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Toshiba Satellite M115-S3094 Review

Introduction:
Alright, as some of you may know, this laptop just came out recently with an MSRP of 749. Those of you who have browsing deals sites and forums may have noticed that within the first few weeks it came out, B&M stores have been offering really good deals on this laptop. Compusa, the cheapest retailer, had the laptop for 499 during its moonlight madness sale with BB and CC coming in second pricing it at 599 after instant rebates and mail-in-rebates respectively.

I must say I was not in the market for a new laptop as I had just purchased my other laptop (as you see in the sig) 2 years ago and ive been happy with despite all those cosmetic damages my sister has done to it. However, this caught my eye being priced at 599 (when I originally purchased it from best buy, which was a pleasure to deal with this time around) and a lighter laptop to take to college did seem nice.

System Specifications:
Intel Centrino Duo (Dual Core) T2050 1.60ghz 5.33 ghz
1x 512mb PC2-4200 533mhz (mine came with hynix chips)
8x DVD+/- RW Drive
80gb SATA 5400rpm drive
14.1” Glossy Widescreen 1280x800
Intel 945GM Express
Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) 950
ABG wireless card
Windows XP Media Center Edition

The 14.1 widescreen powered by the integrated graphics accelerator is more than enough to do handle DVD and other video playback. Obviously this machine is not built for gaming so I wont even go into it. The display is very bright at the highest setting and it is still visible at its lowest setting in a decently lit room and in some outdoor settings. However, like most glossy screens as well as some other laptop screens, glare in the outside environment makes the screen a little bothersome to look at. The easy solution is to just go into a shaded area. The screen has minimal backlight leaks which is only noticeable when there is a dark background. Toshiba has done a great job to minimize this.

Chassis Design and Build Quality:
Chassis quality is great and Ive notice no flex so far and I often just carry this by hand in between classes. Weighing in at around 5.3 lbs (as advertised) it is not bothersome to lug this around campus. The smaller size allows it to fit easily onto those tiny folding tables in the lecture halls. USB slots are located in the back and on the right side which is nice when u need to plug a mouse in. How air blows out on the left side so if you are left handed, this may irritate you. Other slots/ports include your analogue monitor, S-video, 4-pin firewire, PC card, Ethernet, 56k phone jack, mic in and headphones jacks. The DVD drive is located on the right side.
Keyboard – As with most Toshiba laptops ive had experience, the keyboard could be better. The layout is fine with the keys in the usual places. The sensitivity, however, could use some work and be made more sensitive. Sometimes during notes typing, the keys don’t register everything. While its not a major problem, its just not as great as the keyboard on my other laptop. Seeing as how this laptop was purchased for 500 + tax, this is forgivable and 100 quality and satisfaction is expected. Ill have to get used to it but Toshiba should really put better keyboards in their machines. Most of the keys are a good size however a few of the other keys could be made bigger for easier usage but then again, this laptop is only 14.1”, there really isn’t much space to spare.

Speakers – While these are still laptop speakers, they sound better than all the other laptop speakers ive heard. Toshiba really has done a great job in the sound department in all their laptops. Whether it’s the SRS or whatever they call it or just the fact that they placed better speakers into their laptops, it just sounds good. However, if you are an audiophile, you may want to get some external speakers for when the laptop is sitting on your desk. If you are the average listener, these will suffice and still please your hearing sense.

Performance
This computer is a bit lacking in performance which is probably due to the 512mb. With a 512 upgrade, this laptop would probably receive a huge boost. The 1.6ghz processor and 5400rpm hard drive should be sufficient for all your non gaming needs. This laptop powers up from off position in a bout 45 seconds and comes back from hibernation in about half that time. Stand by is not glitchy with this computer as ive seen with others like my old laptop which is nice. Ive been using it a lot and it has helped my batter life when im just idling listen to the prof.

Battery Life:
Using it for notes and internet, this laptop holds out for a little less than 4 hours initially. I haven’t tried with DVD playback or any video playback on hard drive yet. Once I do so, ill post times.

Conclusion: The laptop meets my expectations. For 500 dollars (best buy price matched compusa’s price so I didn’t have to deal with rebates) it’s a great value for a college student like me who doesn’t use it for games. I don’t really play games anymore but if I do, ive got my desktop for that. For my college uses, this has been very useful for me. Overall, id rate it a

**** 8.5 / 10 ****

It only lacks in keyboard and memory department. Everything else is expected of an “economy” laptop like this. This nice thing about this laptop compared to others within its price range is it doesn’t use a “budget limp processor.”

Hello all, I just got my new laptop about a week ago, and I love it, it's way better than I ever thought it would be for this price range. Just about all my friends have a Toshiba laptop, and now I see why.

But i have had some trubble with the paint, i used it a lot for a while and the paint is wearing thew to the black plastic underneath. And theres a glitch when you wake it up from standby (only happens about 1 out of 50 times) the fan just gets stuck on, so its not a problem, but it is a little odd. I would not recommend paying more than $300 for this (2/25/08). I have had lots of problems to, they replaced the motherboard, sound card, battery, and DVD drive. I would recommend, if your getting a used one, to get a IBM Thinkpad (i got a T40) They seem to hold up much better, but of course they don't have a wide-screen (at least, not that many models anyway). and a upgrade to at least 2GB ram i would say is a must.

-DJ