Toshiba U505-S2980 Gets in Touch With Multitouch

January 10, 2010 | Posted by revy

Toshiba Satellite U505-S2980

The Toshiba U505-S2980’s main gimmick is a multitouch touchscreen. Outside of that, it is, for the most part, a decent laptop, even above average in many ways. But that one gimmick is the root of my issues with this 13-inch notebook–and helps raise its cost to a somewhat pricey $1050 (as of 11/24/09).

Because the panel is a touchscreen, the U505-S2980 suffers from grainy picture quality. This exacerbates a more basic problem of the screen just being dim. Viewing angles and backlighting are all right–the hinge actually sets the screen to the perfect angle when the unit is fully open–but the screen is really not bright enough. What you wind up with is a display that’s made too many compromises for an idea that just doesn’t work in practice. (In all fairness the touchscreen variant of the Lenovo ThinkPad T400s and the Dell Latitude TX2 were also a little dim–it’s not something unique to Toshiba).

I suspect Toshiba wants you to use the touchscreen more than anything else, but I’m just not sold. The 13-inch screen runs at a resolution of 1280 by 800 pixels, far too fine for a proper touch interface without a stylus. Sure, you can up the font size, but it grossly reduces usable space on an already cramped resolution. Multitouch also seems silly, given how awkward it is to reach forward and manipulate the bundled multitouch application when the notebook is upright. That bundled app–software for posting notes and images like a blackboard–is in itself quite cute, but hardly practical. That said, with the touchscreen, it’s a breeze to zoom in and out of images or Websites. And if you want to do some on-screen doodling in something like Photoshop, you can.

If the screen is problematic, the good news is that the mousing touchpad is pretty stellar (though a bit small), offering up multitouch capability, too. So if the using the display via touch turns you off, at least you have a reliable alternative.

Now if Toshiba could just get the keyboard part down. The glossy, flat-surfaced, backlit keyboard is a pain. The cheap plastic used for it squeaks and squeals when you slide your fingertips across it, and it’s just not comfortable to use. But the touch-sensitive buttons above the keyboard are nice, and the visual styling with the white LED backlighting is really beautiful and a welcome change from the world of blue LEDs elsewhere in the market. Another user might find the keyboard style to their liking, but to me it remains a gaudy reminder of Toshiba’s over-glossed yesteryear.

The performance of the U505 is pretty reasonable–though it’s hardly a speed demon–but the now-standard 4GB of DDR2 comes coupled with a meaty 500GB hard drive, which is virtually top of the line for capacity in modern notebook drives. The 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6600 processor isn’t going to win any awards, but backed with 4GB of DDR2 RAM and that big hard drive, it scores an 87 in WorldBench 6. That’s more than adequate for general use. The Intel integrated graphics preclude any real gaming performance, but high-definition media playback worked very well, with no stutters or hiccups.

The trade-off for that performance is reduced battery life–you get 3.5 hours if you’re lucky. The average for an all-purpose machine is about 4 hours, 14 minutes.

The speakers on the body below the screen fare at least a little better. Though still tinny as notebook speakers are wont to be, they at least make some effort made to produce at the low end, and you get plenty of volume. At 60 percent volume the speakers are plenty loud enough for either video or music.

I find myself quite liking the overall look of the unit, even though it is a little bulbous for a 13-inch laptop (it measures 12.5- by 9.1- by 1.5-inches and weighs 4.7 pounds). A pleasing texture to the lid and the inside (similar to what we saw on the NB205 line) give a modern, toughened style and a comfortable texture for the palm rest.

The U505-S2980 is very firm, with no creaks or flexing in the chassis. Port selection is excellent, with three USB ports (one of which is a combo e-SATA port), along with VGA- and HDMI-video outputs, speaker and mic jacks, gigabit ethernet, and even an olde-tyme modem port. You’ll also find an ExpressCard slot, plus an SD/MMC card reader on the front. These connections are very nicely placed, too, with two of the USB ports near the front. And finally, hats off to employing a slot-loading DVD drive instead of the flimsy tray-loading ones more commonly found in laptops.

Though I find a lot to like about the U505, it’s ironic that the main selling point is also what’s holding this laptop back–the touchscreen. A user’s experience with a notebook is often going to depend chiefly on the keyboard and the screen–the two most direct ways of interacting with it. You can fit all the hardware you want under the hood, but if these two don’t hold up their end of the bargain, people aren’t going to want to use it. The touchscreen is a cute gimmick whose poor visual quality unfortunately brings the whole thing down a peg.

Specs:

Processor
Processor speed: 2200 MHz
Cache size : 2048 KB
Bus speed: 800 MHz
System chipset: Intel GM45 Express

Memory
Installed memory: 4096 MB
Memory technology: DDR2-800 SDRAM

Display
Display size: 13.3 inches
Maximum resolution: 1280 x 800
Aspect ratio: 16:9

Storage
Total HD Size: 500 GB
Number of hard drives included: 1
Removable Optical Drive: No
Included drives: DVD+-RW DL

Slots
Express Card 54
Memory Stick
Memory Stick PRO
SD Card
SDHC Card
xD-Picture Card
Number of Media Slots: 1

Battery
Number of Included Batteries: 1
Type of Batteries: Lithium ion

Dimensions
Weight (min): 5.4 pounds
Weight (with accessories): 6.2 lbs
Width: 12.5 inches
Depth: 9 inches
Height: 1.8 inches

