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Toshiba Satellite 1955-S803 Notebook (2.50-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive)

Toshiba Satellite 1955-S803 Notebook (2.50-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive)

List Price: $2,684.99
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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Good idea
Review: Well, you won't see this laptop on Toshiba's website anymore. When I bought this over a month ago (January 2003) Toshiba's website had all the specs. If you peruse Toshiba's website now, you won't find a single laptop that has a detachable keyboard, mouse or 16" screen, much less any 1900 model.

This leads me to ask if Toshiba creates laptops based on available parts or if this concept was not a good marketing decision. It's probably a mix of the two. I don't expect to see many laptop companies inventing removable keyboards soon... my opinion.

The removable keyboard really isn't necessary. It's very thin and flimsy. I'd just assume it remain on the main body. The keyboard, however, does has a very nice feel. The cordless mouse is quite welcome.

The screen is clear and crisp. Although the PC comes with 512Mb of RAM, it consists of 2 256Mb simms. ...

I like this laptop, but in retrospect I think I could have spent a lot less for something slower than 2.5Ghz and still could have received similar performance. One thing to note, the hard drive is 4200rpm's. Most desktop PCs have 7200 rpm hard drives. The difference is dramatic. My point here is that Toshiba is marketing this as a desktop replacement. With those HD speeds, it isn't.

I am currently using this laptop for software development. I have it hooked-up to a 21" monitor and a USB keyboard. It is a good desktop replacment considering the caveats that I've mentioned previously.

I would first look at the 5xxx series of Toshibas. Since they don't have any more 16" display laptops on the market, it makes you wonder what their committment to the concept may have been.

I rated this 3 stars because of the $$$ value issue. If the memory came with one 512Mb simm and was priced $... cheaper I'd give this five stars.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A REAL desktop replacement
Review: Wow. Everything you could want and more. While it's not svelte (how could it be with a 16 inch screen), it has absolutely everything you could need in a laptop, big power, huge disk, gorgeous screen, CDRW/DVD, lots of memory, big time video card, built in Wi-Fi (leaving the 2 PC card slots open), and even decent audio (I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality, considering it's a laptop). The fit and finish are top notch (typical Toshiba), and everything about this unit feels very high line. The wireless detachable keyboard and mouse are just icing on the cake. If you really want to chuck your desktop (or give it to the kids), this one is the move. (And no, I don't work for Toshiba)

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A REAL desktop replacement
Review: Wow. Everything you could want and more. While it's not svelte (how could it be with a 16 inch screen), it has absolutely everything you could need in a laptop, big power, huge disk, gorgeous screen, CDRW/DVD, lots of memory, big time video card, built in Wi-Fi (leaving the 2 PC card slots open), and even decent audio (I was pleasantly surprised at the sound quality, considering it's a laptop). The fit and finish are top notch (typical Toshiba), and everything about this unit feels very high line. The wireless detachable keyboard and mouse are just icing on the cake. If you really want to chuck your desktop (or give it to the kids), this one is the move. (And no, I don't work for Toshiba)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A tale of two notebooks
Review: You may have noticed Toshiba is selling two very different notebooks for the same price: the 1955-S803 and the 5205-S703. So which is better? The 1955 cost about the same as the 5205, has the same memory, same HDD, a bigger screen and faster CPU, so it must be the best choice right? Well maybe not.

The 1955 has a nice big 16" LCD, but the *quality* of that screen is much lower than the 15" screen on the 5205. Also the 1955 is using a P4 desktop CPU, whereas the 5205 uses a P4 mobile CPU. The desktop CPU runs hotter and drains the battery faster.

So which is better? Well it depends on what you want. The 1955 is a great choice if you are going to plug into a wall socket and don't plan to use your notebook on your lap (the bottom gets hot). It more like a desktop computer you can move around easily. The 5205 is a better choice if you need more battery life or want a very high quality screen to reduce eyestrain, do CAD work, or to play the latest 3D games.

Personally I prefer the 5205 for the longer battery life and high quality screen. The build quality is also a little better (both are good).

CPU:
1955 2.5 GHz P4 Desktop CPU
5205 2.0 GHz P4 Mobile CPU (cooler, battery last longer)

Screen:
1955 16" LCD 1280x1024 pixels (that pixel count is too low for a 16")
5205 15" LCD 1660x1200 pixels (provides a much sharper image)

Graphics chipset:
1955 NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go (good enough for some 3d games, light CAD)
5205 NVIDIA GeForce4 460 Go (about 30% faster than the 440)

Weight:
1955 9.5lbs (getting a little heavy)
5205 7.5lbs (not bad)

Both offerings have serious competition ... so look around.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A tale of two notebooks
Review: You may have noticed Toshiba is selling two very different notebooks for the same price: the 1955-S803 and the 5205-S703. So which is better? The 1955 cost about the same as the 5205, has the same memory, same HDD, a bigger screen and faster CPU, so it must be the best choice right? Well maybe not.

The 1955 has a nice big 16" LCD, but the *quality* of that screen is much lower than the 15" screen on the 5205. Also the 1955 is using a P4 desktop CPU, whereas the 5205 uses a P4 mobile CPU. The desktop CPU runs hotter and drains the battery faster.

So which is better? Well it depends on what you want. The 1955 is a great choice if you are going to plug into a wall socket and don't plan to use your notebook on your lap (the bottom gets hot). It more like a desktop computer you can move around easily. The 5205 is a better choice if you need more battery life or want a very high quality screen to reduce eyestrain, do CAD work, or to play the latest 3D games.

Personally I prefer the 5205 for the longer battery life and high quality screen. The build quality is also a little better (both are good).

CPU:
1955 2.5 GHz P4 Desktop CPU
5205 2.0 GHz P4 Mobile CPU (cooler, battery last longer)

Screen:
1955 16" LCD 1280x1024 pixels (that pixel count is too low for a 16")
5205 15" LCD 1660x1200 pixels (provides a much sharper image)

Graphics chipset:
1955 NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go (good enough for some 3d games, light CAD)
5205 NVIDIA GeForce4 460 Go (about 30% faster than the 440)

Weight:
1955 9.5lbs (getting a little heavy)
5205 7.5lbs (not bad)

Both offerings have serious competition ... so look around.


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