Toshiba brings 3 new Notebooks - without Core 2 Duo

By: Stefan Hinum

Satellite P100-194 with 17.1 inch and Core Duo, Satellite A100-773 with 15.4 inch and Core Duo and Satellite A110-260 with 15.4 inch and Celeron M - surprisingly against the current trend of the last days not even one notebook-model with the new Core 2 Duo processor.

Features Toshiba Satellite P100-194

• Intel Core Duo processor T2400 with 1,83 GHz, 667 MHz Front Side Bus, 65 nm and 2 MB L2 Cache
• Intel PRO/Wireless 3945 ABG
• netzwork connection and Intel 945PM Express Chipsatz
• Nvidia GeForce Go 7900GS video card with 256 MB DDR VRAM
• memory: 1.024 MB
• DDR2-RAM (512 MB + 512 MB, upgradable up to a maximum of 4.096 MB)
• 200-GB-SATA-hard disk
• Double-Layer-DVD-Supermulti-drive
• 17-inch-WXGA+-TruBrite-colour display (1.440 x 900 pixels, 16.7 Mio. colours)
• 5-in-1-BridgeMedia-adapter-memory cardreader (SD/MMC/MMS/MMSpro/xD)
• Microsoft Windows XP Media
• Center Edition 2005 (OEM Recovery)
• price about 1.900,- Euro

Features Toshiba Satellite A100-773

• Intel Core Duo processor T2050 with 1,6 GHz, 533 MHz Front Side Bus, 65 nm and 2 MB L2 Cache
• memory: 512 + 512 MB DDR2-RAM (upgradable up to 4.096 MB)
• 100-GB-hard disk SATA (5.400 rpm)
• ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 video card with 128 MB DDR VRAM (512 MB Hypermemory)
• ExpressMedia Instant DVD Double-Layer-DVD-Supermulti-drive
• price about 1.200,- Euro

Features Satellite A110-260

• Intel Celeron M processor 410
• ATI Radeon Xpress 200M with up to 128 MB (UMA)
• memory: 512 MB DDR2-RAM upgradable up to 2.048 MB
• 100-GB-hard disk SATA (5.400 rpm)
• double-Layer-DVD-Supermulti-drive (+/-R, +/-RW, -RAM; DL+RW/DL-RW/-RAM)
• WLAN 802.11 b/g-Modul integrated
• international V.90-modem
• 10/100 Mbit Ethernet LAN
• 3 x USB 2.0
• Microsoft Windows XP Home edition (OEM Recovery)
• Microsoft Works 8.5
• Microsoft Office Edition 2003 Trial
• price about 900,- Euro

Comment:

NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 is one of the most powerful mobile video cards, which is available at the moment. It can be compared with current high end desktop video cards. Newest games should run with all details fluently. No doubt, it is sufficient for office applications and surfing.

ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 is the successor of the ATI Mobility Radeon X600. The specifications are equal like with X1300, but probably it is faster clocked. It is a mobile video card with a performance above average and can represent newest games fluently, but not with all details. For office applications and for surfing it is no doubt sufficient.

ATI Radeon Xpress 200M is an onboard integrated graphic solution, a derivate of the ATI Mobility Radeon X300 with PCI-E. