Love this Laptop
Written: Apr 01 '03
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Pros: Nice screen, fantastic speakers, large hard drive.
Cons: Can run a little hot and is a little heavy with the 2nd battery.
The Bottom Line: Tremendous laptop, no flaws found yet.
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| mpmason68's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite 5205-S505 (PS520U-31P1RV) PC Not... |
I looked at a LOT of laptops before choosing the S505. It wasn't very easy, either, because Toshiba has very little information on their web site, and what is there is very hard to locate. But enough about their web site.
Early on in the laptop shopping process, I fell in love with the Harmon-Kardon speakers in the Toshiba Satellite line. This made it very hard to consider any other brand of laptop. Simply put, they are phenomenal. You will not believe you are listening to sound from a laptop. It has a subwoofer and a full, rich mid-range, not to mention Dolby Digital output.
I should also mention that when shopping for laptop, I was only considering models with either the P4-Mobile processor or Centrino models. This has a P4-Mobile 2.2Ghz processor. Battery life was important to me. With the extra battery in the S505, I get 4.5 hours. So I'm happy.
Other important data... 512MB of RAM, GeForce4 Go 460 graphics with 32MB of DDR. 60GB hard drive. 15" screen, SXGA , capable of 1400x1050. Oh, and Microsoft Works, which you can uninstall. I suspect that the most common first task that computer users perform is to uninstall Microsoft Works. But I digress.
Before I found the S505, I was considering the S703 and the new S405. The S703 is similar to the S505, but it has an UXGA screen (mind is SXGA ) and burns DVDs. It also has built-in wireless 802.11b. I didn't need to burn DVDs and I don't have a wireless hub. The S405 is a Centrino, but the screen just didn't have the resolution I wanted. And again, I don't have a wireless hub, so why pay for a feature I won't be using?
The keyboard is a pleasure to use, and it has a convenient USB 2.0 port on the right side, where I can plug in a mouse. There are two more USB 2.0 ports on the left. It also has an SecureDigital port, a PCMCIA slot, VGA out, an ethernet jack, V.92 modem, and the normal set of audio jacks, along with a Dolby Digital out port. The drive is a CD-RW/DVD combo. I have not burned a CD yet, but DVD playback is fantastic.
I have not found a single problem with this laptop. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking to find a desktop replacement in the $2000 range. Check out the sound on them when you're at a retail store and you'll be hooked, too.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1949
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
mpmason68
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Member: Matthew Mason
Location: Bethesda, MD
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 0 members
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