Toshiba Satellite A305 S6861 Review

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Toshiba Satellite A305-S6861 15.4-inch Laptop (2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5750 Processor, 4 GB RAM, 320 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)

Toshiba Satellite A305 S6861 Features and Technical Details
Toshiba Satellite A305 S6861 Features

    * 15.4 inch (Diagonal) Widescreen TFT LCD Display at 1280 x 800 Native Resolution
    * 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5750 with 2MB L2 Cache
    * 4096 MB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM, 320 GB (5400 RPM) Hard Drive (SATA), ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 with 128 MB DDR Discrete Graphics Memory
    * DVD SuperMulti +/-R Double Layer with Labelflash Drive, Intel Wireless Wi-Fi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)
    * Windows Vista Home Premium, dims in inches: 10.6 (W) x 14.3 (L) x 1.32 (H) approx., starting at 6.0 lbs.

Processor, Memory, and Motherboard

    * Hardware Platform: PC
    * Processor: 2 GHz Intel Core Duo
    * System Bus Speed: 667
    * Number of Processors: 2
    * RAM: 4000 MB
    * RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM

Hard Drive

    * Size: 320 GB
    * Manufacturer: Portable
    * Type: Serial ATA

Graphics and Display

    * Graphics RAM: 128 MB

Ports and Connectivity

    * Modem: None

Cases and Expandability

    * Size (LWH): 14.3 inches, 10.6 inches, 1.32 inches

Helpful Customer Reviews for Toshiba Satellite A305 S6861

By Catlin Pearson
I got this laptop yesterday (from amazon.com) in fact I am on it right now writing this review.
The laptop is great for the price, you aren't going to find laptops with this type of configuration very often for the price.
I thought the screen was going to seem smaller, but thankfully it seems just the right size. The laptop isn't that heavy, but could be lighter. It advertises that the hard drive size is 320gigs, but mine says that it is only 296. Called toshiba about it,and the guy I spoke with didnt really know what he was talking about. (thought it was the operating system, but it says that I only have 267 gigs free...and there isnt anything that could be possibly taking up that much harddrive (50 gigs total if it really is 320, but I dont think it actually is)
Comes with an insane amount of bloatware.
It gets pretty warm pretty fast, and the battery only lasts about 1hr 50 min on the "balanced" power plan (balanced, power saver, and high performance are the power plan options) but will depend on what you are doing of course.

Runs pretty smoothly, easy to connect to the internet, easy-as-pie setup, and again, great for the price.
The FM tuner requires an external antenna (included) that you plug in in order for it to work. It sticks out the side about 4-5inches tall. Annoying, so I dont use it.
Webcam is decent, but not so good if the light is behind you, it will black you out. Speakers are alright, but pretty much NO bass whatsoever. But you cant really expect much from laptop speakers, even if they are harman/kardon.
The sleep feature is great. The touch pad is vey VERY sensitive, so it sometimes will think your clicking when you aren't.
Overall I love this laptop, there could be some improvements, but nothing is really perfect.
I would recommended it to other people for sure

By Nicholas
I purchased my Satellite elsewhere, but thought it deserved a good review here because of how awesome it is. For the price, in the $[...] range, you'll be hard pressed to find a better laptop for media intensive duties (and general use as well).

The system boasts an Intel Core 2 Duo processor based on the Centrino architecture (meaning it's designed to run well in mobile computers), an incredible 4GB of Ram running at above average speeds and a mobile graphics processor with it's own dedicated memory rather than a cheap chip that sucks the life out of the laptop's own processor and memory.

Anyway: Onto the good stuff...

Pros:
- Keys are really responsive and you can really feel every key stoke (they click softy and go down a decent amount unlike other laptops where you can barely feel them move and they don't make a sound).

- Speakers are much louder than the typical laptop, easily twice as loud as my old Acer, and contrary to the earlier reviewer, they do have a decent amount of Bass output, just nothing that an actual subwoofer (however small) can't easily out perform. They're also located on top above the keyboard, rather than on the bottom, so the sound quality is much better overall.
- Display is crystal clear, bright and free of any deficiencies. Also has a bit more tilt range than my Acer before it becomes hard to view at an angle.
- Very nice light scheme on the laptop to show the status of various hardware or shortcuts, rather than using the typical yellow and green blinking lights.
- Runs Windows Vista 64bit edition, great for future proofing they system, great for taking advantage of the 64bit processor under the hood and able to run pretty much any program you could run in XP or Vista 32bit with no problems. I'm running games from the early XP era with no difficulty.
- Excellent gaming performance for yesterday's awesome hit titles as well as today's games with average demands. Plays games like Everquest 2, WoW, Halo 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, etc with no problems as long as you keep your settings realistic because systems twice as expensive as this one will have trouble playing the game as well if you set everything to ultra quality.

Cons:
- Has a glossy "Fusion Finish" coat on it that picks up all manner of fingerprints, so it isn't the prettiest laptop once used.
- As the previous reviewer mentioned, the track pad is ultra sensitive and it often grabs things on screen while I'm just mousing over/past them. I use a wireless mouse so it doesn't really bother me much.
- 4 USB ports are a good addition, too bad they're on located on the sides (2 per). This means if you have anything attatched to it, you have all manner of crap sticking out the sides. My Acer had 3 in the rear so as to keep stuff out of my way, especially while sitting on my lap, and just one on the side for quick and easy access (thumbdrive for example).
- Like the USB ports the power port just HAS to be on the side as well, rather than the rear) leading to more crap sticking out the side and in my case the cord has to lay across my legs while I'm using it at home because the outlet is on the other side of the laptop.
- Bloatware, eh yes it has a good amount, but most of it is off by default and the rest of it can be turned off in msconfig or uninstalled from the control panel without a fuss.

All in all the great Pro's far outweigh the superficial Con's.
I would definitely recommend it to any kind of user really, except for the ones who have a lot of USB devices and limited desk space. Really a great bargain, one you don't often find for this price. Will serve you well for several years, just like any well configured (hardware wise) computer will.

Source:Toshiba Satellite A305 S6861 Review
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