A powerful laptop for a businessman
Written: Feb 02 '04
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Pros: Very fast and reliable and a very long lasting battery
Cons: Changing/upgrading the memory
The Bottom Line: It’s worth the money if you’re travelling a lot and want something reliable. For home use,for this money you can buy an even more powerful desktop !!
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| adicos's Full Review: Toshiba Tecra M1 (PT930E-03YCW-EN) PC Notebook |
Hi there,
I’m coming back to write another review after a long time, this time the review is about a top specs laptop from Toshiba, a Toshiba Tecra with a Intel® Centrino™ Mobile 1.7GHz Processor
First of all, I'll tell you the specs and then my feelings about the laptop after I played with it for about a week. I apologize to the people who will not understand quite well all the specs, but this beauty deserves to tell everybody how good it is.
I will try to explain either in the specs or after the specs some of the terms used.
Specs
Technology
- type : Intel® Centrino™ mobile technology including Intel® Pentium® M processor, Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 network connection and Intel® 855PM chipset
- clock speed : 1.70 GHz
- front side bus : 400 MHz
- 2nd level cache : 1 MB
System memory
- standard : 512 MB (my laptop came with 1GB memory)
- maximum expandability : 2,048 MB
- technology : DDR RAM
Hard disk
- capacity : 80 GB (mine has 120GB)
- certification : S.M.A.R.T.
CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
- maximum speed : 24-speed CD-ROM, 24-speed CD-R, 10-speed CD-RW, 8-speed DVD ( I had a CD-RW/DVD combo)
Display
- size : 14.1 "
- type : TFT color display
Graphics adaptor
- manufacturer : Trident
- memory : 32 MB
- graphics accelerator : 256 bit
- connected bus : 4 x AGP bus
Internal video modes
- resolution : 1,024 x 768
- maximum number of colours : 16.7 million
Max External Video Modes
- Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
- Max Colours : 16.7 Million
Battery
- technology : lithium-ion
- maximum life : up to 6.2 hours
- battery life with optional 2nd battery (bundled with Portégé 2000) : up to 10.2 hours
AC adaptor
- input voltage : autosensing AC adapter (100/240 V) for worldwide usage
Interfaces
- 1 x headphone
- 1 x DC-in
- 1 x external monitor
- 1 x expansion bus connector
- 1 x parallel (ECP)
- 1 x RJ-11 (for the LAN – Local Area network)
- 1 x RJ-45 (for the telephone line)
- 1 x serial
- 1 x TV-out (s-video)
- 1 x i.LINK® (IEEE 1394)
- 1 x SD Card slot
- 1 x Fast Infrared Port (FIR)
- 1 x external microphone
- 3 x USB 2.0
Expansion
- 2 x memory slots (1 to configure)
- 2 x PC Card Type II or 1 x PC Card Type III, type : connects to Advanced Port Replicator II (optional)
- number of expansion types : 1
Wireless communication
- Compliancy : FIR
- Network Support : 4 Mbps
- Wireless Technology : Fast InfraRed
- Wireless Technology : Bluetooth™ upgradeable
- Compliancy : Wi-Fi™
- Network Support : 802.11b integrated, dual band (802.11a/b) ready (this is the latest protocol used by the Wireless networks when comunicating with each other)
- Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN
Wired communication
- topology : international V.90 modem
- speed : 56 Kbps data (V.90); 14.4 Kbps fax
- topology : Ethernet LAN
- speed : 10/100/1000 Base-TX (actually this means you have a Gigabit card)
Sound system
- supported audio format : 16-bit stereo
- speakers : built-in stereo speakers
Keyboard
- keys : 86
- Windows keys : 2
- number of cursor keys : 8
- inlaid numeric keypad : yes
- Hot Keys : 2
- special features : Toshiba console button, Toshiba Presentation Button, Brightness Sensor
Physical dimensions
- W x D x H : 312 x 274 x 36.5/39.8 mm
- weight : 2.8 kg (this is quite important, the weight is not much at all for the size of the screen – 14.1”, making the laptop easy to carry)
Pointing device
- type : DualPoint
- description : Toshiba Dual Pointing Device
Operating system
- Windows® XP Professional (comes as standard)
Warranty
- 3-year international warranty
Bundled hardware
- AC adaptor
- Slim SelectBay weight saver
Bundled software
- Toshiba utilities and drivers
- on-line user's and modem manual
- Toshiba Management Console
- Bluetooth™ Service Center
- Drag'n Drop CD
- WinDVD™ 2000
- ConfigFree™
- Connectivity Doctor
Security features
- keyboard lock
- main memory (by screw)
- BIOS password
- set-up utilities
- PC Card lock
- HDD password on request
- slot for Kensington Cable Lock
- wireless LAN switch
- system password security
Ok, now you probably are quite either impressed (if you know about computers) or completely "in the fogg" (if you don't). So please read my feelings about the laptop:
My first impression when I've seen it was was not particularly "WOW". It looks very nice, with a silver lid, but everything else, when you open the lid is black, apart from the TouchPad, which is also silver and some other bits, which are silver I don't particularly like this color schema (silver/black), but it wasn't bad in the end (I don't want to be picky).
