Review Toshiba Satelite Pro U400

Satellite Pro U400 is the business version of the more consumer oriented Satellite U405. This 13.3" notebook gives business users or standard consumers another notebook option if they really like the size and features of the Satellite U405, but don't want the "Look at Me!" glossy finish. Feature wise you can configure each notebook the same, with the exception of Windows XP being exclusive to the business notebook. Read on to see what we think of this business counterpart to the consumer U405.

Toshiba U400 review unit had the following specifications:

* Windows XP Professional (SP2)
* Intel T8100 Penryn (2.1GHz) Processor
* 13.3" WXGA 1280x800 TruBrite Display (Glossy)
* Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics
* Intel Pro 3945ABG (802.11a/b/g) and Bluetooth V2.1 +EDR
* 1GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (maximum capacity 4GB)
* 160GB 5400rpm Toshiba Hard Drive
* DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
* 1.3 megapixel webcam
* Stereo speakers
* Fingerprint reader
* Dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear): 12.4" x 9.02" x 1.08" /1.38" with feet
* Weight: 4.61lbs with six-cell battery
* 75W (19V x 3.95A) 100-240V AC Adapter
* 6-cell (4800mAh) Lithium Ion battery
* 1-Year Standard Limited Warranty

U400's stylish design features a 2-tone color scheme of matte silver on black. Many of the traditionally-square notebook features have been softened with round edges. The overall style is carried onto the keyboard and touchpad areas with both reflecting the shape of the notebook itself. Once the factory stickers are removed from the palmrest areas, the notebook's design blends into a cohesive whole.

The plastic case of the notebook is fairly durable, with no squeaks or creaks when carrying it around. Some flex is present on vast open areas like the screen cover or palmrest, but it is pretty minor unless you always find yourself giving your notebook a death grip. The left edge of the palmrest above the ExpressCard slot is probably the worst point of flex on the entire notebook, since it has no bracing unless a card is inserted.

I feel that the matte paint on the Satellite Pro doesn't hold up quite as well as the Fusion finish on the consumer Satellite series. After a week or so of testing, the notebook is already showing some scuffs around the corners from my backpack and sliding around my desk. With the Fusion finish notebook, it is hard to find a small scratch, let alone an entire scuffed edge. I figure I have just been spoiled with the newer glossy textures which hold up to abrasion much better than anything found on prior notebooks.

The 13.3" WXGA screen found on the Toshiba Satellite Pro U400 rates average, and came with no problems or defects. The screen was dead/stuck pixel free during our review period, and was sealed well enough to prevent any major backlight leakage. The screen backlight was powerful enough to allow comfortable viewing in an office setting with as low as 40-50% backlight brightness level. The backlight levels were even throughout the screen, without any backlight bleed showing through, even on the lower edge of the taskbar.Color reproduction was good when screen was tilted in its optimum viewing range, but if you moved outside of that area colors would quickly invert or distort. The poor viewing range was the main cause of me giving this screen an average rating instead of above average.

keyboard found on the Satellite Pro U400 was very good for a notebook of this size. The keyboard stayed in place while typing, even under heavy pressure. Very little sagging was present during our testing, although the left side did have a smidgen more movement than the right side.

Typing on the keyboard is very comfortable, with plenty of space to make the keyboard feel anything but cramped. Key size was perfect, with good throw lengths and smooth action. Typing noise was low, and you could get away with secret ninja typing if you were careful.

The touchpad rated average with accurate finger tracking use, but lacked many customization features I have come to expect from touchpad utilities. Although the touchpad was a Synaptics model, the menus did not allow for any adjustment for sensitivity, scrolling, or additional functions. The lack of scrolling was my biggest complaint, since no notebook on the market right now lacks that ability. The touchpad buttons were smooth and easy to trigger, with a shallow and soft click when pressed.

