Description:
Similar to Toshiba's stunning P25 series of desktop replacement notebooks but sporting a lighter, more portable chassis, slightly downgraded components and a more affordable price point, the Satellite P15 series is an excellent solution for power-hungry business and personal users and multimedia fans who can't financially justify absolute top-of-the-line gear. This model, the Satellite P15-S420, is the midrange model in the P15 series, and thus strikes a perfect balance between performance and price. Those who enjoy the perks of a full-featured stationary PC will find plenty to like in the Satellite P15-S420. For starters, Toshiba fitted the unit with a sizeable 15.4-inch widescreen display screen capable of dazzling 1280 by 800 resolutions. It added a super-spacious 80 GB hard disk spinning at a snappy 4200 RPM and enclosed a versatile DVD Multi Drive through which you can not only watch the latest Hollywood releases, but also burn your own home movies to DVD media and utilize both DVD+ and DVD- formats. Moreover, the unit is fast -- faster in fact than the majority of desktops. Driving the Satellite P15-S420 is a potent 3.0 GHz Intel Pentium 4 processor with a scorching 800 MHz system bus clock speed and Hyper-Threading Technology for more efficient CPU usage. Working in conjunction with this CPU are a generous 512 MB allotment of PC2100 DDR SDRAM memory (expandable to a full 2048 MB) and an nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 graphics chipset with 32 MB of dedicated video memory. Thusly, the system will handle most anything you can throw at it, be it 2D or 3D in nature, though its display may slow some when trying to render high-end 3D games. Diehard gamers who want more powerful 3D capabilities and an even larger display screen should investigate Toshiba's Satellite P25 series. Other critical features include an IEEE 1394 Fire Wire port for fast interaction with devices such as digital camcorders, a trio of high-speed USB 2.0 ports for plug and play peripherals such as scanners or external drives, one PC Card slot supporting the Type II card format, and an impressive variety of interior and exterior one-touch controls. Communication facilities include 802.11a/g wireless networking, 10/100 Ethernet LAN and an integrated 56K modem. Measuring 14.2 by 10.8 by 1.7 inches and tipping the scales at 8 pounds, the Satellite P15-S420 is substantially smaller and two pounds lighter than models in the more powerful, more expensive P25 series. Bundled software includes Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Intuit Quicken New User's Edition 2004, Microsoft Works, and InterVideo's WinDVD Creator Plus. Battery life is average at 2.0 hours.
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