Toshiba LX830-10F review

Can a Windows 7 all-in-one cut it in a world of Windows 8 PCs?

Toshiba LX830-10F review
Not the most attractive all-in-one, but the Toshiba LX830 is sturdy

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The Toshiba LX830-10F is an all-in-one computer that doesn't just act as a replacement for your ageing PC, but also your TV as well. It's got a built-in Freeview TV tuner that enables you to connect it straight to your TV aerial, so you can use it as a TV. A huge 1TB hard drive gives you plenty of space to record, download and store your favourite shows.

The version we tested comes with a DVD drive, so a lack of Blu-ray is slightly disappointing. We can understand that it keeps the price down, but if this all-in-one PC wants to really banish the other media devices in our living rooms, then it will need to be able to read those high-definition discs.

You can plug in an external Blu-ray player or games console and use the Toshiba LX830-10F like a TV, though, so all isn't lost. There are also upgrade options that enable you to add a Blu-ray drive, and if you want the Toshiba LX830-10F to be a fully featured media machine, then we advise you to take the upgrade.

Toshiba LX830-10F review

As we've mentioned before, the outsides don't exactly scream cutting edge cool. But the insides at least are new enough, and powerful enough, to keep Windows running smoothly. The processor is a second generation Intel Core i3-2370M model running at 2.40GHz.

This is fine, but once again slightly out of date when other all-in-ones such as the Dell XPS One 27 Touch use third generation Intel Ivy Bridge chips and take advantage of the power increases and additional features that come with the newer processors.

One of the headline upgrades of the new processors is improved integrated graphics, which is something that the Toshiba LX830-10F misses out on.

Toshiba LX830-10F review

It's a shame, since without a dedicated graphics card the Toshiba LX830-10F is reliant on the integrated Intel HD Graphics 3000 of the processor. That's not the end of the world, but it limits the amount of games and media editing tasks you can perform on the Toshiba LX830-10F.

The downside is the slightly slow hard drive that runs at just 52,000rpm, which while big enough to store pretty much all the media you'd want to, keeps the Toshiba LX830-10F from running Windows 7 at its full potential, with a few rare instances where things became unresponsive while the Toshiba LX830-10F worked hard.

Toshiba has included a wireless mouse and keyboard that are sturdy and well built, but without any particular bells and whistles.

Toshiba LX830-10F review

An important thing to note when talking about the specifications of the Toshiba LX830-10F is that - like a number of all-in-ones - there are a number of different upgrade options available when you buy it.

The model we're testing came with a perfectly healthy 4GB of DDR3 RAM, however there are options to buy the Toshiba LX830-10F with up to 16GB of RAM. In the US, the different Toshiba LX830 models are different, with the Intel Core i3 versions often coming with 6GB of RAM.

This means that depending on the amount of money you're willing to lay down, your experience of the Toshiba LX830 may be slightly different to ours.

Matt Hanson
Managing Editor, Core Tech

Matt is TechRadar's Managing Editor for Core Tech, looking after computing and mobile technology. Having written for a number of publications such as PC Plus, PC Format, T3 and Linux Format, there's no aspect of technology that Matt isn't passionate about, especially computing and PC gaming. Ever since he got an Amiga A500+ for Christmas in 1991, he's loved using (and playing on) computers, and will talk endlessly about how The Secret of Monkey Island is the best game ever made.