Conclusion
The Toshiba Satellite U400 gives business users a solid feature list and moderate performance, but did not do as well as the nearly identical configured Satellite U405 we previously reviewed using Vista instead of XP. Performance across the board was less in every test we performed, with the only configuration difference between increased RAM on the Vista model. The other downside to this configuration is the paint finish which doesn't hold up as well as the Fusion finish on the consumer line, evident by the scuff marks already found on our review sample. If you were looking to purchase this notebook, I might direct you to a Vista configuration of the business U400, or the consumer U405 entirely for the better Fusion finish.

Pros

* Cool and Quiet
* Great Keyboard
* Adequate Port Selection

Cons

* Touchpad is not configurable
* Much lower performance on XP model over Vista

Dell Inspiron 1420

The Dell Inspiron 1420 (R510304) Laptop PC is powered by 1.67 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 and it features 14.1 inch WXGA widescreen TFT display, Dell Wireless 1390 802.11a/g/n Mini-Card wireless connection, integrated 2.0 Megapixel webcam, and 8X Super Multi DVD Writer.

Dell-inspiron-1420-laptopThe Dell Inspiron 1420 (R510304) laptop is built on Intel ?Santa Rosa? notebook platform and it is powered by 1.67 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5450 having 2-MB L2 Cache and 667Mhz FSB and it features 1-GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz (maximum 4-GB), 160-GB 5400 rpm 2.5 inch SATA Hard Drive and 8X DVD Super Multi Double Layer (8.5 GB) DVD Writer as standard configuration.

Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop PC sports anti-glare, widescreen 14.1-inch (35.8 cms) WXGA+ TFT Display with TrueLife technology which can provide upto 1280 x 800 pixels resolution (or optional 1920?1200 screen resolution) powered by NVIDIA GeForceTM Go 8400M graphics, 128MB DDR3 dedicated graphic memory.

The Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop PC offers a wide range of component upgrades - including integrated WWAN or a Blu-ray DVD burner optical drive - and offers color choices for typical home users to suit budget and applications. For example. besides standard black and white colors, the new Inspiron 1420 series also comes in red, blue, green, yellow, brown, and pink colors.

With Dell MediaDirect, one can have fast, easy one-button access to movies, music, photos, & Microsoft Office content without starting Microsoft Windows!

Genuine Windows Vista Home Basic OS preinstalled Dell Inspiron 1420 series of laptop PC for networking offers Dell Wireless 1390 802.11a/g/n Mini-Card for wireless networking, and comes with internal 56 kbps Fax/Modem connection along with internal 10/100 Ethernet LAN connection and an optional EVDO and HSDPA wireless broadband connections.

Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop has 4 USB v2.0 high speed ports, Firewire IEEE 1394a, an 8-in-1 media card reader, an optional Infrared, an optional Bluetooth v2.0 connection, S-Video TV-out, standard VGA out port, and an empty ExpressCard 54mm slot.

The Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop also ports integrated 2.0 megapixel webcam with 2 built-in stereo microphones for video chatting.

Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop comes with several software including Dell MediaDirect which allows one-button access to movies, calendar, contacts and presentations, without waiting for your operating system to start up and Video Communications Pack which allows Chat with friends and family with integrated 2 megapixel webcam dual digital microphones and earbuds.

Weighing 3.45 Kgs (with combo drive and battery pack) the Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop PC comes with 6-cell 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery which can provide upto 2.5 hrs of backup (without Wi-Fi).

