The A505-S6960 ran for 4 hours and 28 minutes on our video playback battery drain test, using the included 12-cell battery. So while it blew away the competition in the budget category of our back-to-school laptops, the battery has twice the number of cells as the other systems. The only drawback to the battery is its size, so if you're not traveling with the laptop and just need extra lap time without a power cord, this is a good option. Plus, our battery drain test is especially grueling, so you can expect longer life from casual Web surfing and productivity tasks. This notebook is also Energy Star qualified.
The Toshiba Satellite A505-S6960 is backed by an industry-standard one-year warranty. Support is accessible 24-7 via a toll-free phone line, an online knowledge base, and a Web site with driver downloads. While retail shops are happy to sell you an in-store extended warranty, they are often expensive and hard to use, so we don't recommend them.
Note: While this machine comes with Windows Vista, many retailers, including Best Buy, and some hardware manufacturers are offering a free upgrade to Windows 7 for systems purchased after the end of June 2009. However, many upgrade offers specifically exclude systems with Vista Basic.
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
Find out more about how we test laptops.
