Toshiba Satellite L305-S5933 (PSLB8U-027025) PC Notebook
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- Weight: 5.49 lb.
- Mobile Technology: Intel Centrino Mobile Technology
- Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
- Processor: Pentium Dual-Core 2.16 GHz
- Laptop Type: Thin and Light Laptop
- Installed Memory: 3 GB (DDR2 SDRAM)
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Excellent Value for Sale Price of $469
Pros
Has everything but Bluetooth and N networking, nice LCD and keyboard feels nice.
Cons
Mouse buttons hard to press, pad flush instead of inset, Vista.
Recommended it?
Yes
The Bottom Line:
A great value for $469. The main gripes (see Cons) apply to virtually all laptops being marketed today except Dells, and I didn't want another Dell for other reasons.
Purchased on sale at Office Depot for $469, instant savings, no rebate hassle. The True Brite LCD is really nice for movies and graphics, compared to my Dell Vostro with the matt screen. With 250GB drive, flash card reader, super-DVD player, Webcam and built-in mic, it's ready for Skype or YouTube.
The keyboard feels real nice, but the mouse buttons are really hard to push, unlike my Dell, but all laptops seem to be this way now (except Dells). Don't know why everyone is making laptops with difficult buttons!! But you can configure the mouse pad to drag and drop without using buttons at all to minimize button use.
Speakers have a dial for volume that you have to turn several rotations to significantly change the level of sound, but that's probably purposeful so that an accidental swipe doesn't create a problem. The DVD player operates fine but seems a little noisy to me, even though there is an "acoustic quieter" patch/driver, which I downloaded when I got all the XP drivers from Toshiba's site.
This is a nice thing: Toshiba has all the XP drivers available on their site to switch this machine. Before you start the process of wiping VISTA and installing XP, go into BIOS and change the SATA setting from AHCI to Compatible, or it won't boot from the XP CD (or any CD it seems). You'll get a BSOD. But once you make this change, installing XP is a breeze, and so is loading the XP drivers.
Slight irritations for me personally: there is one USB port on the right side of the laptop, that is placed towards the front of the computer, rather than towards the back. Towards the back on the right side is the AC plug. I personally prefer the AC plug on the rear, and a couple USB ports on the right side towards the back.
Also, the flash card reader is in front, as are mic and headphone jacks. I use my laptop in a recliner with it butted up against my belly, so having things sticking out towards me is not as convenient as having them on the right side. There is also a WiFi on/off switch here (in front), which seems odd, but whatever. (Disabling the radio via software seems just as easy... why design hardware to do that?)
The Express card slot is on left side with 2 USB ports (again towards the front) on that side. The Ethernet and serial ports are also on the left. I'd again prefer the Ethernet port on the rear. The only port that IS on the rear is a jack for the dialup modem.
The case is high gloss and so shows fingerprints as oily smudges. Not as bad as some finishes I've seen, but it needs to be wiped a lot to look nice. If that bothers you, you'll be doing a lot of wiping.
The mousepad is not inset, but flush with the wrist rest... I prefer an inset mousepad to easily and quickly feel the edge for scrolling up and down pages. Not having an edge makes finger placement/scrolling more difficult to get used to, because when scrolling it's easy to move entirely off the pad on to the wrist rest. To make it easier to find the pad, they made it slightly rough-textured instead of super-smooth like my Dell (and older pads). Another example of manuf's building designs based on how cool something looks instead of what's more functional (as all mousepads are like this now). A smooth, inset pad is much more comfortable for your fingertip, easier to use, and works better, imo.
Has 3GB memory, which is nice, and the 250GB is about as large as you can get on a laptop these days, though it's only 5400rpm, so nothing to write home about. Still, it does the job.
There is no built-in Bluetooth, but an adapter is easy enough to get, if needed. Also, the built-in WiFi is G so if you sprang for an N network at home, you'll be needing to fill that ExpressCard slot with an N adapter, unless your N router also supports G.
Despite the little picky things I would have changed if given a choice, this is an excellent laptop for what I paid ($469+tax). My overall gripe would be the mouse buttons and pad, but unless you had a Dell, you have probably been using a laptop with similar buttons and pad anyway.
The keyboard feels real nice, but the mouse buttons are really hard to push, unlike my Dell, but all laptops seem to be this way now (except Dells). Don't know why everyone is making laptops with difficult buttons!! But you can configure the mouse pad to drag and drop without using buttons at all to minimize button use.
Speakers have a dial for volume that you have to turn several rotations to significantly change the level of sound, but that's probably purposeful so that an accidental swipe doesn't create a problem. The DVD player operates fine but seems a little noisy to me, even though there is an "acoustic quieter" patch/driver, which I downloaded when I got all the XP drivers from Toshiba's site.
This is a nice thing: Toshiba has all the XP drivers available on their site to switch this machine. Before you start the process of wiping VISTA and installing XP, go into BIOS and change the SATA setting from AHCI to Compatible, or it won't boot from the XP CD (or any CD it seems). You'll get a BSOD. But once you make this change, installing XP is a breeze, and so is loading the XP drivers.
Slight irritations for me personally: there is one USB port on the right side of the laptop, that is placed towards the front of the computer, rather than towards the back. Towards the back on the right side is the AC plug. I personally prefer the AC plug on the rear, and a couple USB ports on the right side towards the back.
Also, the flash card reader is in front, as are mic and headphone jacks. I use my laptop in a recliner with it butted up against my belly, so having things sticking out towards me is not as convenient as having them on the right side. There is also a WiFi on/off switch here (in front), which seems odd, but whatever. (Disabling the radio via software seems just as easy... why design hardware to do that?)
The Express card slot is on left side with 2 USB ports (again towards the front) on that side. The Ethernet and serial ports are also on the left. I'd again prefer the Ethernet port on the rear. The only port that IS on the rear is a jack for the dialup modem.
The case is high gloss and so shows fingerprints as oily smudges. Not as bad as some finishes I've seen, but it needs to be wiped a lot to look nice. If that bothers you, you'll be doing a lot of wiping.
The mousepad is not inset, but flush with the wrist rest... I prefer an inset mousepad to easily and quickly feel the edge for scrolling up and down pages. Not having an edge makes finger placement/scrolling more difficult to get used to, because when scrolling it's easy to move entirely off the pad on to the wrist rest. To make it easier to find the pad, they made it slightly rough-textured instead of super-smooth like my Dell (and older pads). Another example of manuf's building designs based on how cool something looks instead of what's more functional (as all mousepads are like this now). A smooth, inset pad is much more comfortable for your fingertip, easier to use, and works better, imo.
Has 3GB memory, which is nice, and the 250GB is about as large as you can get on a laptop these days, though it's only 5400rpm, so nothing to write home about. Still, it does the job.
There is no built-in Bluetooth, but an adapter is easy enough to get, if needed. Also, the built-in WiFi is G so if you sprang for an N network at home, you'll be needing to fill that ExpressCard slot with an N adapter, unless your N router also supports G.
Despite the little picky things I would have changed if given a choice, this is an excellent laptop for what I paid ($469+tax). My overall gripe would be the mouse buttons and pad, but unless you had a Dell, you have probably been using a laptop with similar buttons and pad anyway.