I/O Ports:

* 4 USB v2.0 ports
* IEEE1394a
* ExpressCard 54mm Slot
* 8-in-1 Memory Card Reader
* VGA video output - external monitor
* S-Video TV-Out
* RJ45 - Integrated 10/100 LAN
* RJ11 - Integrated 56K Modem
* Stereo in Jack
* Headphone/speaker out jack
* Dual digital mics
* PCMCIA Port

Dell Vostro 1310

When Dell launched their new Vostro line of computers last year the Vostros where immediately praised for meeting the needs of small businesses and budget-minded consumers alike. The Vostro 1310 is the newest and smallest addition to the Vostro family of notebooks. This compact business notebook comes with a 13.3" display, dedicated graphics option and a slot-loading optical drive, but does it still offer the right combination of features, options, and price that made the Vostro line so popular? Keep reading and you can find out.
The Dell Vostro 1310 is available with a range of Intel processors (from the 1.86GHz Celeron M M540 up to the T9500 2.6GHz Core 2 Duo). There are two 13.3" screen offerings, a 1280x800 WXGA with matte anti-glare coating and 1280x800 WXGA "TrueLife" glossy display. The notebook can take up to 4GB of RAM and Dell offers 32-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Vista Business or Windows XP Professional. The system is priced starting at $749 with integrated Intel X3100 graphics at the time of this writing, but is also available with nVidia 8400M GS dedicated graphics.

Our pre-production Vostro 1310 is equipped with the following specs:

* Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 (2.1GHz)
* Memory: 2GB - 2 DIMM (DDR2-667) (4GB max)
* HDD: 160GB 5400RPM HDD
* Graphics: 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS
* Display: 13.3" WXGA Antiglare
* Optical drive: Slot-loading 8x DVD +/- RW
* OS: Vista Business SP1 (available with XP Professional)
* Software: 30-day security subscription anti-virus, No trail-ware
* Wireless: Dell 1505 Wireless-N Mini Card (802.11a/g/n)
* Battery: 6-cell battery
* Other: Webcam and fingerprint reader
* Services: Network assistant; 10GB of Datasafe online; Dell Support Center; PC Tune-up
* Dimensions (HxWxD): 0.94" (front)/1.59" (back) x 12.48" x 9.57"
* Weight: 4.45 lbs (with 4-cell battery), 4.63 lbs (with 6-cell battery)
* Base configuration price: $749
* Price as tested: $1,357


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Build and Design

Dell received some much needed attention in 2007 with the introduction of the sleek, high performance XPS M1330 and XPS M1530 notebooks. While these more expensive notebooks in the Dell lineup were praised for their looks and low weight, the Dell Insipron and Vostro notebooks were criticized for being bulky and unattractive laptops. Dell listened closely to this criticism when they designed the new Vostro 1310. The Vostro 1310 is in fact roughly 20% smaller and lighter than the Vostro 1400.

Unfortunately, the lighter weight and thinner profile come at some cost. Namely, the plastics used in the chassis feel thin and in some areas, such as above the keyboard and on the palmrests, there is a significant degree of flex. The edges of the chassis are also sharper than what we've seen on earlier Dell notebooks and these sharp edges and thin plastics make the design of the Dell Vostro 1310 feel slightly unfinished or unrefined.

Much like last year's Vostro releases, the 1310 doesn't come in multiple colors or display lid patterns. Black is your only option. However, this year Dell decided to get rid of the matte black finish in favor of a glossy black finish with just a hint of metal flake. The black paint with the fine metal flakes is inlaid with the molds so there's no risk of the glossy finish coming off.


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Although I wasn't a huge fan of the glossy black plastic lid with metal flake paint on our pre-production Vostro 1310, it does look and feel nice. Still, the new glossy lid design is a magnet for fingerprints and might not resist light scratches as well as the matte black finish on the previous generation Vostro notebooks.

Another of the new innovations for the Vostro line is the "Hyperband Multi-Antenna" housed inside the LCD lid which Dell claims "can provide excellent reception and help reduce dropped signals" for both Wi-Fi and bluetooth. I've never had serious problems with dropped signals while using older Dell notebooks so I can't speak to whether the new internal multi-antenna actually improved wireless reception ... but I can say that I never experienced dropped Wi-Fi connections during the testing period.

Conclusion

Overall, the Dell Vostro 1310 is an impressive budget notebook with clean looks and solid performance. Whether you need a simple business notebook or a budget portable laptop with modest gaming capabilities, the Vostro 1310 makes an excellent choice.