Price: $1,050.00

taken from: pcworld.com

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Windows 7 Improves Battery Life Performance on Laptops

Best Cheap Laptop For Business Users

Dell Inspiron Mini 1410 — Encompassing Class

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Category Categories: Toshiba | Tag Tags: toshiba notebook review, Toshiba U505-S2980 | No Comments »

Best Cheap Laptop For Business Users

December 8, 2009 | Posted by revy

Author: Steven Johnson

Budget laptops are the new craze in computers as more and more users are seeking mobile solutions without paying a huge price. It makes sense to cut down on expenses by choosing a laptop that is restricted to the particular needs of the user. Business travelers are especially demanding better and better solutions for good quality cheap laptops that are easy to carry. The demand is strong. So much so that it is giving many manufacturers reason to sweat. Big names in the laptop market have come out with many laptops that fall within a limited price ceiling, are good in feature and performance and at the same time are light and small. It is not easy to find out the best cheap laptop as there are many models to choose from and some budget laptops cut down too much on feature.

Here we review some of the most rated products for business travelers. This review can help you choose the best cheap laptop suited to you. We will review some products which are robust easy to carry and good on performance and within $1000.

The HP ProBook 5310mis one of the best buys in this category. At 12.9 x 8.7 x 0.9 inches and 3.8 pounds it is quite light yet robust. It comes with Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB Ram (expandable 4 GB), 320 GB hard drive, and a 13.3 inch display and is priced at $899. It is fitted with Windows 7 32 bit, 3 USB ports, 2 – in – 1 card reader, WI-FI and Bluetooth.

Another ideal solution is the Lenovo ThinkPad SL510. It boasts of Intel Core 2 Duo Dual Core processor, 4 GB DDR3 memory, 320GB 7200RPM hard drive, DVD dual layer burner and 15.6 inch display. It has 4 USB ports, card reader, wireless and Ethernet and comes loaded with Norton Internet Security and Windows 7 Professional. Like all Lenovo’s it has an excellent keyboard design with a lot of space around the keyboard area.

The Acer Extensa 5230 is another great buy priced at about $800. It has become popular in a short time. It has a Intel Celeron Dual Core processor, 1 GB DDR2 SD Ram, 160GB hard drive, DVD super multi drive, express card and PCI card slots, 5 – in – 1 card reader and 3 USB ports. It is loaded with Windows Vista.

The Acer Extensa 5230 is a very inexpensive solution and good for what you get at that price. It has Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GBDDR3 SD Ram, 500 GB sata hard drive, and 17.3 inch TFT display. It has DVD writer, multi card reader, Ethernet and WI-FI, expansion slots and Windows 7.

This completes our compact list of business laptops which are robust, easy to carry and fit a tight budget. There are many more to choose from. But this list provides a selection of some of the best out there in the market and your best cheap laptop could very well be one among these.

About the Author:

Steve enjoy saving money and researching way to save some money. Check out my new site that just might save you a dollar on your next computer purchase: Best Cheap Laptop

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Best Cheap Laptop For Business Users

Dell Inspiron Mini 1410 — Encompassing Class

December 7, 2009 | Posted by revy

Author: Vinnit

Dell Inspiron Mini 1410

Dell is the first name that strikes the minds of laptop users whenever they feel like a need to have their hands on some useful and efficient laptop models. Dell is the name that is time and again pointed our while when talk of striking advancement and additions made in the latest laptop brands.

Dell has established itself as a true leader in the market. Dell has captured the minds of high-tech professionals and has made them completely dependent on the reliable computing devices.

However, it is hard to illustrate all the striking additions made to the latest Dell laptops series, so here we have taken up the recent beauty added to the row. You got it right!! It is the new and innovative Dell Inspiron 1410. What one notices in Dell Inspiron 1410 at first glance is its beautiful and stylish build that boast about smart work and perfection of the Dell laptops designers?

Dell Inspiron Mini 1410 has a sleek and stylish build having 14.1 inch wide screen. Having sexy ruby red skin, Dell Inspiron Mini 1410 weighs just 2.5 that make it easily portable and quite handy; you won’t feel that you have such a powerful device in your hand that does not demand you to carry huge weight while you function with it.

This striking addition in the list of existing Dell laptops is embedded with Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor which is further bundled with 1.86 GHz.

In addition to the above mentioned, this latest dell laptop has 120 GB of hard drive as memory that lets one to save huge lot of data and back it up with complete safety and security from hardware and software failures. This addition in the series of latest Dell laptops features 5 in one card reader that is intelligently stuffed to increase space for storage. Else that this, latest Dell laptops have a distinct reputation for keeping the price range so low that is easily afforded by an average pocket.

Dial up modem, firewire and PCMCIA slot get added up as supplement to basic specifications list. Looks are great too. The laptop model has a black keyboard having quite a commendable size that makes it easy for one to type without putting strain on the finger tips. You can easily shop for Dell laptops online by checking out various authentic laptops sale websites.

For more detaills on Dell Inspiron Mini 12 and Online Shopping visit on www.naaptol.com

About the Author:

Vinnit Alex is well known author has written article on Lenovo Laptops, Laptop Store, Dell Inspiron 1525, Online Shopping India and many other subjects.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Dell Inspiron Mini 1410 — Encompassing Class