P25-609

i have the one step down p25 607 it rocks

When I bought mine there were not a lot of choices for a machine this powerful. Toshiba is often first to market with new laptop technology.

Since that time though there is a lot of competition. See some of the threads in (general) notebook category. Think its the Fujitsu ? that might be the best deal right now ... but anyway make sure you check out what's available. If you need maximum current and future gaming potential you may want to choose something else (but my 607 rocks at the one game that i play very much ut2003).

We all have our brand preferences when it comes to things like cars (why would anyone not buy a honda), computers, etc ... and I have never had problems with any of my (many) toshibas ... but there are a lot of options out there right now.

Not trying to talk smack but gateway and dell are not options that i would choose. Hp and compaq used to be better than some people think they are now.topnotch.

The 609 is "somewhat" upgradeable ... you can get a better internal harddrive and from what we have figured out faster memory.

oops meant some people are saying hp is no longer a great choice for notebooks but again they have many other satisfied owners

I was gunna buy the S607 a couple of weeks ago, but then I checked out the S609 and decided that the larger HD would be worth the extra money....

I figure I'll make my purchase in a couple of weeks, so that gives me enough time to shop around and save up a few more ducks for the 3 year extended warranty....





Rick

To be fair you should give the other laptops a chance ( I highly reccomend Dell, Fujitsu, and IBM for Corporate use assuming you use it for business )

Unfortunately, Dell, IBM, & Fujitsu don't offer 17 inch screens.

I also could purchase the IBM & Dell via a corporate discount. The fact is, that's still too much money when you try to configure them like the 609.

I shopped everywhere, and picked up a 509 last month at Circuit City for $1899 plus a $150 rebate. Name a single vendor who comes even *close* to those specs at that price.

The P25 is one of the best-kept secrets in laptops today.

I suggest you save some money and buy the S607, then take the money you save and upgrade the boot drive to the Hitachi 7K60 7200rpm. I did the same thing and have a machine that is about 30% faster than the S609 and cost less.

I agree!

It appears that with the P25 line you can buy "small" and add things to it and still come out cheaper.

OK, I went to CompUSA today just to checkout the ergonomics of the board....


WTF was Toshiba thinking when they made such a huge laptop with such a dinky keyboard??

I tried typing out a few lines in WordPad and kept making mistakes

The shift key is like half the size of my current Vaio!!

It's definitely gunna take some getting used to...

They had an HP Pavillion sitting right next to it and the keyboad was much more user friendly....

Quick Question:

The Backspace button on the Toshiba display model only worked in incriments

Like if I wanted to delete a line, I would have to hit it repeatedly

Is there a way to change the options so that it works like a normal BackSpace button that keeps deleting when you hold it down





Rick

i have usb keyboard and usb optical mouse

I have used the built in keyboard a few times on the p25 but almost always I use separate keyboard and mouse for laptops going on almost ten years. Windows shortcuts ... Shift home then delete or ctrl-x will ditch current line.

i have had my s609 since december, i love it.
it is fast enought to handle any new games out there. i have need for speed underground,battlefield 1942 and the games run perfect!
i own a sign shop so i use a lot of graphics programs such as photoshop illustrator,flexisign,signlab. all these programs boot up really quick and have never had any of the programs freeze on me.
i would highly recommend this machine!

I like my -609

Hey, there.

I got my p25-609 after my Sager fried a motherboard, and the repair place could not find a replacement So the people at Philips (the warranty company) got me the Toshiba.

It's big. But it's not so heavy as my Sager was. The screen is pretty nifty, but keep in mind that the 17" is mostly length, so that it almost looks a bit short when one is used to more square aspect ratios. Mine has one dead pixel, but it's not super-obvious (check out Toshiba's dead pixel policy; I guess most manufacturers don't replace for just a few dead pixels, and Toshiba is no exception. Anyway, I'm not upset about the pixel).

The things is SUPER quiet (much moreso than my Sager was) and runs super-cool. The Sager tended to get VERY hot underneath, and, in fact, partially melted its case. The Toshiba hasn't even gotten very warm yet, and it's on all the time, doing some pretty serious number-crunching.

I don't mind the keyboard at all, but I WOULD like a separate numberpad. The touchpad feels nice, as do the touchpad buttons.

All in all, I'm happy (but see the cons, below).

Pros: lighter than my old Sager, but not much;
much, MUCH cooler than the Sager -- runs cold!;
much, MUCH quieter than the sager, despite three fans;
screen is a nice one, but not super-high resolution;
pretty solid feel;
runs damned fast (but I don't do much graphic design or movie editing;
lots of ports;
finally, the thing has pretty nice speakers for a laptop -- people have been very impressed at the sound quality out of two dinky little guys. Good stereo effects.

Cons: the screen aspect takes some getting used to;
one dead pixel on mine;
the graphics card (GeForce Go5200 from Nvidia) isn't acclaimed (I don't have much graphics card experience; it runs fine for me playing a few games, but perhaps with more of a load it would stutter. Also, the card doesn't have good linux drivers, so be careful using anything but vesa mode under linux -- this should be fixed pretty soon;
big (of course).

Cheers!
gardyloo

i always double check pricing etc at pricewatch

Try http://www.pricewatch.com should get a good feel for prices from there

Circuit City had a $400 rebate on them throughout January, but it ended....

MWave seems to be your best bet for the lowest price with a decent vendor rating....

Places with lower prices usually have a $h!tty rating....





Rick

Yeah you are over analyzing but also i am sure the lineup will be up at least upgraded soon remember the 607 and 609 are approaching 6 months old for a laptop thats like a car model thats six years old.

Any computer or laptop that you buy "whenever" will drop half of its value or more in six months or less its like driving a car off the lot that is now worth 3000 less.

Do you need one or not? Do you need the latest features or not? If you don't need the biggest and best (and only you can decide) there are some great bargains "new" available for 600/700 bucks us.