That said, the chassis isn't as nice as we hoped ... the edges are sharp and could be smoother or more rounded, the case feels more flimsy than the earlier Vostros, the touchpad button placement is bad, and the mono speaker does not provide a good audio experience. Still, none of these issues are "deal breakers."

The other huge advantage to the Vostro line is the support, lack of bloatware, and excellent return policy. Dell will let you purchase a Vostro, use it for 30 days, and if you don't like it you can send it back for a full refund without any restocking or shipping fees. That's just amazing.

In short, the Vostro 1310 is an excellent addition to the Vostro family and gives business professionals and consumers on a budget a low-cost alternative to the Dell XPS M1330. Unfortunately, the price as configured ($1,357) places it neck-and-neck with the XPS M1330. Although the Vostro is a great system at the entry level price of just $749, once the price exceeds $1,000 most consumers (and even many business professionals) would be better off with the XPS M1330.

Pros

* Thinner and lighter than the Vostro 1400
* Reasonable battery life
* Nice screen and easy-to-use media buttons
* Good selection of ports
* Solid performance
* No bloatware
* Available with Windows XP
* Excellent return policy (NO restocking or shipping fees within 30 days!)

Cons

* Glossy LCD lid is a magnet for fingerprints
* Chassis plastics feel too thin and hollow
* Mono speaker is painfully weak
* Uncomfortable touchpad buttons
* No S-video or HDMI port
* Price as configured is a little expensive compared to the XPS M1330

Toshiba Satelit A305-S6845

Toshiba's Satellite A305 is a bit chunky for a thin and light notebook computer system, but this extra girth allows it to pack in an extra hard drive for some class leading hard drive storage. Performance is quite good from thanks to its balance of components but it is the attractive price that will entice most people.

Pros

* Lots of Hard Drive Space
* Glossy Fusion Finish Holds Up Well
* Excellent Pricing

Cons

* A Bit Larger Than Average 15.4" Thin and Light Laptop
* Glossy Screen Can Have Significant Glare

Description

* Intel Core 2 Duo T8100 Dual Core Mobile Processor
* 3GB PC2-5300 DDR2 Memory
* 200GB 5400rpm SATA System Drive and 200GB 4200rpm SATA Data Drive
* 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner
* 15.4" WXGA (1280x800) Wide LCD with 1.3MP Webcam
* ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 512MB Graphics
* v.92 56Kbps Modem, 10/100 Ethernet, 802.11a/g/n Wireless
* Four USB 2.0, One FireWire, ExpressCard/54, HDMI, 5-in-1 Card Reader
* 14.3" x 10.5" x 1.6" @ 6 lbs.
* Vista Home Premium, MS Works, Ulead DVD Factory, Norton 360

Guide Review - Toshiba Satellite A305-S6845 Thin and Light Notebook

5/20/08 - The first thing that most people will notice is all the glossy surfaces on the Toshiba Satellite A305. From the exterior case cover to the keyboard, just about every surface has gloss. This Fusion surface will show fingerprints quite easily, but Toshiba has managed to create a surface that is surprisingly resistant to scratches. Of course, some might find using the glossy keyboard a bit annoying and the glossy LCD screen will have significant glare in certain lighting conditions.

In terms of performance, the Satellite A305-S6845 does a very good job thanks to its newer Core 2 Duo T8100 mobile processor and 3GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory. Even with the Vista operating system it is able to handle most tasks without any issues at all.

The Satellite A305-S6845 has some of the largest storage space available on a thin and light notebook system. This ability comes from the fact that Toshiba has actually put in two 200GB hard drives into the system rather than a single drive. This is one of the reasons why the Satellite A305 has a bit larger dimensions than a traditional thin and light notebook making it a little less portable than some of the competition.

