Toshiba does it right.
Written: May 05 '01
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Pros: Large, beautiful screen, Simple keyboard layout, fast processor.
Cons: Short battery life, strange software group.
The Bottom Line: If you don't absolutely need the convenience and portability of a small screened machine, this computer is hard to beat; a great computer and a good value.
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| hammerhead1's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite 2805 |
By way of background, let me first tell you that this is my third laptop in three years, but it's the first laptop I've owned that does everything right. I'm a remodeling contractor, and I don't have the time or the ability to 'tweak' the software, so I depend on the manufacturer to give me something to work with which works well.
I shopped for months for the right machine at the right price, but since I wanted this purchase to 'do it all' I opted for spending more money than I wanted to, and this machine doesn't disappoint. It has a large enough hard drive for me to rip/store/burn a large music library, and a CDRW so that I can create my own customized playlists. The screen is absolutely gorgeous (okay, so the laptop I was using before this was a 12.1 passive display but hey...) and I now realize it would have been a mistake to buy anything smaller. I'm not a fan of the Windows OS (I almost bought an Ibook!) but ME hasn't crashed or frozen up once; this has been a big surprise. Finally, I did have a little trouble with the OS after installing my Palm software on it, but I called tech support and they not only identified the problem successfully, but they did it quickly. On that note, I should also mention that my two calls to tech support both produced the same happy results; that is, I got through both times quickly, the techs knew what they were talking about and they fixed my problem over the phone with no hassle, after very little time, and they were even friendly. How cool is that? The one feature this machine came with that is not documented is the smart media slot. I wasn't aware that it even came with it, but I took a trip with this machine and my Olympus digital camera, and discovered that I could simply remove my SmartMedia card from the camera, slide it into the slot this Toshiba, and the computer treats it like another drive: drag and dump. For my uses, this was a delightful discovery. I guess this computer has a fast, capable video card but I haven't yet taken the opportunity to put it to any real test. Finally, let me say I shopped hard and looked at Apple, Sony, Dell, HP and even some off the wall brands looking for as much bang as I could get for my buck. This computer cost me more than I wanted (or intended) to spend, but now I have a computer that should serve me well for years and does everything well. That makes it a good value.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 2400
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Pentium III
Processor speed: 801-900
Screen Size: 15
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
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Epinions.com ID:
hammerhead1
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Reviews written: 2
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