3. Conclusions

Note:Be sure to check out the two slideshows for this article. You'll find them below. The first slideshow is a visual tour of the Toshiba p105-S9330. The second is all about performance, showing how the p105 performed across a variety of tests including 3DMark05, PCMark05, MobileMark 2005 and these games: Black & White 2, F.E.A.R, Doom 3 and Oblivion. We also look at the brightness and contrast of the notebook's display. Be sure to see the Features Table on the next page.

Slideshows:

Photo Slideshow: Exterior and Interior shots of the Toshiba Satellite p105-S9330
Performance Slideshow: Toshiba Satellite p105-S9330

Tests alone don't always tell the full story, though they sure can shed a lot of light. Beyond solid scores, the Toshiba Satellite p105 has a few innovative features like its unique touchpad that doubles as a Dual Mode pad providing one touch access to user programmable features. Toshiba also includes a fingerprint scanner which is something you typically see on business and not gaming class notebooks.

In order to test the Satellite p105-S9330, we had to install Windows XP SP2. As shipped by Toshiba, the Satellite p105-S9330 comes with Windows Vista Ultimate Edition installed. Most of the tests we use still do not run on Vista. When they do, we will test under Vista.

The Satellite p105-S9330 performed very well across all the tests we subjected it to. Certainly if it had a slightly faster CPU and a faster hard drive it would have scored even better. Then again, its impressive battery life score of nearly three hours is attributable in part to its CPU and 4200 RPM hard drive.

The p105 is not a bleeding edge gaming enthused notebook, but it's certainly not underpowered either. Typical casual gamers likely will have few complaints about this Toshiba notebook and it'll also perform well as a regular everyday computing tool too. At a price point of around $2,500 it offers a competitive value considering all the goodies Toshiba jammed in.

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