Graphics wise, Toshiba has elected to use the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 over the more popular GeForce graphics from NVIDIA. This doesn't hurt the 3D performance of the system much as the 3650 is able to handle most 3D graphics without much issue and the driver offers more multimedia support than the 8000 series GeForce processors.

Overall, the Toshiba has the advantage over the competition thanks to its price tag being several hundred dollars less than competing notebooks. This makes the Satellite A305 a great value.

Toshiba Satelit A300

The Satellite A series has been one of the more popular models from the Toshiba. When the previous Satellite A200 was bundled with an HD-DVD drive, it was one of the cheapest machines with a next-gen optical drive.

The good: Webcam with face-recognition technology; HDMI-CEC output; powerful graphics performance; Sleep-and-Charge USB ports; strong multimedia suite with FM tuner.

The bad: No subwoofer; expensive; high-maintenance glossy keyboard; large and heavy for a midsized portable; no TV tuner; no Blu-ray option; stiff touchpad buttons.

The bottom line: The Satellite A300 backs up its high price tag with a strong multimedia suite. Unfortunately, this machine is found lacking when it comes to HD movies as it does not have a Blu-ray drive

MSI Wind

Now that the MSI Wind has finally started to trickle out to consumers, we were finally able to get our hands on one of these for review. The Wind is another mini notebook in a field originally started by the ASUS Eee PC, but with one primary catch: It is priced well under the equivalent Eee PC. Now having a better price doesn't always mean you are going to win in any given market, but the MSI really outdid themselves and created a great mini notebook. Read on to see just how much ASUS should fear the MSI Wind.

Specifications

* 1.6GHz Intel Atom Processor
* 10" WSVGA 1024x600 LCD
* Windows XP Home Operating System
* 1GB 667MHz DDR2 Memory
* 80GB 2.5" SATA Hard Drive
* Wireless: 802.11b/g and Bluetooth 2.0
* 3-Cell 11.1v 2200mAh Battery

The MSI Wind really has a great look and feel to it. The soft rounded edges coupled with the glossy texture make it easy and comfortable to grip onto, while also giving the mini notebook a very professional look. Another great aspect of the Wind is nothing appears "look at me" flashy, making it very appealing to business professionals, as well as children and teenagers alike. No chrome is found anywhere, and all the labeling and branding is a light grey which really goes well with the pearl white finish.

Build quality is excellent, and reminds me very much of the HP Mini-Note. Fit and finish is top notch with smooth and tight plastic seams, beveled edges, recessed hinges, and plenty of touches here and there that make you feel you are getting every pennies worth of notebook from MSI. The quality of the plastics used is top notch, and most thick enough to prevent flex even under a firm grip. The LCD cover and palmrest show no flex under heavy pressure, but the bottom panel is thin in a few spots and easy to bend. Not a deal breaker by any means, but I'm just saying it might not hold up well to being run over by a car.

The Wind has a LED backlit matte textured LCD. It is very bright and easy to read, and rates very well to others screens I have used. Colors are vibrant and contrast is excellent. On the flip side, the screen does have the infamous sparkly texture to it giving solid colors a dirty look, and on high backlight settings you can see some backlight bleed and almost make out each individual LED. None of those drawbacks would be enough to make me not buy one, but it might be enough for someone to give it a second thought it they were more on the obsessive side of things.

Viewing angles are just how I like them, wide in both vertical and horizontal planes. I have always found it kinda funny that "cheap and affordable" subnotebooks can always manage to beat out multimedia powerhouses in this screen aspect. With some screens inverting colors or going distorted with minimal vertical movement, the MSI Wind's LCD keeps colors true until much steeper angles. I could say you could probably go 45-50 degrees above or below the screen before you might want to reconsider your seating position.

