Dynabook’s New Tecra A40: An Entry-Level 14-Inch Business Laptop
by Anton Shilov on October 29, 2019 2:36 PM EST
Dynabook, formerly Toshiba, has introduced its new entry-level business laptop that promises to offer an attractive balance between performance, portability, and price. The Tecra A40 is a typical ‘working horse’ type of notebook with a 14-inch Full-HD display, a mainstream CPU, a battery life of over 10 hours, and a three-year on-site warranty for select configurations in the US.
The Dynabook Tecra A40 is aimed at a wide audience and attempts to find the right balance of peculiarities to offer something for everyone. To that end, the notebook is equipped with a 14-inch Full-HD monitor with or without touch support. The mobile PC comes in an a modest chassis made of black plastic and featuring a slip resistant coating. The chassis is 19.9 mm thick and the computer weighs 1.47 kilograms (3.24 pounds), which is in line with other cheaper laptops.
At the heart of Dynabook’s Tecra A40 is Intel’s 8th Generation Core processor with up to four cores and UHD Graphics 620 that is paired with 8 GB of on-board DDR4-2400 memory (there is an additional SO-DIMM slot for upgrades) as well as a 256 GB M.2 PCIe SSD.
Being a mainstream notebook, Dynabook’s Tecra A40 offers a typical set of wireless interfaces and ports, including Wi-Fi 5, Bluetooth 4.2, one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-C port, two USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A connectors, one HDMI output, a microSD card reader, a 3.5-mm connector for headsets, and a power plug. Meanwhile, like many other business-oriented laptop, the Tecra A40 comes equipped with a spill-resistant keyboard, Synaptics’ SecurePad touchpad with integrated fingerprint reader, and a webcam with IR sensors for facial recognition. On the multimedia side of things, the laptop has stereo speakers and a microphone array.
As far as battery life is concerned, Dynabook equips its Tecra A40 mobile PCs with a quad-cell 42 Wh Li-ion battery that is rated for up to 11.5 hours battery life based on MobileMark 2014 productivity test according to the company.
| Dynabook's Tecra A40-E | ||
| A40-E1420 PMZ10U-01000X |
||
| Display | 14" 1920×1080 14" 1920×1080 with multitouch |
|
| CPU | Intel Core i5-8250U | |
| Graphics | HD Graphics 620 (24 EUs) | |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR4-2400 | |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD (M.2, PCIe) | |
| Wi-Fi | Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) | |
| Bluetooth | Bluetooth 4.2 | |
| USB 3.0 | 2 × Type-A 1 × Type-C |
|
| GbE | 1 × GbE | |
| Card Reader | MicroSD | |
| Fingerprint Sensor | Yes | |
| Other I/O | HDMI, webcam with RGB + IR sensors, microphone, stereo speakers, audio jack | |
| Battery | 42 Wh | |
| Thickness | 19.9 mm (0.78 inches) | |
| Weight | Starting at 1.47 kg (3.24 lbs) | |
| Price | Starting at $899.99 | |
Dynabook will start selling its Tecra A40 notebooks this November starting at $899.99. Besides the default configuration, the manufacturer will offer Build-to-Order machines featuring specifications defined by customers.
Related Reading:
- Dynabook Updates Support Policies, Now Offers 3 & 4 Year Warranties For Some Models
- Dynaboook Reveals Tecra X50: A Lightweight 15.6-Inch Laptop with a 10+ Hrs Battery Life
- The Return of the Portégé: Dynabook Launches 2019 Portégé X30
- Toshiba's PC Products Rebranded to Dynabook
Source: Tecra
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iranterres - Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - link
Nine-hundred dollars priced laptop as entry-level? Come on, not even the specs...nandnandnand - Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - link
Yeah that's a ridiculous price for meager specs. Expect it to hit $400 next year.BedfordTim - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
This is aimed at the business market so it would be fairer to compare with with EliteBooks and Latitudes. It is still expensive compared to a Dell 5490 but it doesn't seem so bad. It is also in a market where no one pays list price.jabber - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
Yeah always makes me laugh when folks comment that have never worked in a Corporate/Enterprise IT level.At that level you are not just paying for 3000 laptops at $900 a pop. More to it than that. Plus you need to buy from a supplier than can supply say another 500 at the drop of a hat.
"Huh I could get the same from BestBuy for $600!" Good for you buddy!
dontlistentome - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
They're going to have kittens when I tell them I spend over $1500 dollars a pop for those specs for my team (Thinkpad X1 Carbon)...Spunjji - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
"Plus you need to buy from a supplier than can supply say another 500 at the drop of a hat"Exactly that. Consistency of hardware and reliability of supply is something that's hard to appreciate until you've worked with an IT department that just buys whatever's cheapest on the day they need it.
nandnandnand - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
HahhahhahAHHhaHahhahIn other words, this is a crappy laptop nobody here will buy, with a FAKE price. It's FAKE NEWS.
nandnandnand - Tuesday, October 29, 2019 - link
Practically the same specs are available for $400-$600, except you can find 2-in-1s:https://slickdeals.net/f/13466503
https://slickdeals.net/f/13478032
https://slickdeals.net/f/13436782
https://slickdeals.net/f/13385944
The only option listed in the table is multitouch, so I guess you have to spend more than $900 to get a touchscreen version.
flyingpants265 - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
Those Lenovo Flex laptops are an absolute joke. They're true to their name, the plastic is EXTREMELY flimsy and flexible. Keyboard fell apart and speaker stopped working in just the first couple months! Definitely a SUB-PAR laptop that shouldn't exist. Even my DELL INSPIRON is much higher quality??!?!? I bet you upgrading that flimsy plastic frame, breakable speaker and ultra-cheap keyboard would have cost less than $15. In 2019 we shouldn't accept this anymore.jabber - Wednesday, October 30, 2019 - link
Yes non corporate folks don't realise that staff treat kit like crap. I've seen laptops just 6 months after they were issues out brand new that have wear and tear it would take me 20 years to accumulate if it was my own kit. Most domestic $600 laptops would fall apart within the year.It has to be built tough, that's why you have the T series Thinkpads and the Latitudes.
I can remember begging the HP reps that visited our corporation about 19 years ago to quit putting stupid plastic flaps and doors over all the ports. "Guys, these here (waggles port cover) they break or fall off after 2 months!!!"
I do miss the docking stations though.