One of the new budget laptop configurations is Toshiba’s Satellite L855D-S5117 15.6-incher with the AMD A8-4500M quad-core processor, 4GB of RAM, and a 640GB hard drive.
The A8-4500M has four cores, but it doesn’t mean that it is faster than the latest Intel dual-core counterparts, as you can see in the table below. Anyway, it’s still sufficiently fast for all the daily task you might do, minus hard-core 3D rendering and high-res video editing.
On the other side, the embedded AMD Radeon HD 7640G graphics is generally faster than the Intel HD 4000 on the Core chips, but it isn’t a gaming solution. However, some games are nicely supported on lower resolutions, like Battle Field 3. Go search for “AMD A8-4500M BattleField 3 Game Play” on Youtube and you will see in a couple of videos that it runs smooth.
The Toshiba L855D-S5117 also has a DVD burner, stereo speakers, HDMI, three USB ports, a and webcam. According to the manufacturer, the battery lasts for maximum 4:03 hours of use.
Overall, it’s a classic low-cost mobile machine with plastic chassis. Cheaply looking some might say, but that’s a kind of normal for inexpensive laptops. The case on this model comes with gray textured glossy finish and is complemented by a black tile-style keyboard with numeric pad.
Toshiba Satellite L855D/S5117 Specifications
- Display: 15.6-inch 1366×768 pixels, TruBrite (glossy)
- Processor: AMD Quad-Core A8-4500M at 1.9-2.8GHz, 4MB L2 cache
- Graphics: AMD Radeon HD 7640G integrated graphics
- Memory: 4GB DDR3 1,600MHz RAM, max 16GB
- Storage: 640GB 5,400rpm hard disk
- Optical drive: DVD writer
- Webcam: Yes
- Audio: stereo speakers, SRS Premium Sound HD
- Network: Wireless-N, Ethernet LAN, no Bluetooth
- Input: Tile-style keyboard with numbers pad, multi-touch trackpad
- Ports and Slots: 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x HDMI, 1 x VGA, multi-format card reader
- Battery: 6-cell 48Wh lithium-ion, “up to 4:03 hours”
- Dimensions: 1.3″ x 15″ x 9.5″
- Weight: 5.5 pounds
- OS: Windows 8
- Warranty: 1-year
ineed bios for L855d S5117
How much are these valued at?”New” & “Used”
Can its gpu be upgraded to amd radeon r9 290x
Like the laptop pretty much but certain games tend to lag when my charger is plugged in.
Pretty much a speedy machine, but I really don’t like softness of the keys. Too soft for my taste. Downgraded to Windows 7 right away, luckily drivers are available on Toshiba’s site.
What did you use for USB 3 driver? I am having trouble installing a driver for the 2 USB 3 ports on the right side of the machine.