Review: Toshiba P30

[MoonSugar]

--- Toshiba P30 Review -----

Overall, I have been very impressed. During a LAN it performed kick-ass, with games like Far Cry, Call of Duty, UT2004.

It plays FarCry niceley (smooth... not "I think it's smooth, smooth") at 1024x76 - 2xAA - 8xAF, medium settings.

Benchmarks:
3DMark 2001: 10114 (Omegas v2597)
3DMark 2003: 2809 (Omegas v2605a) CPU score: 701

Default 9700 clock speed is: 391.5 / 195.75
I haven't overclocked it because I am a big pussy.

RAM: I use it at work and constantly and my app workflow consists of Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, internet windows, all open at once and I see little performance drop, although when you add 3D software such as 3DS Max to the mix, it does start to chug. It has enough room for another 1Gig stick so if that gets plugged in, no worries.

SOUND: The speakers were never something I never considered when purchasing the laptop, but man -- these things put out!
During intense LAN gaming the sound was powerfull enought that I opted to pass on a 2.1 setup. Speaker quality on a laptop was something I considered to be unimportant... until now! It is so convenient to have powerful speakers right-'outta the box for movies and gaming.

Problems:
- in the first week of use, I had 3 freezes. All in a living room, when I had feet on the carpet. But I have had it for 2 months now and have tried to repeat the problem, but it hasn't happened again.
- screen quality could be better. The Toshiba Qosimo's have really sexy glossy screens. And the fact that it is an LCD, gaming is better done with a CRT. But the brightness is great, no complaints there.

It is a little heavy, but I have a good bag, so I don't find it to be an issue. Although it would be nice to stick it in a backpack.
All-in-all, good buy. My computer upgrade routine is this:
- High end Desktop
- High end Laptop
- next priority is High end Desktop !

180,000 SPF Points. :headbang:

[bowmah]

Not sure which P30 you have but I just bought the RG1 and hope these comments help someone else.

-Mobile Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 532 supporting Hyper-Threading Technology (3.06 GHz, 533MHz FSB, L1 Cache 12KB/8KB, L2 Cache 1MB)
- 512 RAM (1 stick)
- 60 gig HDD
- 17 inch (very good eye candy)

So far, I have not moved my PC's address book or files over yet but I have logged quite a few hours dumping MiniDV onto the system via firewire. During a 60 minute dump, the heatsink on the back was pretty hot! I made sure it was on a solid counter top to maximize the 2 fans on the bottom of the notebook. 1 min of leaving this puppy on your bed will make it run hot.

Editing, time wise, the 4.5 gig MPG was decent. I love the hyper threading technology here. Dvd authoring was also quite acceptable. Now I just have to figure out how to burn at 4x rather than 2x.

Overall, the screen is fantastic!

On a side note, the miniDV cam I bought only came with photo editing software but the RG1 came with WinDVD which I can use to dump and edit video from my MiniDC camcorder.

I have figured out a "best" position to place the this tank on my lap without being uncomforatble from the heat. For waht it's worht, recent studies have shown that notebooks should not be placed on laps for any extended periods of time anyway. I am now looking for a bed / breadkfast tray! :)

One other little thing I noticed. I have learned that tapping the touchpad once is like left clicking on a mouse. BUT, sometimes when I drag the touch pad a certain way, it brings IE back one page, like the back button. Still trying to figure this one out. Anyone have info on this, it would be appreciated!

Enjoy!

[duck.85]

hey Bowmah and MoonSugar, thanks for the reviews, that's good stuff. I've been thinking about getting the P30-RG1 also. have you played any graphics intense games? I'm trying to decide on a toshiba that will be sufficient for a little gaming, internet use, DVD burning and some music editing. I've been looking around best buy and future shop for some time. also, do you have any experience with shared memory vs. seperate? thanks

[bowmah]

have you played any graphics intense games? I'm trying to decide on a toshiba that will be sufficient for a little gaming, internet use, DVD burning and some music editing. I've been looking around best buy and future shop for some time. also, do you have any experience with shared memory vs. seperate? thanks

I haven't played any games on the RG1 yet except for silly shockwave.com ones so I an't really speak about this but I have used it alot (as much as anyone could in a few short days) for dvd burning, internet and video editing. It's weird that it came with video editing and dvd authoring software but I couldn't find a CD copying program on the RG1. If anyone finds it, please let me know.

As for shared and dedicate memory, dedicated wins by a mile. Especially for graphics and multimedia type applications. The redraw rate of shared memory just does' cut it for media intense software. Now, having said that, lots of peoepl get by with shared memory.

