Toshiba Satellite M645: The Steady March of Progress
by Dustin Sklavos on April 29, 2011 12:50 AM ESTThe Portability Sweet Spot
The 14-inch form factor is often the best place to find a compromise between weight, performance, and price. Dipping down to 13.3" can usually get similar hardware but the price begins to creep up and often GPU performance drops; going up to 15.6-inch can get you a lower price tag but more bulk. A notebook like Toshiba's Satellite M645 can really shine if it hits the right notes in portability and performance. We know the performance is largely there and the weight isn't too bad, so how's the battery life?
Battery life isn't great, but it's not dire either, and the M645 benefits from leveraging NVIDIA's Optimus technology. If there's a real weakness, it's in the mediocre battery the unit is saddled with; there aren't any other full-powered laptops with batteries this small that can still produce four hours of useful running time.
Heat and Noise
While typically we like to use HWMonitor to get a good look at the temperatures of the internals of our review units, in this instance even the most recent version was unable to track anything useful. The temperatures we can report put things into perspective a bit: the processor cores idled at around 46C, and under load bumped up to a still reasonable 77C. For a notebook processor, that's actually a pretty normal load temperature. The GeForce GT 525M did even better: it idled at 43C, and under load only scraped 66C. And finally, regardless of system load, the hard drive hung out at a relatively cool 38C. But it's when I look at those GPU temperatures that I start to feel a little cheated. Did Toshiba have to clock the chip down that badly? Let's see how that heat translates outside of the chassis.
It's by no means the coolest-running notebook, but it's actually not punishingly warm either. In my admittedly anecdotal experience with overclocking mobile graphics (and NVIDIA produces some fantastic little overclockers), raising core clocks doesn't usually produce that much more heat; it's when you start ramping the RAM up that temperatures go through the roof. I don't see any reason why the GT 525M couldn't have been run at spec in the M645; there's thermal headroom here and Optimus ensures the battery life wouldn't take the hit.
As far as noise goes, the fan does whirr up under load but it's not particularly offensive. You'll hear it, but the cooling system really does a fine job of keeping everything running at reasonable temperatures while preventing the fan from producing too much noise. All told, the M645 runs cool and quiet for a 14-inch notebook.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
34 Comments
View All Comments
Jmegapac - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
If you don't mind a Dell, I'd consider Dell Vostro 3450. It has the same configuration as the Toshiba laptop mentioned above except for a) Radeon HD 6630M, b) 320GB 7200RPM HDD, c) DVD writer instead of Bluray drive.It does have backlight keyboard and a fingerprint reader.
I believe the total cost is around $780 or so excluding tax. If you can find a Dell coupon, you should be able to reduce the price even further.
JarredWalton - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
Thanks -- I've added a mention in the conclusion. Not seeing the $780 price for those features, though; where did you find that? I'm coming up with $964 at the time of writing, though perhaps you're talking about using a Dell business account to get a lower price?Eidorian - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
I remember Laptop Magazine had a link through Logic Buy that discounted $220 the Vostro 3450 back in early April. It was rather tempting to get one of those with a Radeon 6630M and a three year warranty for $779.ekerazha - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
About upcoming 14-inch notebooks with Sandy Bridge and a more powerful NVIDIA GPU (I've had too much issues with ATI GPUs), I'm aware of:- Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830T (GT 540M), but some reviews say that it has overheating/throttling issues and poor build quality.
- Lenovo IdeaPad Y470 (GT 550M), but only 4 hours of battery life?
- Asus U41SV (GT 540M)
Unfortunately I think that they lack backlit keyboard.
Did I miss any other notebook?
LoneWolf15 - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
You missed the main trifecta of business laptops, though they are now available for order.Dell Latitude E6420
Lenovo ThinkPad T420
The HP EliteBook 8460p has ATI Radeon Mobility 6470 graphics, but to me it qualifies as well. nVidia isn't without its issues on the mobile graphics front either.
Both the Dell and Lenovo can have Optimus graphics. The Lenovo is lighter, and smaller; the Dell probably has better customer support. Both are built toughter than the models you mentioned, though. The Dell can have a backlit keyboard, and the ThinkPad has its ThinkLight which can shine down on the keyboard to illuminate it, and works well.
royalewihcheese - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
It's a pretty frustrating time to be in the market for a notebook. My previous one just bit the dust, and I'm on a five year old Acer now during the search. They're really dragging on getting Sandy Bridge notebooks to market, and when trying to browse for them, they're all grouped in with the older Core i3/i5/i7 models. It seems like there's a total lack of interest in putting out new notebooks.How much stock do you guys put in the Squaretrade reliability ratings? I've been happy with my two Acers, the last failure being the result of four years of pretty rough use, and they're rated pretty dismally there. Is it worth holding out for an ASUS (which I have a good impression of from using their motherboards for decades) or Toshiba (decidedly less favorable impression) to put out the dream-specced notebook?
jabber - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
...all the stickers?Note ot manufacturers (including Microsoft) I really dont care or want them on my laptop!
Just makes your products look cheaper out on the shelves, not smarter or better.
Joe Average user doesnt have a clue what most of those "Turbo Boost" "Sonic Tunnel" i5" strickers mean anyway.
Ushio01 - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
WD40 is your friend here, it easily removes the loathsome sticky residue after you peel off all those annoying stickers.jabber - Friday, April 29, 2011 - link
Oh its not the taking off that bothers me its just they look so damn ugly and tacky stuck all over the chassis.You dont see that crap stuck all over Macbooks so why do it on non Mac kit?
A simple spec sheet on the store shelf will do.
Also most kit is probably bought online so it makes them even more pointless.
erple2 - Monday, May 2, 2011 - link
Perhaps that's part of the Macintax - no labels costs a little bit more?