Finally its here 
First impressions out of the box was that it was quite thin and light, approximately 6.5 pounds with battery. This is my first time writing a review but due to popular demand I shall release this mini review today 
PS im going to copy "muzauk"'s format/style
Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.6GHz, 533MHz FSB, L1 Cache 32KB/32KB, L2 Cache 2MB) SONOMA
The great thing about this processor, as with all Centrino laptops, is that it runs very cool and quiet. I usually have the TV in the living room on about 16 hours a day at a reasonable volume, so I couldn't hear the fans at all! Quiet as a cat. When I was copying files from CD or installing software I had to put my ears on the notebook to hear the hard drive. The areas around the touchpad got lukewarm, but never hot, EVER. The fan is located on the left side but again, it only blows warm air. Then again I have not yet tried intensive gaming but so far I am very satisfied.
Memory
1x512 DDR
Like the Sony FS it only came with one stick of DDR ram. I will contact Toshiba to see if it can be replaced with DDR2. This is what it says on Toshiba Canada's website: Two expansion slot total. Open slots, can be filled with 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB PC2700 DDR SODIMM modules, for maximum of 2048MB use; 1025MB + 1024MB.
Hard Drive
60.0 billion bytes, 9.7mm height, Enhanced IDE, 4200rpm.
Well, you trade off some access time for the quietness. Booting up wasn't unbearablly slow, so this is not a major concern. I might add a bigger external drive in the future.
LCD
Type: TFT Active Matrix colour LCD display
Size (diagonal): 15.4” Wide XGA TFT with TruBrite™
Screen Technology
Native LCD Panel Resolution: 1280x800x16.7 million colours
Ok ok so I copied off Toshiba Canada, but it is just so beautiful. The pictures I took does not IN ANY WAY justify the screen... it is amazing. Right up there with Sony and HP. The resolution looks just fine for me. Never again will I get my ass capped because I ran past a "dark" area in an online FPS and couldn't see the enemy. The colors are very vivid.
Battery
Battery Type: Removable, Rechargeable 6-cell
Lithium Ion (Li-ion) 10.8V x 4300mAh capacity
Dimensions: (WxHxD) 206.6 x 22.02 x 53.8 mm
Battery Life: up to 3.2 hours
Recharge Time: Up to 4 hours off / 12 hours on
About 2 and a half hours watching a DVD. Not spectacular. A thing to note though, the AC adaptor power box can get hot, not burning but pretty hot to the touch. So what I did was elevate it off the ground slightly by taking those cardboard rolls you throw away after finishing a roll of toilet paper, I cut a small ring off it about 1cm, and I place the power box on top of it. Now I wont have to worry about the box burning the rug or whatever I put it on, plus it helps cool it a bit (same reasoning as elevating your noteboook, improving air flow).
Graphics
NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go 6600 with 128MB DDR dedicated video memory.
The meat of the review. Thought I forgot?
You can find performance reviews of this card elsewhere, but, all I can reveal now is that I got a 3dMark01 score of 13025 with the factory drivers. Keep in mind they are FACTORY settings, it is underclocked. I am confident I can break 15000 if I overclock it, as nVidia release very nice drivers. I may update this review when I install some games in the next few days.
Conclusion
It would be unfair for me to comment on the price because, well......... I only got it for $1499!! It pays to have connections in China, where most of the brand name notebooks are made in
obviously I did not bother to ask him how he got it or where they were heading (the default time zone was set in *cough cough*Canada*cough*).
I have not yet set up a wireless network so I cant comment on that. I tried to search for unsuspecting neighbors' unsecured networks but no dice
The audio is the same Harmon-Kardon speakers you find in the HP Pavillion line, the audio card is SoundMAX some integrated digital audio card.
Overall I am very satisfied. This notebook shall last me for more than two years, maybe I will double the RAM if I free up my budget at the end of the year.
Pros
- Beautiful screen, but not wide enough to get hot or drain battery
- Powerful graphics card, second to the best in the world (6800)
- Thin and light, when I carry it I felt like carrying a baby, light and delicate
- Full sized keyboard felt pretty good, same with touchpad
- Runs cool, and very quiet......... I can picture myself leaving it overnight
Cons
- TruBrite is reflective especially since I place it next to a window
- But that is fine for me because in the day I am working and I play games in the afternoon/night
- Slightly below average processor speed in today's market, but strangely I didn't feel a huge difference when multitasking compared to P4
- Battery life a bit low
- 4200 rpm hard drive but as stated above, small price to pay for quietness
In conclusion I think this is a great entry level notebook to the SONOMA world, and a high-end in the gaming world. I think it is worth around $1800.
This is the back shot.
Cover shot.
Model info.
This is to show you the keyboard because the screen got blurred.
Not the greatest screen shot because my digital camera is 4 years old. Just try to imagine it yourself, then times 10.
Well that concludes this mini review, hope you enjoyed it.
