Tecra 8100 - The Good and the Ugly
Written: May 30 '01
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Pros: Beautiful Screen, Sturdy, Heavy duty case, and Very Powerfull!!!
Cons: Sticky mouse, heavy for a laptop, week support
The Bottom Line: If you are able to get a Business laptop to handle all your busy needs, get a Tecra 8100!
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| byronm's Full Review: Toshiba Tecra 8100 (PT810U-12CP7) PC Notebook |
Being a computer consultant with Oracle Corporation I have had the pleasure of receiving a Tecra 8100 as my PC companion. I have been impressed with its great strengths from the very beginning. It has a beautiful, large, and crisp video screen that is very easy to use in even lighted conditions. The mobile Pentium III from 600mhz to 800mhz enabling the use of sophisticated applications powers the 8100 series. With a modern video chipset (Savage 4) and DVD-ROM it is a great companion for the road warrior. I have enjoyed many DVD's and they play perfectly on my 650 mhz version.
I have traveled with my laptop over the past 8 months and the only issue I had was a battery that would fault after pretty exhaustive usage. I got the battery replaced and have had no problems since.
The cons of the 8100, it had a short support lifecycle while being ahead. The 8100 was shipped with Windows98 in the days when Windows 2000 was available, and even Windows ME which seemed odd to not have any formal support for Windows 2000 for a powerful business PC. Slowly but surely, the device drivers and support for power management and advanced features came up for Win2k. I had problems with the sound card under Win2k popping and stuttering as well, that was pretty annoying. A few patches later, a tweak to disable the infrared port and service pack 1 and service pack 2 I’m finally able to get good sound.
This machine is heavy to pack around on your shoulders day in and day out so I recommend a rolling pc case. The other con is the loud fan and high heat dissipation. You don't want to have this on your lap for an extended period of time and you can definitely feel the hotspot on the table when you pack up as well.
Other then the above problems the Tecra 8100 is one nice PC. Mainly for business as it really isn't affordable for home. I give it all thumbs up. Even with its few cons, I have had this laptop dropped, stacked in overhead bins on bumpy flights, squished between seats on the train and bounced around from hotel to work everyday under constant 10-12 hour usage each day and only a few minor problems.
If Toshiba can keep up the line and shave a little weight, they will have THE best laptop around
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2800
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 14
RAM: 256
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
byronm
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Member: Byron Miller
Location: Lancaster, PA, USA
Reviews written: 26
Trusted by: 1 member
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