You'd be hard pressed to find a standard laptop among the armies of hybrid devices. The Toshiba Satellite U920t is one such device, but isn't portable or stylish enough to be recommendable.
While some twist into tablets, Toshiba has opted to start the U920t that way, so your first experience with the device is in 12-inch slate form. If you're looking for a tablet to compete with the likes of the iPad 4 or Nexus 10 you'll be surprised, as the U920t is seriously bulky. At 1.5KG it weighs the same as three conventional 10-inch devices and is too heavy to be used comfortably. However, the screen slides back to reveal a full-sized QWERTY keyboard and rises so that it becomes a trad laptop.
The Toshiba Satellite U920t features an Intel Core 13 3217U processor which is relatively underpowered when compared to the competition. Needless to say that people looking for top performance will find the Toshiba Satellite falls short of their needs, and it doesn t compare favourably when placed next to the likes of the Dell XPS 12 or Sony VAIO Duo 11.
If there is an upside to the low-powered processor it comes in the form of excellent battery life. The Toshiba Satellite U920t looped HD video for 235 minutes, which means you'll easily be able to watch a couple of movies, and it should translate into around five hours of light surfing and document writing, making it one of the best Ultrabooks of longevity.
The Toshiba Satellite U920t also features 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD drive, which is pretty standard for a laptop of this price. 4GB of RAM is more than enough for Windows 8, but the operating system's footprint wipes 20GB from the installation, and the formatting also eats 20GB. That means you start with an 80GB hard drive, which is tight for anyone with large amounts of apps, programs and files.
The U920t only features a 1366 x 768 IPS touchscreen, which is behind the competition in terms of quality. There's no problem with graininess and you won't notice the difference working on text documents, but movies looked flat and pale. The panel is Gorilla Glass making it resistant to drops, falls and scratches. This is extremely important because the tablet-like form factor of the Toshiba when it's flattened means that the screen is open to damage, unlike normal laptops which is hidden inside the clamshell design.
There are two USB 3.0 ports, one of which has the power to charge devices when the U920t is asleep. Aside from the USB connectivity there's a full-sized HDMI port and an SD card slot.
If there's one black mark against the Toshiba's name it s the general build quality. The textured finish might be grippy but it looks dated and the rounded curves aren't exactly eye-catching. It's chunky when closed and being able to see notched runners at the back doesn't offer an alluring look.
One detail that typifies the whole build problem is the power button which is small, sharp and tough to find. The keyboard itself is backlit and well-spaced but the keys have minimal travel. They do feel noticeably smaller and it took us time to master typing at speed without making regular mistakes. It's more comfortable than the Acer Aspire 57, which is an achievement given that the 57 is a full-form Ultrabook which doesn't offer tablet functionality. However, it's far less comfortable than the Dell XPS 12. While the excellent battery life and neat transformation between laptop and tablet endeared us to the Toshiba Satellite U920t somewhat, the niggles with build quality, bland looks and dull screen make it hard to recommend. There's a dearth of exceptional laptops and hybrids on the market right now, and the Toshiba Satellite U920t has fallen short.