The MSI Wind really shines with its keyboard, and taking up almost every inch of space side to side to have the largest possible keys on such a small device. The keyboard takes all but 2-3mm of space going side to side, and is really great to type on even with large hands. The only big flaw I can find with the keyboard is the super narrow ",", ".", and "/" keys which are 2/3 the width of standard letter keys. This threw me off at first trying to type in websites, and hitting the "/" key instead of a period. Once you got used to the layout it wasn't as much of a problem, but come on, why ruin such a good thing? The shift keys on both sides should have been reduced in size by half and still been perfectly fine, and you wouldn't have to have 2/3 size symbol keys.

The touchpad is slightly recessed from the palmrest by about 1mm, giving a defined lip around the entire perimeter. For small touchpads this can be very handy, letting you keep your finger inside the detection zone, and not always slipping out accidentally. As far as touchpads go, the sensitivity is great, letting you slide your finger along without excessive pressure for perfect tracking. At times the preset vertical and horizontal scrollbars messed with that perfection, making the mouse veer far from the intended path, but with a few adjustments peace was restored. The touchpad buttons consist of a single see-saw bar, ala early Eee PC, with shallow feedback and a semi-soft click. The clicking noise could probably best be described as a Microsoft Intellimouse clicking inside a sock.

System performance--with great help of Intel Atom processor--was stellar. Boot times into Windows XP were on par with many full-size notebooks, and casual use programs opened up without any lag. We haven't had a chance to install any of our more intensive applications such as Gimp, Half-Life, or AIM yet, but from what we can tell it should handle them just fine.
One downside we noticed that differs from pre-release model reviews is the complete lack of Turbo button. The FN+F10 overclocking feature is no more, and replaced with a simple "ECO feature" that switches between battery saver mode at 800MHz and normal mode which dynamically switches between 800MHz and 1600MHz depending on processor load.

For a user who has put up with super hot keyboards and bottoms of subnotebooks far too long under the excuse of "its small and space cramped", the MSI Wind was a huge surprise. After sitting on for on for a couple of hours in normal mode while plugged in, the bottom of the notebook was 90-94 degrees Fahrenheit, and the keyboard was below that. Compared to the Eee PC 900 which broke 100 degrees on the bottom and 105F on the keyboard, this is a huge advantage. For someone like a writer who might spend hours on a keyboard typing away on the road, not having your fingertips sweat like crazy is a incredible feature.

Fan noise is completely silent at best and minimal at worst ... and seemingly always running in the background. This is probably one of the big reasons the MSI Wind runs at reasonable temperatures, as it always has some air flowing through to carry away excess heat.

The MSI Wind has a laundry list of features, including everything you would expect to find on a fullsize notebook. Key features include 802.11b/g wireless, Bluetooth 2.0, Webcam, and a card reader, with USB, VGA, LAN, and audio making notable appearances. While Firewire would have been nice to see, it was understandable to be missing, with an already crowded port selection on each side.

EGS E101L Mini NoteBook to Hit US Market in September

Elitegroup Computer Systems’ ECS G10IL mini-notebooks, featuring the Intel Atom processor, 10-inch displays, and HSPA connectivity, will be available in the United States in September, said company’s vice president of sales Henry Kwan.

In an interview for Laptop Magazine, Kwan said that there will be an 8GB SSD version running Linpus Lite 9.4 Linux and an 80GB hard drive version running Windows XP. Pricing will start at $399, but the least expensive systems will not include 3G options, he added.

The company also plans to launch an 8.9-inch screen version of the netbook, but US customers will be the most likely offered with the 10-inchers only.

According to an ECS’ press release, the Intel Atom CPU in the G10IL is accompanied by the Intel 945 GSE chipset, and up to 2GB of system memory. ECS said HSPA (HSDPA/HSUPA) mobile broadband technology built into the G10IL allows download speeds of up to 7.2Mb/s and up to 2Mb/s upload.

The G10IL mini-laptop also sports an embedded 1.3-megapixel web camera, three USB ports, Ethernet LAN port, a 56k modem, wireless LAN and Bluetooth, and a 4-in-1 media card reader