London Drugs price matches Futureshop and Bestbuy. You will get better after sales service at LD.

Hope this helps.

[duck.85]

cool, thanks bowmah. that's great.

edit: I bought the MH1 on sale at future shop. this machine is hella sweet. cant thank you guys enough. this website is great, I'll be reading around for a while I recon

[Accord]

Hi...new to the forum.

I've been looking for a compuer that I can use in bed while watching TV, and am currently "evaluating" a P30-JC1 that I bought at Futureshop ($1799 Canadian, Open Bo Special). That was two weeks ago, so today is decision day to keep or return.

There's a lot of things I like..good screen quality, nice (but not perfect) speakers, DVD+-RW and the ATI 9700 128 Mb (P30 is the only Toshiba with this card). Although I always preferred an eraser mouse to a touchpad, I have to tell you that I LOVE Toshiba's "Touch and Launch" feature (if you touch the corner of the pad, you can launch Web favourites, open desktop or pre-configured folders, etc....very cool).

Here are the drawbacks. It's heavy, but this is not for travel so I'm OK. I obviously can't use it directly on the bed, but I can live with a TV tray, but because of the edges on the tray, I have to lift the machine to open the CD drive. The 4400 RPM drive is barely satisfactory. And its noisy. I've really noticed in the last day that even when its not in use, the fans are so loud its hard to hear the TV (which is worse when running multiple programs).

I have to make a decision today, and I'm still torn, so any thoughts are welcome.

[Fidget]

i would say if you like it keep it, but if not take it back and look at some of the other toshiba models out there, ones like the M3, S2, M40 (if your in canada) and such which all have video cards equal to or better than the ATI 9700 128meg... and are likely alot queiter.You may solve part of your noise problem by getting a centrino based system. These systems are ones that run cooler (less heat means less fan usage). As well thse models have smaller screens of the same quality to the p30, since the p30 has a 17inch screen it is very large base wise, whereas the 15" or 15.4" models i suggested are smaller in physical form and lighter as well. The choice is yours, the other models are at minimum $100 more than your system, but that is a small price to be truely satisfied. It does not sound like you are 100% sure of the p30 being the system for you so maybe you should be trying another one of toshiba's great offerings.

[bowmah]

Fidget is right. There is alwasy going to be a similar or better system out there. I saw that Toshiba just launched the M40 which have the same specs as the RG1. Your JC1 has a bigger harddrive and a little faster CPU but the M40 would give you much more battery life.

As for the bed tray, I am looking for one for my RG1 as well but I don't use the DVD rom much. For what it's worth, I am looking for a bed tray that does not have side edges.

I agree with Fidget, it doesn't sound like you are supper happy with the RG1. Fo something in this price range, you should be excstatic over the purchase. Not have doubts. What is futureshop's policy on returns? Is there a restocking fee?

[hagred]

RE: MOONSUGAR
How do you rate the P30 now you've had it for a while? Your review was one of the few I could find on the P30 series a month ago and helped me to buy the similar model RG4.Plus I got a great deal,tho it looks like I'm the only one who has this model,I can't find it mentioned anywhere.
I like the screen,certainly better than most I've seen,and like you say the speakers are excellent.I have no trouble running WWII flight sims with decent frame rates but it'd be nice to have a faster HD.2 weeks in I've had 1 freeze while simultaneously cycling through pictures and mpegs off a disc.
Any recomendations in tweaking the system/ ati 9700 drivers etc? I'm kind of a second time-newbie at this stuff, but this is a great site and I find a lot of useful info.

[MoonSugar]

RE: MOONSUGAR
How do you rate the P30 now you've had it for a while? Your review was one of the few I could find on the P30 series a month ago and helped me to buy the similar model RG4.Plus I got a great deal,tho it looks like I'm the only one who has this model,I can't find it mentioned anywhere.
I like the screen,certainly better than most I've seen,and like you say the speakers are excellent.I have no trouble running WWII flight sims with decent frame rates but it'd be nice to have a faster HD.2 weeks in I've had 1 freeze while simultaneously cycling through pictures and mpegs off a disc.
Any recomendations in tweaking the system/ ati 9700 drivers etc? I'm kind of a second time-newbie at this stuff, but this is a great site and I find a lot of useful info.

