Toshiba Tecra X40-D assessment: a superb 14-inch business computing device with a very good keyboard

Toshiba’s Tecra latitude presents good computing vigour in a comparatively light-weight, go back and forth-pleasant structure. This combine doesn’t come affordable, however with a starting expense of £999 (ex. VAT) for laptops in the 14-inch Tecra X40 range, Toshiba is competing with top-tier companies like Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Microsoft available in the market for what’s arguably the most appropriate compromise display size for real property versus portability.

The Tecra X40-D has a 14-inch reveal that pushes again to about 157 degrees. build first-rate is decent, assembly MIL-STD 810G, besides the fact that children there may be some flex within the lid part. The laptop weighs 1.25kg.

photos: Toshiba

The Tecra X40-D is a traditional-searching computer with little within the manner of latest-fangled design features to disturb the extra cautious mobile specialists. So, as an example, the screen doesn’t rotate however pushes back to a normal stopping attitude of about 157 degrees. The lid is a slate-gray expanse with a barely discernible linear marking and the Toshiba logo discreetly placed in a single nook.

Open up and there’s greater gray, and just a couple of slivers of silver. One is across the power button that sits appropriate appropriate of the keyboard and one more frames the backside of the touchpad.

As ever with Toshiba, the lid has a fair quantity of flex, so a protective sleeve is probably going to be required when journeying. having said that, Toshiba says the Tecra X40 meets MIL STD 810G, with its magnesium chassis incorporating a honeycomb design that adds to its physical strength.

The matte display has full-HD resolution and touch functionality in all however the entry-stage mannequin.

photo: Toshiba

Producing a lightweight 14-inch computer is rarely the least difficult aspect to do, but Toshiba has kept the load of the Tecra X40-D down to 1.25kg, which is completely acceptable.

measurement is comparatively cheap too, the Tecra X40-D measuring 332mm wide by way of 228.9mm with the aid of 16.9mm — however Toshiba could have completed enhanced in places. for instance, the screen bezels measure about 10mm to the aspect and around 20mm proper and bottom. These may simply have been trimmed with out compromising the width available to the keyboard.

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The display has a very matte finish and is a pleasure to work with for probably the most part, although horizontal viewing angles, desirable brightness, and vibrancy could all increase.

My review model, which is the true-spec of the three at present obtainable on Toshiba’s UK site, had a touchscreen with full-HD decision (1,920 with the aid of 1,080 pixels). This decision is shared via the mid-range model, whereas the entry-stage choice drops to 1,366 through 768 pixels. So, the screen isn’t any match for the likes of the Lenovo Yoga 910, whose (reflective but shiny and bright) 13.9-inch display presents three,840 through 2,a hundred and sixty pixels. higher resolutions don’t seem to be always more suitable, of route, and in particular can impose a drain on battery lifestyles.

The responsive backlit keyboard is a standout function of the Tecra X40-D. You get a pointing stick as well as a huge touchpad.

photo: Toshiba

The backlit keyboard is a pleasure to use — bouncy and responsive, with massive, obviously marked keys — and that i had no complications achieving my average contact typing speed. Toshiba’s characteristic AccuPoint stick sits between the G, H, and B keys and can be used with a pair of added buttons under the slender spacebar. The total association works smartly, my one criticism being that there’s no repute mild indicating when the touchpad is disabled.

Toshiba makes use of a new hybrid air cooling gadget in the Tecra X40. This has two inlets to drag air in. When the fan activated, twin vents found at the back edge of the bottom push out a good volume of sizzling air. Their positioning is a bit awkward: they are a bit of blocked by the lid, and the area at the back of the keyboard becomes heat, as does the again of the base — besides the fact that children to a plenty lesser extent.

There are lots of protection aspects to preserve enterprise users satisfied, together with an IR-based digicam for facial recognition by way of windows hiya, a fingerprint reader developed into the wrist relaxation, and a smart card slot.

There are three off-the-shelf configurations on Toshiba’s UK site, every with some variance in core requirements. in reality the greater you pay the greater RAM and greater challenging force you get, and above the entry model there may be also a touchscreen. My overview unit turned into the suitable-of-the-latitude Tecra X40-D-10H.

• Intel Core i5-7200U, Intel HD pix 620, 4GB RAM windows 10 pro, 14-inch 1,366 x 768 non-contact reveal, 128GB SSD, 802ac+agn wi-fi, Bluetooth 4.2
  Tecra X40-D-10Z, £999 (ex. VAT)
• Intel Core i5-7200U, Intel HD pix 620, 8GB RAM windows 10 professional, 14.0 inch 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen, 256GB SSD, 802ac+agn wi-fi, Bluetooth 4.2
  Tecra X40-D-10G, £1,179 (ex. VAT)
• Intel Core i7-7200U, Intel HD pix 620, 16GB RAM home windows 10 pro, 14.0 inch 1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen, 512GB SSD, 802ac+agn wi-fi, Bluetooth four.2
  Tecra X40-D-10H, £1,479 (ex. VAT)

there’s a wide selection of ports and connectors. For a very long time Toshiba even included a legacy VGA connector in its company laptops, but this has now disappeared in the pursuits of thinness. youngsters the equipment’s twin USB-C ports can guide a VGA adapter. There are additionally vast HDMI and USB 3.0 ports, plus a three.5mm headset jack.

both of the USB-C ports can be used to cost the Tecra X40, and the presence of a MicroSD card slot is one more welcome characteristic. The Harman Kardon audio system bring fairly first rate excellent sound, youngsters, as ordinary, extra bass would be welcome.

Toshiba claims up to 11.5 hours for the Tecra X40-D’s three-telephone li-ion battery, nonetheless it’s dubious that could be realised with true-world workloads. for instance, one session involving web looking, doc introduction, media streaming, spreadsheet work and Skype communication depleted the battery from 100 percent to 50 p.c in 3.5 hours, with the screen at seventy five percent brightness. through that reckoning a common eight-hour day’s work can be possible, but not an awful lot greater.

Conclusions

there may be nothing imaginitive or showy about Toshiba’s Tecra X40-D. as an alternative we’ve a capable, neatly-featured laptop it is gentle satisfactory to tote around. The keyboard is a pleasure to use and the matte reveal is convenient on the eye. The copious security features will please corporate buyers, and the battery may still — very nearly — get mobile professionals through a day’s work when referred to as upon to achieve this.

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