Toshiba Satellite L70-B-130 Notebook Review

"Mirror, mirror on the wall..." - that famous phrase may just jump to mind when looking at the portable computer clad in glossy plastic. But seriously: Toshiba opposes the trend of more restrained, matte casing surfaces and relies on a plastic casing with a piano paint finish. As observed, there is no accounting for taste, but this design option does not really convince us, particularly since the excitement about the shiny new gadget is short-lived after removing the masses of plastic wrappings sticking on the casing. It does not take long before dust and fingerprints magically appear on the almost 2.9 kilogram (~6.4 lb) multimedia machine. The plastic feel of the Satellite L70-B-130 does not receive any top scores either - especially in view of the competition's increasing use of aluminum-based casings.

Regardless of this drawback, the L70-B-130 proves to be a decent and appropriately built laptop in view of the price. We did not discover any manufacturing flaws or major slip-ups on the 17-inch device. The rigidity is satisfactory, although it is only average. Although the display's lid can be twisted quite strongly, the base unit is rigid. The same is true for the relatively smooth-running hinges that allow opening with one hand, but could be pulled a bit tighter in the opinion of the writer. All in all, we deem the casing's quality suitable for the price range, though it does not excel in this respect.

Toshiba also bucks the trend with the screen of its Satellite L70-B-130. Not only does the TN screen's glossy finish (glossy-type) match the 17-inch device's shiny casing, the resolution of 1600x900 pixels (HD+) are becoming rare in the consumer sector these days. This idiosyncratic decision against the long-established Full HD resolution in favor of HD+, leads to a somewhat coarse reproduction with a screen diagonal of 17.3 inches (43.9 cm).

We confirmed an average brightness of 201 cd/m² in Samsung's screen (model: 173KT02-T01), which is a below average rate. It should however be enough for indoor use in most cases. The screen's brightness and reflective finish might only prove a drawback in brightly lit rooms or at a window seat. The illumination of 80% is also average, and the picture largely makes a homogeneous impression.

The contrast of poor 176:1 results in an only moderate black level of 1.21 cd/m². These rates lead to comparatively faint colors and an unsaturated black reproduction that shifts a bit into gray. Subjectively, the screen fares better than the measured rates suggest. The screen's fairly vivid impression might also be due to the glossy finish, but the user should not really expect a high contrast and rich color representation.

The Samsung screen achieves a 50% coverage of the large AdobeRGB color space, and a 68%coverage of the sRGB color space. These rates are acceptable for normal consumer utilization. However, demanding image editors will have to avoid the L70-B-130. The screen's color reproduction in the state of delivery is only moderate. Seeing that a DeltaE rate of more than 3 is already visible as a distinct color deviation, the DeltaE 2000 shift of 9.54 that we ascertained using CalMAN is no credential for the screen of the L70. The obvious color shift also results in a laptop-typical, but in this case, quite a significant bluish cast of the screen.

As mentioned, Toshiba also relies on Intel's Core i7-4710HQ in its multimedia machine. The CPU model of the American computer giant is available as a socketed (MQ) and soldered (HQ), and has established itself as perennial in the mobile quad-core processor sector. That is also justified, because the processor can be seen as a "golden cut" with a base clock of 2.5 GHz up to 3.5 GHz via Intel's Turbo Boost in terms of performance/price.

The 4710HQ also proves its qualities in the Satellite L70_B-130. The processing unit achieved a score of 532 in multi-core and 132 in single-core rendering of the Cinebench R15 benchmark. The clock frequencies, however, did not reach the ideal rates. While the CPU achieved the specified maximum of 3.5 GHz with slight fluctuations in single-core operation, it did not go beyond 2.9 GHz in multi-core operation (3.5 GHz should be possible according to the specs). This also has an effect on the benchmark results as can be seen in the following comparison chart. The performance is fixed to the base speed of 2.5 GHz in battery mode.

Toshiba very self-confidently dubs the dedicated graphics unit as "Enthusiast Graphics". The laptop manufacturer relies on AMD's new Radeon R9 M265X. However, the graphics chip does not really seem new to us when we look at the technical specifications, and most benchmark tools also display it as the Radeon HD 8850M graphics solution. That is not surprising since both GPUs feature 640 Shaders, a 2 GB GDDR5 video memory, and the same 128-bit data bus. We also find the maximum core clock of 625 MHz in the data sheet of the HD 8850M. The synthetic benchmarks confirm the R9 M265X's good multimedia performance. AMD's GPU is able to leave the GeForce 840M in MSI's GP70 behind, but it clearly does not stand a chance against the GTX 850M in either the DDR3 version (Asus N750JK) or the GDDR5 version (Acer Aspire V3-772G).

Our "enthusiasm" was kept within bounds. However, when the graphics performance of AMD's processing unit is evaluated more realistically and the marketing claims of the manufacturer are disregarded, the R9 M265X is quite impressive on a multimedia level. As our gaming benchmarks show, the GPU places itself between the 840M and 850M DDR3, and is thus primarily suitable for rendering medium to high details using the native 1600x900 pixels. However, the graphics processor is not fast enough for Full HD and maximum settings in very high-requirement games like Thief. Users who focus on gaming will have to dig a bit deeper in their pockets, and increase their budget to approximately 1200 Euros (~$1520). This price range offers models with the 850M with GDDR5 video memory (Aspire V3-772G) or even with the GTX 860M (Clevo W370SS) with considerably higher graphics power.

We are faced with a divided impression when looking at the temperatures of Toshiba's Satellite L70-B-130. The casing's temperatures still look very good. While the device's surfaces only heated up marginally in the low load range, we found the device's hotspot in the right area on the underside. This is where the CPU and GPU are located, and pass the accumulated waste heat on to the large fan. The other parts of the casing also remained agreeably cool in this scenario.

It looks all the more dramatic for the internal temperatures. Peak temperatures of 100 °C (~212 °F) on the CPU (throttling to 1.8 to 2 GHz) and, above all, tremendously high 96 °C (~204.8 °F) on the GPU are extreme temperatures. It is obvious that the cooling design with a relatively large, but just only one fan and only one heat pipe for both CPU & GPU is clearly overburdened.

Unfortunately, this did not only occur during our absolutely unrealistic stress test. The GPU-Z recorded a GPU temperature of up to 95 °C (~203 °F) even in our short benchmark sequence of Far Cry 3! The graphics chip's core rates fluctuated between 575 MHz and the maximum 625 MHz. We would therefore not really recommend the laptop for excessive gaming sessions.

The market for multimedia laptops in the price range of below 1000 Euros (~$1267) is highly competitive, and Toshiba takes its place with the objective of playing along in the concert of gaming suitable multimedia laptops. However, the manufacturer takes an approach in some categories that we do not always understand: A shiny piano painted, plastic casing alongside a glossy screen with 1600x900 pixels in a 17.3 inch screen diagonal is just as incomprehensible to us as dubbing the AMD Radeon R9 M265X "Enthusiast Graphics". Potential buyers who still want to find out a bit more about their planned acquisition, and thus take up the laptop hunt with realistic expectations, will find a powerful multimedia computer with good performance for various application fields in Toshiba's Satellite L70-B-130. We also liked the very decent sound system and the good idle battery runtime. However, we have to criticize the device's tremendously high temperature development on the CPU & GPU during load, which could be observed not just during the stress test.

Buyers who put more value on a noticeably higher gaming performance and can increase their budget to 1200 Euros (~$1520), should look for a device with a GTX 850M or higher. Some examples would be Asus' N750JK, Acer's V3-772G or the Clevo W370SS.