This laptop is a really cheap move by Toshiba. Now do not get me wrong here, I like a cheap laptop as much as the next tech junkie. But this affordable offering from Toshiba is just stretching things a bit too much. There are many things that I can live with sacrificing for a lower price. Sadly the processor is not one of them. I do not know the logical reasoning behind releasing a laptop with an outdated processor but if I wanted a new car for cheap I’d rather go for one that looks hideous but has a great engine.
The Toshiba Satellite M505-S4940 is a great deal at $649. It looks good with good aesthetics and graphics. The problem is that it looks a little too good for what it has on the inside. Beneath the deceptive looking exterior, this laptop is running an Intel Pentium Dual Core T4200 clocking in at 2.0GHz. The Dual Core processors are the generation before the Core 2 Duo processors. So having a Turion core Intel Dual Core processor is simply not worth it at all.
Toshiba of course tries to make things better for us by giving us better specs in the other departments. So you have a more than average memory size of 4GB. This is DDR2 RAM running at 800MHz. That is 2GB more than the average.
The storage is 320GB large with a 5400rpm hard drive. While usually we see 250GB storage capacities in this price bracket, Toshiba is clearly trying to entice us into buying these laptops. The increased RAM and the 350GB storage are nice to have but they cannot do anything to alleviate the shortcomings of the outdated processor. To take my car analogy further – this is like buying a great looking car with good features that runs on an older engine. It simply will not be able to keep up with the modern applications. So soon you will be seen bashing your head against the wall. Okay so may be not everyone is as fervent as I but it will still be bad for you.
One the outside, the laptop actually looks good. You of course have to overlook the fact that it looks like it has been eating at the big Mac for the past one year. At 1.5 inches thick, this is a really thick laptop when compared to its contemporaries. May be Toshiba was thinking of how laptops looked when Intel Dual Core was still widely used. One can’t help but think that Toshiba is trying to get rid of their stock with this.
The screen is a 14-inch LED backlit LCD panel. It has a native resolution of 1366 x 768. That puts the aspect ratio at 16:9, which as you might already know is great for movie watching. The screen is actually one of the only things that is good about this laptop. Text looks clear and crisp on it and images look great as well. Movie watching is definitely a plus point on this machine and the screen is to be thanked for this. It must be noted however that there are other laptops in this price bracket that run on Core 2 Duo that have a good screen.
The keyboard and the touch pad has been getting the cows of reviewers all over the place. The keyboard has a glossy surface that has been repelling users from prolonged use. The overall design of keyboard also makes it rather uncomfortable for prolonged use. The touch pad is flush with the surface and it tends to disappear if you are not looking at it. You cannot feel the demarcating lines. The surface is matte and feels nice to the touch but the smaller size of the touch pad (smaller than average) makes it harder to use. The two keys below it are soft and flexible i.e. the wrong kind of buttons to use on a laptop. There is an LED strip right above the touch pad that might obscure your vision when you are in a low light situation.
There are touch controls above the keyboard for multimedia controls like volume, play/pause, skipping, etc. There is one problem with the volume button and that is that it makes a beeping noise when used. This is definitely a tun off for most people. We are no longer in the 80s and we want our machines to be sleek and silent. Also, the volume button does not always work. Over all the LED backlit multimedia controls look good and they add to the laptop’s appealing look.
There is another redeeming feature in the M505-S4940 and that is its sound quality, Thanks to the Harman/Kardon speakers that come with this laptop, you can rest assured that your laptop will sound better than most other laptops in the same price bracket. So if you are going to watch movies or listen to music on this laptop, they will sound quite clear and crisp. Do not expect to have a low-end response or a full-bodied sound because that kind of a sound cannot come from such tiny speakers.
When it comes to ports, there is one port that is missing very prominently in the M505-S4940. It is the HDMI port. So you cannot plug this laptop in to your favorite HD-TV and enjoy the rich visuals. This laptop is actually not equipped to handle the HD. There Hence you are not missing out on much here. There is the standard VGA out port though.
There 3 USb ports, which gives you a good deal of options. There is also a USB/eSATA combo-port that enables you to charge your USB devices regardless of the state of the laptop (either asleep or off). This port is actually a standard on Satellites and comes in quite handy for many people. There is also an ExpressCard/54 slot, which will be welcomed by many. There is Ethernet and WiFi (802.11b/g/n) for connectivity but no Bluetooth. There is an SD card reader and a DVD burner as well.
The battery on the M505-S4940 is below par and will give you a running time of around 3-3.5 hours. The longevity of theother laptops in this category is around an hour or so more. Some others have battery lives even longer than that.
At the end, would I recommend this laptop to anyone? Not really. If you want a good 14″ laptop, all you have to do is pay about $50 more for one that has a Core 2 Duo processor. Do not confuse between ‘Dual Core’ and ‘Core 2 Duo’ – Core 2 Duo is newer and faster.
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