First impressions out of the box was that it was quite thin and light, approximately 6.5 pounds with battery. This is my first time writing a review but due to popular demand I shall release this mini review today PS im going to copy "muzauk"'s format/style
Processor
Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.6GHz, 533MHz FSB, L1 Cache 32KB/32KB, L2 Cache 2MB) SONOMA
The great thing about this processor, as with all Centrino laptops, is that it runs very cool and quiet. I usually have the TV in the living room on about 16 hours a day at a reasonable volume, so I couldn't hear the fans at all! Quiet as a cat. When I was copying files from CD or installing software I had to put my ears on the notebook to hear the hard drive. The areas around the touchpad got lukewarm, but never hot, EVER. The fan is located on the left side but again, it only blows warm air. Then again I have not yet tried intensive gaming but so far I am very satisfied.
Memory
1x512 DDR
Like the Sony FS it only came with one stick of DDR ram. I will contact Toshiba to see if it can be replaced with DDR2. This is what it says on Toshiba Canada's website: Two expansion slot total. Open slots, can be filled with 128MB, 256MB, 512MB, or 1GB PC2700 DDR SODIMM modules, for maximum of 2048MB use; 1025MB + 1024MB.
Hard Drive
60.0 billion bytes, 9.7mm height, Enhanced IDE, 4200rpm.
Well, you trade off some access time for the quietness. Booting up wasn't unbearablly slow, so this is not a major concern. I might add a bigger external drive in the future.
LCD
Type: TFT Active Matrix colour LCD display
Size (diagonal): 15.4” Wide XGA TFT with TruBrite™
Screen Technology
Native LCD Panel Resolution: 1280x800x16.7 million colours
Ok ok so I copied off Toshiba Canada, but it is just so beautiful. The pictures I took does not IN ANY WAY justify the screen... it is amazing. Right up there with Sony and HP. The resolution looks just fine for me. Never again will I get my ass capped because I ran past a "dark" area in an online FPS and couldn't see the enemy. The colors are very vivid.
Battery
Battery Type: Removable, Rechargeable 6-cell
Lithium Ion (Li-ion) 10.8V x 4300mAh capacity
Dimensions: (WxHxD) 206.6 x 22.02 x 53.8 mm
Battery Life: up to 3.2 hours
Recharge Time: Up to 4 hours off / 12 hours on
About 2 and a half hours watching a DVD. Not spectacular. A thing to note though, the AC adaptor power box can get hot, not burning but pretty hot to the touch. So what I did was elevate it off the ground slightly by taking those cardboard rolls you throw away after finishing a roll of toilet paper, I cut a small ring off it about 1cm, and I place the power box on top of it. Now I wont have to worry about the box burning the rug or whatever I put it on, plus it helps cool it a bit (same reasoning as elevating your noteboook, improving air flow).
Graphics
NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX Go 6600 with 128MB DDR dedicated video memory.
The meat of the review. Thought I forgot?
You can find performance reviews of this card elsewhere, but, all I can reveal now is that I got a 3dMark01 score of 13025 with the factory drivers. Keep in mind they are FACTORY settings, it is underclocked. I am confident I can break 15000 if I overclock it, as nVidia release very nice drivers. I may update this review when I install some games in the next few days.Conclusion
It would be unfair for me to comment on the price because, well......... I only got it for $1499!! It pays to have connections in China, where most of the brand name notebooks are made in
obviously I did not bother to ask him how he got it or where they were heading (the default time zone was set in *cough cough*Canada*cough*).I have not yet set up a wireless network so I cant comment on that. I tried to search for unsuspecting neighbors' unsecured networks but no dice
The audio is the same Harmon-Kardon speakers you find in the HP Pavillion line, the audio card is SoundMAX some integrated digital audio card.
Overall I am very satisfied. This notebook shall last me for more than two years, maybe I will double the RAM if I free up my budget at the end of the year.
Pros
- Beautiful screen, but not wide enough to get hot or drain battery
- Powerful graphics card, second to the best in the world (6800)
- Thin and light, when I carry it I felt like carrying a baby, light and delicate
- Full sized keyboard felt pretty good, same with touchpad
- Runs cool, and very quiet......... I can picture myself leaving it overnight
Cons
- TruBrite is reflective especially since I place it next to a window
- But that is fine for me because in the day I am working and I play games in the afternoon/night
- Slightly below average processor speed in today's market, but strangely I didn't feel a huge difference when multitasking compared to P4
- Battery life a bit low
- 4200 rpm hard drive but as stated above, small price to pay for quietness
In conclusion I think this is a great entry level notebook to the SONOMA world, and a high-end in the gaming world. I think it is worth around $1800.
This is the back shot.
Cover shot.
Model info.
This is to show you the keyboard because the screen got blurred.
Not the greatest screen shot because my digital camera is 4 years old. Just try to imagine it yourself, then times 10.
Well that concludes this mini review, hope you enjoyed it.
