Review of Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K laptop

 

Advantages: The slim, lightweight Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K laptop still feels very premium, and it deserves credit for being one of the first Windows laptops to feature a better-than-HD display. Thanks to an updated CPU, Toshiba battery life is now good enough for all-day use. It is slim and always stays cool. Should the bosses give it an open-ended contract as soon as possible? We will clarify that in this review of the business laptop.

The material has not been changed and thus everything still has a high-quality feel here. The casing's silver-gray color merges seamlessly in every surrounding. It is well built and features an all-over high-quality feel.

 Disadvantages: Higher-res screens are more common now, and available for less. The generic brushed-metal look isn't particularly distinctive given the price.  

The screen of Toshiba Tecra Z50 A-12K is not as pliable as in the smaller model, and the base unit is just as rigid. The keyboard is still a bit too yielding though. The hinges have a fairly firm hold on the display, but they cannot prevent slight wobbles.

No compromises have to be made in the diversity of interfaces despite the slim and light casing. A Gigabit LAN port, HDMI and VGA out are all available in their full size and without a foldout mechanism. Some users will perhaps miss an ExpressCard slot, or a DisplayPort. However, a total of four USB ports are installed, three of which support the USB 3.0 standard.

Roughly 10 months later, the second-gen Kirabook aims to correct at least a few of these missteps, and thanks to a new processor and some adjustments to features and prices, it feels like a much better machine, despite offering no overhaul of the physical design. 

As mentioned, a Gigabit LAN port is just as available as a Wi-Fi module that also supports the newest 802.11 ac standard. Thus, high-speed wireless networks with a data throughput of up to 1300 Mbps are possible. Mobile Internet is also available and supports the swift LTE standard.

Toshiba does not offer many special accessories for its Tecra Z50 A-12K. Nothing but the power supply, a few instructions and descriptions are found in the box.

The port replicator that we described in the review of the Toshiba Tecra Z40 A-147 notebook costs 249 Euros (~$338). It adds six USB ports, a DisplayPort, a DVI port and extended audio ports.