After having the P30 for 6 months now, its still my baybe.
I take it to work everyday - and for the last six months it has been powered on nearly everyday for an average of 8 hours.
One thing I have noticed, is that it now will overheat and shut-down if playing War3 for over 30 mins, if the room is even at average temp. THis has just started recently, and I'm looking into the issue. For now, I keep the window open while playing games :)
Haven't overclocked the graphics at all, but have had good performance using the Omega drivers.
http://www.infinal.net/Image_Hosting/laptop.jpg

[Fidget]

a possibility is that the vents are clogged with dust internally. i might suggest a good cleaning and then see if that solves things....

[MoonSugar]

How exactly do you recommend cleaning the laptop?
Just unscrew the entire backing and spray the guts with canned air? Are there any precautions one should take before attempting something like this?

[suddste223]

Pictures?

[BIG67]

if that doesnt work and it still overheats which it most likely will seeing how it is a desktop processor i suggest a vantec lapcool3 it worked wonders on my p30

[Fidget]

canned air is good.... should help clear the dust, but you know it would be even worse if it was so clogged you could really see it. i agree the vantec is a good thing and i would recomend one no matter what.

[Univercity]

Great review on a great piece of machinery! Treat it well and it will not let you down...

[bowmah]

One thing I have noticed, is that it now will overheat and shut-down if playing War3 for over 30 mins, if the room is even at average temp.

I had the same problem and mine is less than 6 months old. The tech at the service depot said he noticed a handful of Toshiba's recently coming in with heating / shutdown problems.

Hey, check out my post here. It warns against using compressed air AND only after I took in my laptop, I foudn out the cpu fan assembly was dead, probably from the clogged heat ducts (from dut bunnies).

http://www.notebookforums.com/showthread.php?p=1128234#post1128234

[Johnny83]

Im using the p30 -jc1. I am also using RMClock to undervolt to 1.63 and x24. I also used Ati Tray Tools to change my PCI Latency to 64. I overclocked my video card slighty. I also made sure that my power settings profile remained on the Toshiba Power saver settings, where I keep everything maxed (especially the cooling). My notebook is well over 6 months old. It needs to be cleaned, but its running games much faster than it ever did. EQ2 already ran well on the notebook at about medium settings, I tested it later and now I can have alot of things turned up high, even in cities it barely hitches (mostly due to the pci latency change). If I had more ram (im still stock 512) then I could accomplish alot more. Oh yeah, I also have the back end raised using a pedestal stand that fits any size notebook. Helps air circulation for a fraction of the cost of a notebook cooler.

BF2 runs really well on my system after those changes. As does StarWars Galaxies and BF Vietnam. I play everything in widescreen also.

[Fidget]

sounds good... we like to hear happy people talking about their systems.

[neaL_]

One other little thing I noticed. I have learned that tapping the touchpad once is like left clicking on a mouse. BUT, sometimes when I drag the touch pad a certain way, it brings IE back one page, like the back button. Still trying to figure this one out. Anyone have info on this, it would be appreciated!

Enjoy!

If you're in IE, dragging your finger along the top of the touchpad from right-to-left, acts as the back button. Alternatively, dragging your finger along the top of the touchpad from left-to-right, acts as the forward button. im guessin you must have figured that out, since you posted a while ago haha..

but anyways i have had the P30 JC1 since a little bit before christmas and it has been really good to me. I Was hoping to get some info on how you owners have tweaked it in any way to increase performance? Thanks for any help.

[MoonSugar]

Have to take my P30 in for repairs. The DVD/CD drive quit working... shortly after it "fell". It took a big fall from atop my computer desk (long story, lossed to a buddy in a game of NHL94)

Its still on warranty, so I'm going to a nearby CompuSmart to get them to fix it and mooch a cleaning too. Will report how it goes and if the Warranty program is actually a valuable service.

[Fidget]

ummm.... firstly dont let it drop too often, as for your system be careful what you tell compusmart or they wont fix it for you under warranty... they can be sticklers for warranty stuff at times.

[neaL_]

Okay so i've had this computer for a year now i believe, and i've noticed a really loud rattling coming from the fan under the CPU.. now what i was wondering, if i took my notebook apart, could i just replace the fan with something from a regular computer part store, or is there a certain fan-type used for it? Im hoping someone has already taken apart their notebook and can help me =\

and because of this, i was really worried the cooling might not be as stong anymore so i built a stand out of Lego! lol check out the madd skillz::

Lego 1 (http://www.mts.net/~videna/lego1.jpg)
Lego 2 (http://www.mts.net/~videna/lego2.jpg)
Lego 3 (http://www.mts.net/~videna/lego3.jpg)

[Fidget]

if it works it works, as for the fan i think you wont be able to find something in your local computer shop, its one of those things that you will have to go to toshiba for from what i know, i could be wrong but still...