The laptop is very fast (and I really mean it), the booting up for XP was slightly better than my dual Pentium XEON 1.4 GHz workstation (amazing, isn’t it ?!!). XP is working “like a charm”, everything opens very quick (1GB of RAM does this) and you really feel that you have something powerful in your hands.
One of the most amazing things about this laptop is the battery. They said in the specs that it lasts 6.2 hours. I normally tend not to believe everything what they say, so I tested. It lasted exactly 6 hours and 23 minutes. I couldn’t believe my eyes, the previous record seen by me was 4 hours and 12 minutes by a IBM ThinkPad, but 6 hours and 23 minutes for a laptop with a 14.1” screen is absolutely impressive. So, for a business man who travels a lot, this is the ideal laptop: not very big, but very powerful and with an incredible battery.
The speakers are built-in at the back of the laptop, close to the screen and the quality of the sound is very good (when you watch an “action-packed” DVD, you need good sound quality, don’t you?).
The hard-disk, at 120GB is more than enough to store everything you want, movies to files and games and so on.
Talking about games (and DVDs, of course), the quality of the image is very good, even it has only a 32 MB Graphics adaptor. I played several games and watched few DVDs and everything was absolutely fine. The laptop is quite a nice companion when you travel, you can watch a 3 hours movie without the fear that the battery will run out.
The integrated Wi-Fi network works absolutely fine, I’ve tested in the airport and it did pick up the local Wireless network without any problem and it was quite quick.
On the downside, the Touchpad buttons are slightly harder to press, I was expecting to be smoother then they are. But you’ll get used with them. On the other hand, the keyboard is easy to use and it gives you a nice feeling.
The laptop comes with a lot of Toshiba software, which I don’t particularly use (apart from the WinDVD 2000), but for a beginner are very useful – you can find them in the specs category above
The screen contrast is self-adjustable, depending on the light in the your environment. You also get a one-touch presentation button for user-friendly connection to a projector
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I did not buy a Bluetooth kit with the laptop, so I can’t tell you how it works, but probably I will in the next month or so and I’ll update the opinion.
The trickiest thing about the laptop (and the only real downside) is changing the memory. Because the laptop comes with 512MB as standard, I needed to put the other 512MB. For this, you need to lift a keyboard brace, then unscrew three screws, then remove the keyboard, then an insulation sheet, then the insulation for the memory, then you can put the new memory in. Hard, isn’t it. If you are not used with playing with laptops/computers, believe me, is difficult, because you can brake some plastic parts (as the keyboard brace, you really need to be very careful with it). Why they did not put the memory slots UNDER the laptop, so you can change it quick and easy, I don’t know…
Apart from this, the laptop is a very, very good piece of electronics, very reliable, with a very long lasting battery (this also because the Intel Centrino technology consumes much less energy than the standard technology) and pretty chic.
So, it worth the money if you’re travelling a lot and want something reliable. If you intend to use it at home, don’t buy it, for this amount of money you can buy an even more powerful desktop !!
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 3600
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 14 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): Over 50
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Epinions.com ID:
adicos
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Location: London - UK
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
IT Engineer in London.
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