Toshiba Tecra A5 review

Performance
In keeping with its no-frills theme, the Tecra A5 achieved midrange scores in our mobile benchmarks. It ran 10 per cent slower than the similarly configured Satellite M45 and 10 per cent faster than the exceptionally slow Satellite M35X. Its battery lasted 2 hours, 43 minutes -- nearly an hour longer than the cells in the Satellites but just short of the 3 hours we consider to be the baseline average for mainstream battery life.

Mobile application performance
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

BAPCo's MobileMark 2002 performance rating

Toshiba Satellite M45-S165

179

Toshiba Tecra A5-S116

161

Toshiba Satellite M35X-S163

145

Battery life
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

MobileMark 2002 battery-life minutes

Toshiba Tecra A5-S116

163

Toshiba Satellite M35X-S163

107

Toshiba Satellite M45-S165

91

System configurations:
Toshiba Satellite M35X-S163
Windows XP Home; 1.4GHz Celeron M 360; 512MB DDR SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; Intel Extreme Graphics 2 for Mobile 855GM/GME up to 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 80GN 80GB 4,200rpm (NTFS)

Toshiba Satellite M45-S165
Windows XP Home; 1.5GHz Celeron M 370; 512MB DDR SDRAM PC2700 333MHz; ATI Radeon Xpress 200M 64MB; Toshiba MK8026GAX 80GB 5,400rpm (NTFS)

Toshiba Tecra A5
Windows XP Pro; 1.5GHz Celeron M 370; 256MB DDR SDRAM PC2700 166MHz; Intel 915GM/GMS; 910GML Express 128MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 40GB 4,200rpm (NTFS)

Edited by Michelle Thatcher
Additional editing by Nick Hide