Everybody that knows me well in real life knows that I have had some sort of weird love for laptops for a while. In fact, I have no desktop anymore. I realize they are pricey, but I defitnively love having everything I do (game, work, net, documents, art, photography) all with me. No files to sync or copy or anything, it's all here.
My first laptop was a Toshiba, so was my second one, and now so is my third. I decided to go for it becuase the battery life of my second laptop was poor. So I sold my second machine and now i have this one, the 5205-S119 - same line as my second laptop but two generations ahead.
So what's to like about this Toshiba line (and Toshiba in general). Well the LCD display is one of the best in class (great color, dynamic range); it has a subwoofer (I know it sounds quirky but yes it works, and yes it sounds leagues above your average laptop); and this last one has a geforce 5600 FX GO, which can run virtually every game out there currently pretty well (new games with heavy Pixel shader 2.0 though will most likely chug).
This 5205-S119 model in particular has a very affordable price. It also has the capability of a dual battery setup *and* not swapping out the CD/DVD-rom. The 2nd battery goes in the "style bay" which you can also use for a DVD-writer, a 2nd hardisk (you can even install there an Hitachi 7200 rpm travelstar if you want), few other options. As it comeds it has a "space saver" where the remote control (yes, the laptop comes with an infrared remote control to control the music and DVD player) can be stored.
Here's the link, If you dont' mind the size, and the weight (8-9 pounds with the two batteries), this machine is very nice for coding & defvelopment (has an FX chip, and 1600x1200 of resolution- screen area).
This is a "limited quantities model" - it seems clear to me Toshiba is getting rid of this line to make way probably for a Pentium -M/ Geforce 5700 FX go model. I wonder if they will try to continue the same form factor.. if I were them, I would make a similar model feature wise (still include that subwoofer please!) but with a 1400x1050- so it's a bit smaller and lighter.
Oh I get 4-5 hours battery life with the two batteries. On a DVD "stress test" I get 3 hours, 35 minutes with the screen brightness at 1/2 intensity + one notch up (if I lowered the brightness more I would probably get 10-30 more minutes). This was playing The Two Towers: Extended edition. Made it to the credits but gave up right after gollum's song with the lyrics ends.
As a final thing, I must stress how *NICE* the display looks. It uses one of those "glossy" displays and both the contrast and color dynamic range is noticeably higher than average. Drawback is that you can get glare like in a good CRT with an anti-glare coat... So if you work with a lot of windows/lights behind you, you need to think about that a bit.
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