Great laptop but a few minuses
Written: Jul 03 '04
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Pros: Centrino technology = PentiumM processor, 802.11 technology, good battery life, performance and specs
Cons: Flashy colored case. No serial port, grainy display, less than durable design but managable
The Bottom Line: Great laptop for students and home users. Includes USB2 and 1394 ports. Conviently places ports except the USB ports which are located at the rear.
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| mista1122's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite Pro M15-S405 (PS630U-G205HV) PC ... |
This is an awsome laptop as to be expected for the price paid. I bought it for its 40GB HD, swappable media drive, USB2 & firewire port. Dual point devices are always a plus. 802.11 connectivity, didn't want it at the time but absolutly love it. I recommend it for any home user and student.
The good first:
1. Centrino laptop kicks major but in processing; equates for good battery life but size of battery helps too between 3h-4h30m of battery time at lowest setting posible.
2. USB 2.0 and firewire connectivity, don't find firewire on many laptops these days.
3. Lighter than my old Compaq Armada, but some may still consider its 6.5lbs weight to much.
4. Two PCMCIA slots, most new laptops come with 1 PCMCIA slot. Not good if you ever have the need for a second slot, but don't have present. Having two PCMCIA is epecially important for wireless roadwarriors. May want GPRS in one location, 802.11a/g in another.
5. WiFi (802.11b) ready no need for buying a seperate card.
6. Volume dial conviently located directly beside left palm rest.
7. BIOS and harddrive passwords.
8. SecureDisk (SD) slot, no need for remimbering passwords just pop disk in and go. Or convient for digital cameras using SD.
9. Security lock port for Defcon or Kengston security cables.
10. Dual point devices (touchpad and pointing stick or eraser head), which is great touchpads can be cumbersome at times.
11. Nice hotkeys.
12. Good laptop for Linux but WiFi card can be troublesome.
13. Good keyboard layout.
14. Status lights conviently located at font-left edge of case.
15. Swapable media drives are always a plus if you ever need an extra battery, harddrive or need to burn DVDs.
16. Not a bad laptop for basic 3D Unreal game playing.
17. Flashy case design - glitery blue colored case.
The bad:
1. USB2 enhanced controller problems with Windows XP Home & Pro, resulted in USB 2.0 defices operating at less than USB2.0 performance not good in pressed for time. Microsoft offers fight in Service Pack and as stand alone.
2. Not the best screen but due able, if you've ever used a SXGA or UXGA computer you'll immediately notice the pixels. I have read there is a screen upgrade option.
3. No serial (DB-9 )port not good if you're an electronic student or ever need to configure networking equipment using serial port. Buy a port replicator or base station for serial port.
4. Keyboard seems fragile at times same for case.
5. Flashy case design - glitery blue colored case draws to much attention. I've had many people talk to me of getting five finger discount.
6. 802.11b card, should've been 802.11b/g but will gladly accept 802.11b for the deal it was.
7. Right click and left click buttons below touch pad are fleemsy.
8. Poorly placed USB ports and only 2 present.
9. USB2 enhanced controller can be trouble some with WinXP, but a fix is present just need some technical knowledge and will to tinker to get it working properly.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1700
Operating System: Windows
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
mista1122
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Reviews written: 1
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