lid teeters, because the hinges are not high-quality. Asus C22-B400A
Finally, we want to praise the Toshiba's high build quality. Due to small gaps and neatly rounded edges, we cannot criticize much here and, taken as a whole, the Satellite U940 deserves a good rating.
Processor
If ULV lets you think of slow energy saving models from past years, you are wrong: the Core i5-3317U performs decently and is capable of more than web surfing and office tasks.
In Cinebench R11.5 (64 Bit) the frugal dual core CPU achieves 2.4 points and is about 15% slower than the 35 Watt Core i5-3210M model. Only the significantly more expensive i7-3517U performs equally much better. In practice the difference should not be noticeable. Only those who frequently edit HD videos or high-resolution images or execute other CPU-intensive tasks, should consider a faster notebook with quad core CPU. For example, the Core i7-3630QM is about twice as fast in multi-threading tasks, but cannot be used in slim ultrabooks like the U940. ACER Aspire V5 battery
Storage Solution
HDTune benchmark
While SSDs are very fast, they are also small and expensive. In order to combine the speed of flash memory with the capacity of a conventional hard drive, several manufacturers use cache solutions. Here, two drives work in a special RAID connection, which automatically moves frequently used programs to the SSD.
Toshiba use a 640 GB hard drive from Hitachi (Travelstar series, 5.400 rpm) and a 32 GB mSATA SSD from Samsung (PM830 series) for such a hybrid solution. It is difficult to measure the resulting performance with conventional tools: depending on the media currently accessed, transfer rates and the access times vary from very fast to slow. However, the OS, browser and other important applications definitely profit from the dedicated cache. ASUS VivoBook S400CA battery
System Performance
The PCMark 7 benchmark indicates how well our system with SSD and HDD performs. In achieving an astonishing 4300 points the Satellite U940 even outperforms the Inspiron 14z, although the latter is equipped with a fully fledged SSD. But, this result should not necessarily be generalized: apparently the test sequences of PCMark nearly exclusively used the mSATA SSD, which will not always be the case in practice. If you always demand full performance, you won't be happy with a cache solution in the long run. Everybody else will appreciate the great compromise of price and performance. [b]DELL Latitude 6430u Ultrabook battery[/b]
As is already known from former tests, the HD Graphics 4000 can only smoothly run current games in much reduced settings. Nearly all titles are (more or less) playable if you do, although they no longer look that good.
In Battlefield 3 the user even has to select a poor 640x480 pixels and the lowest detail level. The game does not even runs smoothly (15 fps) in our preset minimum level (XGA resolution, minimum details) and you really can't enjoy the game this way. Anno 2070, Dishonored and Diablo 3 are significantly less demanding and run at 30 fps in 1024x768 pixels and low to medium settings. But, as the results prove, adding a weak, dedicated GPU such as in the Lenovo or Dell, would not have been useful. It's a good thing that Toshiba did not. [b]Dell Studio 15Z battery[/b]
System Noise
Although the fan runs without interruption, the notebook does not get uncomfortably loud while idle. Because of the uniform and low-frequency noise the noise level of 31.6 to 33.8 dB(A) is subjectively very quiet. If you listen closer, hard drive access is audible (32.1 dB(A)), but also only notable in quiet environments.
Under load the noise gradually increases to up to 42.3 dB(A), but the maximum level could only be observed during our stress test. In real life load scenarios, e.g. 3DMark 06, the noise remains at an acceptable level with 37.6 dB(A) and our test sample is as loud as its ultrabook competition. [b]Toshiba Portege R930 battery[/b]
While idle the top side of the case gets only slightly warmer and only some parts exceed 30 °C. With 37 °C the underside gets warmer. Nevertheless, you can use the U940 on your lap if you just run undemanding tasks like Office or internet.
Under full load the U940 suffers from its quiet cooling system. While the palm rests remain comfortably cool with a maximum of 34 °C, the temperature increases to 43 to 50 °C around the keyboard. Given the frugal ULV hardware, a record-breaking 66 °C on the underside is a surprise. Is throttling bound to occur?
Much to our surprise it is not: during our one hour stress test with Prime95 and FurMark the i5-3317U's core temperatures stay significantly below 80 °C and it keeps running at its base clock of 1.7 GHz. The clock rate of the integrated graphics chip varies between 900 and 1000 MHz and nearly completely uses its Turbo Boost potential. So, throttling should not occur in summer. [b]HP ENVY Dv7 battery[/b]
Energy Management
Power Consumption
The Satellite U940's power consumption is on par with comparably fast ultrabooks. It demands 6.7 to 10.3 Watt while idle and up to 38.1 in 3DMark 06. So, the included 45 Watt power adapter only has a small reserve capacity for charging the battery. In our stress test (not relevant in practice) a maximum of 41.3 Watt is reached.
Battery Life
By means of a 45 Wh Li-Ion battery the U940 should be able to reach battery runtimes of up to 4.5 hours according to the manufacturers. However, this value was recorded with Mobile Mark 2012 and not while idle.
The Battery Eater Reader's test (energy saving profile, minimum brightness WLAN off) reports 6 hours and 27 minutes. That is slightly shorter than the Inspiron 14z's and the IdeaPad U410's. [b]DELL XPS 12 battery[/b]
If Wi-Fi is enabled and display brightness is at a medium level (about 150 cd/m² the runtime falls to about 4 hours. So, the user can work for about half a day remote from an outlet.
As full CPU and GPU performance is also available on battery, the runtime is relatively short in the Battery Eater Classic test. The battery is empty after 1 hour and 18 minutes and the notebook has to be plugged in again. Charging takes about 2 hours.
For current laptops barely 800 Euros (~$1065) is not really a small price to pay, however it is for ultrabooks, because of their high build quality. [b]Lenovo ThinkPad X230s battery[/b]
The Satellite U940 is not made from expensive light metals. Therefore, the stability of the case is not that high, but the plastic case is neatly manufactured. The money saved here was invested in powerful hardware, which delivers decent system performance. If you like, you can easily upgrade many components, which is not or only to some extent possible in ultrabook competitors.
As so often, the display is once again one of the biggest points of critique. In this price range, low quality TN panels are commonplace, but the manufacturer should at least have built-in a matte display so that it stays legible outdoors. As the battery life is only moderately long, the Satellite unfortunately disappoints a little bit in the key skill of an ultrabook, i.e. mobility. [b]LENOVO IdeaPad Yoga 11 battery[/b]
In addition, the laptop loses points because its keyboard only has a poor feedback and it gets very hot under load. The latter is caused by the slowly rotating fan, which keeps the system noise low. Overall, the Satellite is not ideal in office use.
Nevertheless, we do not want to say that the U940 is not appropriate for its target group. If you are looking for an especially light and portable laptop with big memory capacities, you could like the slim 14-incher - among others because of its attractive price-performance ratio.
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