27. Final Thoughts

What we like:

The big 15" display has a very clear and crisp picture Sound with subwoofer is a must have for consumer notebook Toshiba offers a very detailed power management setup tool. DVD/CD/CD-R(W) combo drive offers all you need to replace a desktop. Finally, you can play real 3D games on a notebook. A very detailed manual that included all AT commands for the built-in modem.

What we don't like:

The size and weight of the notebook is too much for true mobile use. I sadly missed infrared, built-in microphone and a serial port A CPU that is soldered to the board offers no possibility for an upgrade. The price differential is going to hurt European buyers, but in the US it is competitive. When running in AC mode the battery charge time can be exceed 10 hours.

Conclusion

Toshiba draws a very clear line between its consumer and business notebooks. The Satellite series is definitely not geared towards business users, since it does not incorporate features such as a docking station. As for the subwoofer - business users wouldn't really need it for typical office applications anyway.

The sheer size of the notebook made quite a first impression on me, which remained throughout the test. It became clear that this was clearly positioned to be a desktop replacement. Fast graphics, a 56k modem, great sound, LAN, DVD and CD-R(W) are all on my wish list for a computer, and here, the Toshiba notebook was able to provide them all.

For quite some time now, CPU horsepower has been readily available in the notebook market, and now it's time for graphics power to follow. NVIDIA's GeForce2Go has not only just begun to address the mobile market, but has opened a door to new dimensions in mobile gaming as well. With this notebook, even semi-professional gaming is possible.

For business professionals, the BX chipset, S3 Savage, a docking station and a display with higher resolution would be a more ideal combination.

The quality of the components used and all the little details in the design shows that Toshiba has earned its position as the number one notebook manufacturer.