A Ten Year Old Boys Dream Come True
Written: Jun 21 '01
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Pros: Lightweight, Affordable, DVD, Reliable, Battery Life
Cons: Pause in DVD play
The Bottom Line: This has been a great investment. It is able to do everything we want it to do without difficulty.
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| jubrismom's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite 2805-S201 PC Notebook |
"$850.00 Mom, I'm really close to having enough for that laptop, and it's only been one year!" so says my almost ten year old son. It was February 3, 2001, and he'd been saving up his money since his previous birthday, February 22, 2000. He had deposited his birthday money, allowances, earned chore money, as well as any loose change he was given into a special bank savings account he'd wanted created just to save up for his very own laptop. Now two weeks before his tenth birthday he was seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. He almost had enough to get one. "Maybe with this years birthday money" he'd say with a wistful look in his eyes. I could not have been more proud. He could have just bought any little toys he wanted, candy, etc... But he didn't. He just saved and saved.
To reward him, and help him out, his father and I decided to take his money, add in some of our own, and get him his laptop for his birthday. That meant he would have a scaled back party with less frills, and no other presents from us. But he would be thrilled.
So, off to Circuit City we went, in hopes of finding a reasonable laptop computer. We already knew some of what he wanted. A DVD player so he could watch movies in the car on long car trips. A word processor so he could write his school reports on his own computer. The ability to go online to do his school research, and to see what was going on with his favorite cartoon shows. And, the ability to play the Sims games.
I'm not very wise when it comes to computer specs. I went based on my son's price range, and some advice by a helpful salesman. I did ask questions. Which laptops have a DVD player? Will he be able to play games like Sim City on it? Is it easy to use? Will we be able to use it for the internet? Does it have a good battery life? I asked my questions, and the Toshiba Satellite 2805-S210 is the laptop computer the salesman directed me to.
It looked very sleek and modern, accentuated with black and silver. It had the necessary DVD drive. The salesman put a Sim Tower game in the display model and it worked fine. He assured us it had the ability to go on the internet, as it included the modem. The picture on the screen looked great. I was actually impressed by how clear it was, and at how large the monitor was. I was even more impressed at the price. Just $1199.00!
I was starting to get somewhat skeptical wondering how a computer with a DVD player could only run $1199. The salesman then explained that there were some sacrifices. It only has an Intel Celeron Processor, not a Pentuim II or III. And, there was only a 6.0 GB hard drive, as opposed to the 10.0GB and larger found on many of the new laptops. But this one is upgradeable. I was also unsure of the mouse. It has one of those little ones that is in the center of keyboard. You use it by just a light touch of a fingertip. But, how easy would this be for a ten year old.
After debating the sacrifices with the benefits we decided to go ahead and get the Toshiba Satellite-2805-S201. While waiting to complete the transaction we mentioned to the salesman the laptop was a birthday present for our son who had spent the past year saving up more than $800 to purchase his very own laptop. The salesman looked astonished, then asked us to excuse him for just a moment. He came back a couple of minutes later and said he told his manager the story, and was advised he could take an extra $100.00 of the price. The manager then appeared with a carry case for the laptop that he added in for free. We added the extra 3-year Circuit City warranty, and left with our purchase.
We went home and charged the battery overnight as suggested. And, at his birthday party presented him with his new laptop. He was thrilled. And has used it everyday since.
Now, for all the technically minded:
Specs
*13.3" diagonal, TFT active-matrix color display
*Booming audio subwooferfor a full multimedia experience
*LAN-and Internet-ready with 10/100 Ethernet and V.90/K56flex modem ports, allowing broadband access
*Intel Celeron processer, 650MHz
*64MB memory, expandable to 320MB
*Built-in 8x DVD-ROM, 6.0 billion byte HDD and diskette drive
*VirtualTech e-support, Active Menu Utility, FreedomWare Solutions,
*3.5 mm headphone jack
*3.5 mm audio/video out jack
*2 PC card slots
*Parallel Printer Port
*Monitor Port
What that means to me:
*We can play games on it
*We can use it to access the internet
*It's fast enough to handle anything we ask it to do
*It has great sound, though not very loud
*It plays DVD movies or CD songs
PROS
*Alarm sounds if you close the top with the computer still turned on. This is a short alarm only lasting a few seconds. But this is great for helping my son to remember to shut down the laptop when he is done playing with it.
*3 1/2 floppy drive, built right into the computer, means he can save his school documents on a 3 1/2 inch floppy. Which will save space on his computer, and allows him to take his work to school with him, without having to take his laptop.
*Built in DVD players entertains the children in the car watching movies when we travel.
*Ear phone jack means parents don't have to listen to The Digimon Movie ten times on a car trip. 3.5mm headphone jack for headphones or external speakers.
*Large screen is easy to see, and has great graphics.
*Built in mouse in the keyboard for easy use when in airplanes or cars. And, there is a port on the back you can plug an external/traditional mouse into, which we do without problems.
*DVD controls below the screen allow easy access to play/fast forward/rewind/ DVD action, or CD songs.
*Battery life is a good 3-6 hours depending on what you are doing. DVD watching reduces battery life to about 3-4 hours. You can even check your battery power left in the control panel. There are even alarms you can set to let you know when your battery is getting low.
*Built in screen saver automatically comes on if the computer is not being used. The pictures are nice outdoor scenes.
*Power saver functions are equipped on the computer. You can place the computer in stand-by mode to conserve power when you aren't using it, but are not going to shut it down/turn it off.
*Comes loaded with Windows ME.
*Includes basic computer games like, Minesweeper, Free Cell, Hearts, and Solitaire.
*Volume control on the side of the system.
*Printer Port on back allows the system to be hooked up to a printer. Many printers are already listed for easy adding.
*Lotus already loaded on system.
*It has NEVER FROZE up on us!
*Easy to use/understand User's Guide will answer most questions you may have including, getting started, learning the basics, battery use, Windows ME, DVD, and Trouble shooting.
*Small business use: Until recently I had my own small business, and I frequently took along this laptop to help print out customer receipts. It traveled well, and never failed to perform.
CONS
*DVD slows/stops for a second periodically. Why I do not know.
*Hard drive is only 6.0GB. We are particular about what all we let him put on his laptop, just to try to conserve hard disc space.
MY OVERALL THOUGHTS
This Toshiba Satellite 2805-S201 is a very functional laptop for children. It also works great for the small business person, who needs a portable computer to take from location to location wi th him. Lightweight and easy to use, it proves it's worth very quickly.
This has been a great investment. It is able to do everything we want it to do without difficulty. Our son is very happy with it, and so are we.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1099.00
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: 601-700
Screen Size: 13
RAM: 64
Internal Storage: DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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jubrismom
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Member: Brenda
Location: Southern Michigan
Reviews written: 102
Trusted by: 117 members
About Me:
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are" Dumbledore-J.K. Rowling
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