If you’ve been paying any attention to tech lately, chances are you’ve heard phrases like “Windows 8,” “ultrabook,” and “touch screen” being tossed around with increasing frequency. The Toshiba Satellite P845T-S4310 is a mainstream laptop that encompasses two of those phrases, offering users a Windows 8-equipped system with a touch screen for under $1,000. While it’s not a stylishly thin ultrabook, it nonetheless delivers a decent combination of features and performance for anyone interested in jumping headfirst into Microsoft’s new touch-centric operating system.

Design and Features
Despite not being an ultrabook, at 1.14 by 13.7 by 9.2 inches (HWD), the Satellite P845T-S4310 is a fairly compact system. Given that touch screens generally add additional weight to a system, its 4.70 pounds is understandable and puts it on par with another touch-screen laptop, the Asus VivoBook S400CA-UH51($699.99 at Amazon)(Opens in a new window) (4.4 pounds). In any event, the Satellite P845T-S4310 can still be toted around in a laptop bag or backpack without becoming unduly burdensome.

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s aluminum chassis is draped in an attractive silver finish with an etched texture running along the surface. It’s a handsome look, and, on a more practical level, the aluminum material is sturdy enough to withstand its share of bumps and bruises more so than a system constructed from plastic along the lines of the Toshiba Satellite U945-S4390.

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s black chiclet-style keys contrast nicely with the system’s overall silver finish. That said, though, it’s not backlit, which quite literally leaves those working in dimly lit environments in the dark. Worse yet, its shallow keystrokes make typing for extended periods of time an unnecessarily frustrating endeavor. For anyone who plans to do a moderate to heavy amount of typing, the current Editors’ Choice for mainstream laptops, the Lenovo IdeaPad Y480, is a significantly better option thanks to its backlit keyboard’s comfortably scalloped keys.

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The Satellite P845T-S4310’s responsive touchpad is very user-friendly, so pinching, zooming, scrolling, and Windows 8-specific functions—like bringing up the Charms menu or cycling through open apps—can be pulled off smoothly. The capacitive touch screen, meanwhile, supports the same gestures with equal aplomb without exhibiting any wobbling during use. Practically speaking, you’ll likely wind up using the touch screen while navigating through Windows 8’s tiled interface and resort to the touchpad in desktop mode. However you choose to proceed, though, the touch screen and touchpad duo effectively gives users more options to navigate the Windows 8 interface.

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s glossy 14-inch display is equally easy on the eyes, and its maximum resolution of 1,366 by 768 delivers bright colors and crisp text. It also supports 720P content, so users can throw their DVDs into the P845T-S4310’s internal DVD±RW drive and enjoy movies and online videos in 720p high definition. Two Harmon Kardon speakers are housed in symmetrical grilles beneath the display and pump out sound at loud enough volumes to fill a medium-sized room without sounding tinny.

Port selection on the Satellite P845T-S4310 is decent. An SD card reader can be found at the front of the system while the right side houses two USB 3.0 ports alongside an Ethernet port. The left side, meanwhile, features headphone and mic jacks, a third USB 3.0 port, a VGA port, and a full-size HDMI output. The latter comes in handy since it eliminates the need to separately purchase dongles or adapters when connecting the system to a larger display. Even better, the Satellite P845T-S4310 features Intel’s Wireless Display technology, so users who outfit their televisions with an aftermarket adapter like the Netgear Push2TV can ditch the HDMI cable altogether and wirelessly beam their content to their HDTVs.

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s 750GB 5,400rpm hard drive comes with a large serving of preloaded software. As is often the case, these programs vary in utility from useful (a full year of Norton Anti-Virus 2013) to app stores (WIldTangent Games, Windows Store) with some trialware (thirty days of Norton Online Backup and Norton Anti-Theft) sprinkled in between. There’s also an avalanche of preinstalled proprietary software that includes, among other things, Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator, Toshiba Video Player, and so on. Toshiba covers the Satellite P845T-S4310 with a one-year warranty on parts and labor.

Performance

With its 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U CPU and 6GB RAM, the Satellite P845T-S4310 stacked up relatively well against its peers. In terms of processing power, its PCMark 7 score of 2,635 points outflanked the IdeaPad Y480 (2,610 points) but lagged behind the rest of the pack, like the Asus Vivobook (3,013 points) and Toshiba Satellite U845W-S430 (4,237 points). Its Cinebench R11.5 score of 2.39 points fared better,, trumping the Toshiba U945-S4390 (2.36 points) while falling slightly short of the Asus VivoBook (2.40) and, to a larger extent, the class-leading IdeaPad Y480 (6.26 points).

The Satellite P845T-S4310 also did well on our 3DMark 11 benchmark tests (1,214 points in Entry-level settings and 219 points in Extreme settings), edging past both the Toshiba U945-S4390 (1,194 and 213 points, respectively) and the Satellite U845W-S430 (1,196 and 213 points, respectively) by a narrow margin and, to a greater extent, the Asus VivoBook S400CA-UH51 (1,101 and 187 points, respectively).

In addition to its capacity for multimedia consumption, the Satellite P845T-S4310 likewise displayed chops for moderate media creation. It ran through our Handbrake video-encoding test in a brisk 1 minute 27 seconds, or one second faster than both the Toshiba U945-S4390 and Toshiba U845W-S430 (1:28 each) and only ten seconds short of the class-leading IdeaPad Y480 (1:17).. Similarly, the Satellite P845T-S4310 churned through our Photoshop CS6 benchmark in 5 minutes 33 seconds, slightly slower than the Toshiba U945-S4390 (5:31) but nearly a whole minute faster than both the Asus VivoBook and Toshiba U845W-S430 (6:28 each).

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s integrated Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU isn’t intended for high-end gaming, so its inability to cross the so-called 30 frames-per-second (fps) playability barrier hardly came as a surprise. Accordingly, its performance in Aliens Vs. Predator (14fps with medium-quality settings in 1,366-by-768 resolution; 7fps with maximum-quality in 1,366-by-768 resolution) landed in the same ballpark as the Asus VivoBook (13fps and 7fps, respectively) and Toshiba U845W-S430 (12fps and 6fps, respectively). Similarly, its performance in our Heaven benchmark tests (12fps with medium-quality settings in 1,366-by-768 resolution; 6fps with maximum-quality in 1,366-by-768 resolution) was on par with its peers.

The Satellite P845T-S4310’s removable 45Whr battery lasted for 5 hours 22 minutes on our battery rundown test, putting it ahead of the Asus VivoBook (4:18) by well over an hour. In any event, the Satellite P845T-S4310’s battery is fair, it won’t get you through an entire day on a single charge, so be sure to have a power outlet nearby for periods of extended use.

With its decent performance and feature set, the Toshiba Satellite P845T-S4310 is a good option for anyone on the market for a touch-enabled Windows 8 mainstream laptop. That said, though, it’s not nearly as good a value as the Asus VivoBook S400CA-UH51, which delivers similar specs, a touch screen, and a slim ultrabook form-factor while costing $200 less. Moreover, it can’t unseat the Lenovo IdeaPad Y480 from its reign as our Editors’ Choice for mainstream laptop since the latter sports a beefier processor, discrete graphics, and an exponentially more comfortable keyboard, and all for less than $100 more. Still, the Satellite P845T-S4310 is worth checking out for users who prefer a combination of touch functionality and solid performance.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS: Check out the test scores for the Toshiba Satellite P845T-S4310

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