Toshiba L50-B: laptop with a clear accent

Cons

• Poorly finished housing
• Bad touch pad

Those looking for a new laptop will often take a fast processor or high screen resolution as a starting point. A faster processor or a higher resolution usually also comes with a higher price and it is precisely on this point that Toshiba tries to make a difference with the L50B series. For around five hundred euros, the company supplies a 15.6″ laptop with a Core i5 processor or a Core i3 laptop with a full-HD screen. We tested the first variant and saw whether the fast processor for that low price means that you compromise on other things, or that the L50-B offers great value for money.

Appearance keyboard, touchpad

Toshiba’s Satellite L50-B is a 15.6″ laptop that looks thin. This is undoubtedly made possible by the economical Core i5-4200U processor, which can also be found in many ultrabooks. This distinguishes the Satellite L50-B from the Satellite L50A, which can be supplied with faster processors, but is also somewhat thicker to provide enough space for the cooling.The L50-B is available in three colors: ‘modena red’, ‘light gold’ and ‘pearl white’. review model was finished in pearl white, which turns out not to be the most practical color for this laptop. Almost all parts of the housing are made of shiny white plastic, which easily reflects light and that proves to be particularly annoying in incident light. A red or gold-colored L50 We would therefore prefer -B.

If we take a closer look at the housing, it also becomes clear how Toshiba has been able to mount a Core i5 processor for a relatively low price. The housing seems quite cheap and is rather poorly finished. There is space around the USB and HDMI connections, and the housing does not fit nicely. The hinges also get a lot of space, while one of the two protrudes slightly above the housing when closed. There is a cover on the left side behind which you will find an optical drive in some countries.

Not only the housing, but also the keyboard and touchpad seem to have been cut. While typing, the keys spring quite a bit and due to the relatively short travel and the unclear touch, the key feel is not really good. In addition, the keys are completely flat, while we prefer slightly curved keys, so that your fingers automatically slide to the center of the key.

We actually find the touchpad even more disappointing than the keyboard. First of all, this is due to the finish; the touchpad of our test model was slightly rotated in the housing. In addition, pressing the mouse keys requires a lot of force and the surface of the touchpad could have been a bit smoother.

Screen, battery life and speed

The finish, the keyboard and the touchpad do not give a good reason to buy the Satellite L50B, but the strong point of this laptop is the Core i5-4200U processor. It is relatively fast and in terms of performance comparable to the Core i3-4000M, but with lower energy consumption. Because less heat is produced, the laptop’s housing was able to remain quite thin and the cooling is switched off during browsing and word processing. The other hardware is nothing special; there is 4GB of memory and the hard disk is 500GB in size. This is quite common for the price range in which the Toshiba falls, although we would have liked Toshiba to have opted for a hybrid drive that can accelerate frequently used applications.

The economical processor also means that little energy is used and therefore the battery life is quite good for a 15.6″ laptop. The laptop lasts just over six hours during browsing and during continuous playback of video, the fun is over after five and a half hours.

We looked at the screen: a reflective TN panel with a resolution of 1366×768 pixels. The viewing angles are as we expect them from a TN panel, so pretty bad. The biggest disappointment of the screen, however, is the limited brightness. We don’t get higher than 223cd/m² and that can be too little indoors, for example if you use the laptop near a window. The reflective layer on the screen also does not contribute to legibility.

Conclusion

It is clear what Toshiba has focused on with the Satellite L50-B-18H, namely the Core i5 processor. The processor is fast and economical, so the battery life is also relatively high. The long battery life will also apply to other laptops from the L50-B series, because they only come with economical processors. The speed and long battery life are unfortunately at the expense of the finish of the laptop. The housing does not fit nicely everywhere and the quality of the keyboard and touchpad are disappointing. The screen is also pretty bad, although we have to admit that glossy low-resolution TN screens are no exception in this price range. All in all, the Toshiba L50B is a laptop with a clear emphasis on one component, which will be of more importance to some than to others.