Toshiba Satellite 5105-S501 Notebook (1.7-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

Product Description

From its large personal-theatre screen, NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go graphics processing unit and high-capacity DDR memory, the Satellite 5105 -S501 delivers outstanding graphic-display capabilities never before seen from a notebook. The user's digital experience is enhanced via the Satellite's awesome sound system, which features harman/kardon speakers, with a built-in subwoofer and a Dolby AC3 digital port. Add those features to an i.Link (IEEE 1394) port, high-speed Internet connections and support for a variety of storage mediums via SmartMedia and Secure Digital expansion slots, and the Satellite 5105-S501 delivers a robust and versatile mobile computing solution.

Amazon.com Product Description

For multimedia users on the go, Toshiba offers the Satellite 5105-S501 notebook. Designed for cutting edge audio-video performance and speedy computing in any situation, the 5105-S501 isn't quite as well equipped (or as expensive) as its bigger brother, the top-of-the-line 5105-S607, but nevertheless will comfortably accommodate anyone who regularly pushes the capabilities of their portable computer.

The 5105-S501 packs a lot of goodies into its 13-by-11.6-by-1.8-inch, 7-pound frame. At the heart of the system lies a 1.7 GHz Intel Pentium 4 CPU with 512 KB of Level 2 cache. Toshiba has paired this potent processor with a massive 512 MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM and a large 5,400 RPM, 40 GB hard drive to ensure speeds remain fast even during the most stressful moments.

One of the most critical bottlenecks in many portable computers occurs when data moves from the processor to the viewing screen, but that simply isn't an issue with the 5105-S501. Toshiba has equipped the unit with an nVidia GeForce4 440 Go graphics controller with 32 MB of 220 MHz DDR VRAM. This powerful video chip will not only handle all your business applications efficiently, but most games and high-end 3-D rendering programs as well.

If you'd like to watch a movie or listen to a few tunes, the 5105-S501 has you covered there too. Using its multifunction DVD/CD-RW drive, you can play a movie or a CD, burn your own audio disc, or archive your data. No matter what you do, the system's generous Toshiba Personal Theatre 15-inch SVGA+ active-matrix display will capably display your images at resolutions up to 1,400 x 1,050. Its Yamaha audio processor generates high-quality 2-D and 3-D signals, and its Harman Kardon stereo subwoofer system delivers surprisingly rich sound.

The unit's keyboard section is second to none, featuring 85 full-size keys, 12 one-touch Internet and multimedia buttons, and a monochrome LCD cPad touch pad that graphically displays important functions and incorporates several convenient secondary applications. The system features a wide variety of connections, including three USB ports for plug-and-play peripherals, an IEEE 1394 FireWire port for high-speed data transfer from external video devices such as DV camcorders, an infrared and NTSC/PAL port, two multipurpose PC card slots, a SmartMedia slot, and an S/PDIF optical jack. 10/100 Ethernet network support and a built-in 56K modem help keep you in touch with Internet and e-mail services in any situation.

Toshiba has fitted the 5105-S501 with a surplus of popular software, including Lotus SmartSuite Millennium Edition, Intuit Quicken Basic 2001, Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition operating system, and several multimedia and communication tools and utilities.

Customer Reviews:

Good laptop.......2004-12-06

I have this laptop for 2 years now.

whats good:
1. large display
2. firewire port
3. sufficient memory (atleast for now)
4. irda (good for my nokia and palm)

whats bad:
1. battery life (major)
2. keyboard - keys can break easily (imp)
3. no built-in microphone
4. usb 1.1

Great Computer, bad hardrive (for me that is).......2004-09-19

I've had this laptop for about three years now and I've only had problems with the hard drive. The first time it crashed and I sent it in for repairs and came back with it pretty good...or so I thought. About a year after, the hard drive crashed again and this time i just went and bought my own hard drive and now it's working fine. Dispite the mishap with the hard drive, everything else works perfectly. Now with the new harddrive the computer works like brand new, although i no longer am able to use the mini remote that comes along with it because this harddrive doesn't have all the toshiba featurs built in.

Excellent.......2004-02-09

The best laptop I have ever had. Never ever had a problem. I would buy it again, and again, and again...

After you buy it, you're on your own..........2003-11-07

My Toshiba Satellite lasted a little over a year before hardware began to fail ("blue screen of death", CDR/W would no longer write, etc). Fortunately, the system came with system recovery disks (Symantic Ghost), but having to ghost the hard drive three times in the last two months seemed impractical. Device drivers are non-existant and Toshiba online support is pathetic - a constant, mindnumbing circle of useless websites.
Definitely my last Toshiba... and this one is soon to be scrapped.

Almost great.......2002-11-26

I purchased this laptop to replace my Compaq Presario 1600s. The Toshiba's low battery life is of little concern to me because I seldom need to use the laptop in a place without an ac outlet. While some reviewers do not like the heat generated by the Toshiba laptop, I find it comparable to the heat generated by the Compaq laptop.

At its native resolution, the 5105-s501's screen is sharp, bright, and beautiful with excellent viewing angles. One day I was in a computer store and the 5105-s501 happened to be next to its sucessor, the 5205-s503. Ironically, the colors of the s501 screen were much richer than the s503 counterpart; the s503 seemed to have inferior viewing angles with slightly washed out colors.

The s501's speakers are extremeley loud and clear, but are not as rich and distortion-free as the JBL Pro speakers found in older Compaq laptops. When the volume is at maximum, the subwoofer literally causes the keyboard to vibrate and distort the sound. Fortunately at such settings, one's ears can really hurt and one would be forced to lower the volume anyway, thus (mostly) avoiding the subwoofer vibration problem. Still, low frequency distortions can be heard on certain DVD movies like Star Wars Episode I even at mid-range volumes. These distortions do not exist at any volume range when watching DVDs on my old Compaq laptop.

Except for the clicks that remind me of instant messaging event sounds and cricket chirps (yes, I thought that there were crickets outside!), the s501's hard drive is extremeley silent. The fan is loud the first moments when it is turned on, but after these first moments, it is relatively quiet.

Electronics:

Electronics

Electronics