I was recently editing an audiobook when my HP laptop completely stopped working on me. I am known for using my devices until they are on their last leg of life. I needed a great replacement and I had to stay within budget. A few friends of mine have Toshiba Satellite laptops so I decided to head over to Toshiba’s and see what they had to offer. I came across the Toshiba Satellite C55D-B5212. It was reasonably priced. So I read some reviews and decided to place the order. It has been a while since I had purchased a new laptop and it was time for a change like when I switched from Android to a Windows Phone 8.
About 7 days later the Toshiba C55D-B5212 showed up via UPS. There is no un boxing in this review. So let’s jump right into the review. The first step was to download all the updates to get the new laptop up to speed and up to date. The updates took about 30 minutes. The Toshiba C55D-B5212 comes equipped with Windows 8.1 so I was interested to see how the new operating system would compare to Windows 7 Ultimate. After the updates were good to go, it was time to see what the new laptop could do. I was able to sync all of my social media, email and xbox live apps seamlessly with Windows 8.1
I really liked the construction of the Toshiba C55D-B5212 with it’s resin texture in jet black and it weighs in under 5 pounds (4.85 pounds). The processor is an AMD A8-6410 Quad Core APU which handles videos, gaming, multi tasking and graphics rather well. The display on the screen is 15.6 inches and has an HD Truebrite LED backlit display. The Graphics engine is the AMD Radeon R5. I was very happy with the clarity of the display (1366X768, 16:9 aspect ratio)on the Toshiba C55D-B5212. There is also a built in HD web cam for you to use with Skype and making vlogs. The quality of the web cam is really good. The built in microphone isn’t to shabby either. Going from a 14 inch display to a 15.6 inch display I had a bit more real estate on the screen which gave me more room when editing audiobooks.
The C55 has a combo port for a headphone/mic set up which works well for Skype! The speakers are a little lackluster in power, sound quality and are located towards the top of the keyboard. The speakers will do for the average person but for me not so much.
The good news is there is a card reader located in the front just below the touch pad. The keyboard is another feature I really like about the Toshiba C55D-B5212. There is a number pad located to the left which is really convenient. In fact the position of all the keys are spot on. Typing on the keyboard is very fluid. One issue I did have with this laptop is the touch pad. I would use the touch pad and it would freeze every five minutes. I would have to use the mouse disconnect button and then it would work for a another five minutes and stop working again. This kept happening so I headed over to Toshiba’s support page and downloaded the update for this touch pad. After the download I was still experiencing the same issues so I went out and bought a wireless mouse.
The Toshiba C55D-B5212 is equipped with 1-USB 3.0 port, 2-USB 2.0 ports and a HDMI port. The C55D-B5212 does come with 4GB DDR3L of memory however the memory is factory installed and you can not upgrade it. Speaking of other non removal items, the battery is not removable either. If you can get past not upgrading the memory or removing the battery from the C55D-B5212 you will be ok. Also on board the C55D-B5212 is a 500GB hard drive. You will find a wireless LAN and Bluetooth on the C55D-B5212 so hooking up to the internet and transferring files is super easy.
The battery life on the Toshiba will give you approximately a little over 5 hours running on the battery alone. The AC adapter: 45W (19V 2.37A) Auto-sensing, 100-240V / 50-60Hz input. The battery is a Lithium Ion (45Wh, 4-Cell).
This laptop came with Windows 8.1 and I am really digging it. I really like the tiles that you can pin and how the list of apps are in order for you to browse through. Some of the tiles are “live” and some tiles are not. I have a minimum set of tiles on my start screen so with one glance I can see what is going on. I actually feel more organized with the start screen tiles and I find them very convenient. Playing games on the Toshiba C55 is really good and the AMD A8 does a fantastic job of keeping your gaming needs up to par.
With the exception of not being able to remove the battery or upgrade the memory, the Toshiba C55D-B5212 is a great workstation and a great value at $468.99 As far as Windows 8.1 goes, I really like it.
Christopher Trimble is a Voice Talent, Audio Book Editor, Area 51 Test Pilot, Ex BMX’er, Roller Derby fan and Creative Artist residing in the beautiful mountains of Salt Lake City Utah.
You can find Christopher on Twitter, Instagram, Google+ and christophertrimble.co
On the verge of ordering this laptop
Thank you for an honest review
While Toshiba claims the memory isn’t user upgradable and the battery can’t be removed, both are actually easily done. The battery is held in by two screws, and the back of the laptop has several screws all over the place (all that’s needed is a small Phillips screwdriver, nothing proprietary). Once you’re sure you’ve removed them all, simply carefully pop the notches around the perimeter of the laptop (using a thin tool like an iSesamo tool helps).
Once the back is off, there are two memory slots right in the middle with a simple spring mechanism, to remove/place the memory. Gently pull the metal holder sideways to each side, and the memory stick will angle upward for removal. Place memory at the same angle, and be sure the holders snap into place for proper position.
Replace the back cover (it’s good not to have any “spare” screws left when finished). Welcome to your new and wonderful laptop. At 4GB RAM I was constantly getting memory errors and things were crawling. Upgrading to 16GB is fantastic, as everything works as quickly as it should. 16GB may be overkill for some, but is perfect for my purposes.
The two slots will hold up to 8GB each, so you can put in a combination to suit yourself. I purchased my memory from Crucial, using their system scan to determine the correct item. It’s guaranteed compatible, and Crucial has never let me down yet.
Good luck, and enjoy! :O)