Another notebook? How many of these things do I have... well, this may well be the last one I look at for the next few years. I like this notebook more than my top of the line Dell Inspirion 8000 notebook I purchased and reviewed earlier this month.

If you're looking for that all-in-one notebook, you may have thought of other brands like IBM, Gateway, and likely Dell! Bet that many of you didn't realize that Toshiba is currently the number one seller of notebook computers. This notebook... the 2805-S603 can certainly show why!

This is one of the top of the line notebooks from Toshiba... period. This may be the top of the line notebook for any manufacturer. Starting at a price of $2399 at places like Outpost.com, you do get quite a bit for your money!

The Configuration!

The 2805-S603 automatically comes with the following features:

Pentium 1 GHz processor
256 MB of memory!
30 GB Hard Drive at 4200rpm
DVD and CD-RW combined drive!
15 inch screen supporting 1024x768 resolution
Speakers with a SUBWOOFER!
16MB video memory for GeForce2Go graphics chipset
56K modem port
10/100 Ethernet port
SmartMedia card slot
and the rest of the standard ports and slots.

I paid under $1900 for the notebook! I'll describe how at the end of the review.

How does it perform

With no power management features enabled, this computer is blazingly fast for a notebook. Graphics performance is going to subpar against a similarly equiped desktop with a GeForce MX 32MB card... however one equiped with a GeForce 2 MX200 would seem to have a similar performance. Comes very close in speed to my Dell Inspirion 8000. Check the spec for that system here

http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_29835431556/tk_~CB004.1.10

I just had lower resolution on the Toshiba with slower graphics performance since my Dell had 32MB on its GeForce2Go chipset. Keyboard was rather comfortable overall although I preferred the Dell notebook keyboard slightly over the Toshiba. Everyday applications for me were handled with ease... like MS Word, MS Excel, and MS Powerpoint (although you need to get this software on your own). Battery life was disappointing however... lasting barely 2 hours with no slots for extra batteries like the Dell. The DVD/CD-RW worked well with no notable problems so far. The sound was booming from this little machine.

Why is there a SmartMedia slot on this computer... I'm not complaining since I use SmartMedia for my MP3 player and one of my digital cameras. However, I don't see a whole lot of people needing such a slot/drive... an odd addition in my opinion.

Like most notebooks, this one ran rather hot in about an hour and was intolerable on my lap by 1 1/2 mark.

Power Management

This is one of the most comprehensive power management software control suites I've seen. You can manage the power to the smallest detail... like speed of the processor, brightness of the screen, sleep modes, power off for the computer and each component, etc. If you turned on all the power management features to the max, you could squeeze nearly 3 1/2 hours from the battery. The down side is that max power management meant really slow computer... to the point I felt I was using a Pentium I computer! At a middle setting for all the components, I got under 2 1/2 hours of power at best. Kudos for the power management system... but they allow you to place the settings too low for regular use... to the point that buyers may think that the notebook has an actual problem.

Sound

Oh my Lord... when you pump out tunes from this unit... you will not believe this is a notebook. It may not be a hi-fi, surround sound setup... but you will find it hard to believe that you're listening to a notebook. The addition of a subwoofer really adds depth to the sound and masks many of the weaknesses of the notebook's two side speakers. It's a nice feature to have on a notebook... period.

My complaint with the sound is that placing the notebook on your lap with the volume pumped all the way up can be rather uncomfortable... since the subwoofer opening is at the bottom of the unit. If you like that sort of feeling... well, I'll let you figure it out!

Options

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

What options?!

Seriously, if you needed more options... there must be something wrong with you! There are very few options that were missed for the general consumer.

Notebook weaknesses

Things that do slow down the notebook include the slower hard drive compared with those found in desktops. Notebook hard drives spin at about 4200 rpm. Consider that most desktop hard drives spin at 5400 rpm minimum and upwards to 7200 rpm (some SCSI models spin up to 10,000 rpm!). All this means is that data is accessed faster with higher rpm's.

The video card chosen was a GeForce2Go 16 MB 4x AGP card. This seemed the equivalent to a GeForce 2 MX200 card with 32 MB of memory. You are definitely not getting desktop cutting edge graphics... but it's nearly the best in the notebook market currently with possible exception of the recent ATI Mobility Radeon graphics chips.

The screen does not achieve resolutions even close to the Dell Inspirion UXGA+ 15' screen. A pity really. This can be a major con for some users.

The Toshiba 2805-S603 is a heavy notebook... but not as heavy as a fully decked Dell Inspirion 8000! It weighs 7.7 lbs if you remove the two optical drives from the unit... however, with my setup, I approached the 8 lbs catagory. The size is also a factor as well, but I guess you do have to sacrifice some weigh and size for the power and the subwoofer!

The 2805-S603 cannot accomodate a second battery like the Dell Inspirion 8000 can. On top of that, the battery life can be rather short at times.

The software bundle stinks overall... I mean I don't have anything against Lotus and IBM, but I've been forced fed MS Office for so long that I need my familiarity. Quicken is an okay financial package though. The software just seems subpar compared to other computer makers.

Final Thoughts

This is currently my favorite notebook bar none. The fairly low resolution screen (as compared to the Dell Inspirion 8000) was rather disappointing but it still doesn't tarnish the performance of this Toshiba notebook. The other major weakness is the lack of adding an additional battery like the Dell Inspirion 8000 notebook. Battery life is also short to begin with even with moderate power management features active. The weigh of the Toshiba is still rather heaby overal at 7.7 lbs overall.

As a desktop replacement however, you have to consider this computer. This is my idea of all-in-one desktop replacement! It can break many people's budgets quite easily. If you're looking for a budget computer, look at the KDS Valiant 6480iPTD-01 PIII-800MHz notebook. It runs under $1000 at some stores. Read my review on the Valiant here

http://yusakugo.epinions.com/content_28829126276

Overall, this is a great notebook that I highly recommend... and also with a 3 year warranty purchase when you buy the notebook!

My price

How did I pay $1900? The notebook costs $2399. I purchased the notebook at Outpost.com. I purchased Flooz through a Corporate Platinum American Express card which gave me 20% off the Flooz ($1920 spent to buy $2400 worth of Flooz which acts like $2400 at Outpost!). That's $480 off the notebook already. Now the notebook is $1919. I get a small percentage from ebates.com of 2%... which is another $48 or so dollars (since the notebook still cost $2399)(read my ebates.com review!). I'm still awaiting the $100 rebate to come back as well. So the final price is less than $1800 when all the rebates comes in. Note that I haven't counted the $100 Toshiba rebate into my price since I haven't received it yet!

Recommended: Yes

Amount Paid (US$): $1800
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 21-30