Compare Prices on Toshiba PST3AU-012009
I was torn between getting a netbook or upgrade my several year feeble laptop. I do a lot of traveling so I liked the notion of the smaller netbooks that were lightweight and easy to carry around. I didn't like that fact that they were underpowered and had shameful veil resolution so I was hesitant about buying one.
My main criteria were
1. Lightweight and portable
2. Much enough to handle video and other media without too remarkable struggle
3. Long battery life
I started looking at laptops but most were no lighter than my unique laptop and had battery power lasting around 3 or 4 hours (unless I went with a Mac...no thank you) . I looked at various netbooks such as the million that Asus offers and liked the long battery life but the Intel Atom chip unbiased seemed too former for my liking. So I was stuck between underpowered netbook and too gigantic to lug around laptop.
I made a lope to Best Hold and saw the newly released Toshiba Satellite laptops. I like the construct, bigger than a netbook but smaller than a laptop and I liked the fact that they bustle dual core processors (at least this model and the one Best Pick had) . Seemed to meet my needs in the middle.
I decided to give this laptop a try but had a decision to accomplish. Do I remove this model from Amazon (T135-S1310) for $700 or do I catch the model at Best Consume (T135-S1309) for $550. Confused as to that main differences between the two, I started doing some research. The Best Select model seemed to have everything that the Amazon model had with the exception of 1gb less of RAM. Well, I can upgrade to 4gb easily and cheaply enough so the $150 gap unexcited works in my favor but then I noticed that the Best Recall model is only running 32bit Windows 7. Not bright if it will get a 64 bit operating system (i.e. is the computer only 32 bit) I decided to consume a dinky more and salvage it from Amazon. Plus, I was able to fetch it in red which looks very nice (sans the fingerprints!) . Not determined if the 64bit makes that remarkable of a inequity but at least I can bustle 4gb of RAM and have it recognized.
The laptop works as I would query. Size is perfect for me to depart with. It is mighty smaller in overall size compared to my Dell 15 shuffle and the weight of abut 3.8 pounds feels like a feather to my Dell which comes in cessation to 6.5 pounds. It is essential!!!! Overall, I can't complain about the accelerate of the computer as I was not expecting it to rival the fresh I7's coming out. My older laptop runs an Intel, Core Duo (not Core 2) at 1.66ghz and the Toshiba seems to compete with that very well, probably a bit faster due to Windows 7 Home Premium. I don't feel like I downgraded on my laptop by using this.
The wireless N network card had no issues finding my home network and connecting. My bustle tests showed me getting almost 12mbps download speeds compared to my G laptop that gets about 7mbps. So the N speeds are faster. This was my first contrivance that could expend my D-Link DIR-655 N router so I am happy it actually works!
I have played a bit with video online with Hulu, Netflix and stuff I have created and it handles it fairly well. HD tell can secure a bit choppy at times but does play smoothly unless something else decides to accelerate in the background. This is one plot that you must sacrifice when buying such a slight computer for this mark, no dedicated graphics card. Not a deal breaker since most things seems to urge well.
Sound is a broad snarl and my one main complaint. At fleshy volume, you can barely hear anything out of the main speakers. This will be useless to exercise unless a situation of external speakers or headphones are worn. Hopefully this can be fixed in some future firmware/driver update but who knows.
Battery life is astounding. In Eco mode, you can speed this for conclude to the 9 hours it is listed at. Of course, video or other media will carve that down quite a bit but I am averaging around 7 hours per charge with a decent amount of video/music playing. This is a grand feature for travelers.
I did acquire most of the preinstalled software that came with the machine as I come by most of it useless but I left most of the Toshiba stuff on it to search for if any of it is worth keeping for now. The face recognition software is frosty but I am not clear how useful it will be over time as I will be the only user of the computer and I don't hold any considerable files on it. I guess it is for bragging rights that I have that capability.
I will try and post updates as I spend this but honest now I am completely elated with my steal. Oh, as you already know, this does not arrive with an optical drive so if you need one, you either need an external or skip this machine all together.
****Update****
JMesa....thank you!!!!!! Your audio tweak worked. I can fianlly hear the other perosn on the nd of my video calls now!! It's unfamiliar how vulgar the volume is until you push all the equalizer adjustments to the top. Wouldn't want to play music through headphones with these levels but at least I can finally hear stuff!. Makes this lift even better!! Colossal fan of this laptop and Windows 7.....so considerable I upgraded all 3 machines in my house!
****One more Update*****
Had to write a rapidly update to verbalize how gratified I am that this laptop is a lot more rugged than it appears! I was carrying a few things from my kitchen to my basement yesterday and had my laptop resting on top of the stuff I was carrying. It slipped off and fell on my tile kitchen floor. Bateery came carshing off and I could notice the laptop bounce a bit (it was about a 4 foot tumble!) . I first impression was....there goes $700! Hwever, I popped the battery relieve in, tunred it on and eveything is ravishing. Not even a scratch or dent! If this was my 100 pound Dell, it would have shattered into a million pieces and my floor would probably need replacing. Toshiba difinitely made a laptop ample of business fade combining lightweight, power, and now...sturdiness. Is it bulletproof too? I hope I never have to secure out.
Oh, and I unbiased got succor from a execrable country meander (Boston to Seattle) and my Toshiba performed wonderfully during the whole run. Even the video conferencing with my my wife and son using the hotel's free wi-fi connection worked well under Live Messenger (haven't tried Skype with it yet) . The camera quality is a diminutive blah compared to my 2mp camera on my desktop, but I can live with it!
I have bought this laptp and it is really vast. Natty mercurial, really lightweight and with an impressive behold.
About the sound: you can increase sound DRAMATICALLY if you follow this steps:
Go to Control Panel
Select Colorful AUDIO
On the lower section, recall Colorful EQ/3D SETTINGS
Select CUSTOM
Pull the buttons up (i have them detached at number 7, quite enough as you will gaze)
Enjoy AWESOME volume!!!
I'm not a computer guru, I can't quote specs at a person, but I know when something gets the job done and this microscopic guy does. Today I ran for six hours on battery, had another hour and a half left when I plugged in. During this time, I was surfing the web, streaming youtube and hulu, and working with Photoshop and Pro Exhibit Producer. It even handled encoding video with Producer like a champ. It never got hot, fair luke warm, it never seemed to promenade, status up was a chase, touchpad is nice and responsive, it's unprejudiced been an absolute joy and it looks delicate to boot. The speakers aren't very loud, but for everything else you accumulate with this machine, I'm not going to quibble or engage away stars for speaker volume. I worship it and would recommend it to anyone looking for a portable machine with long battery life that peaceful packs a exiguous power.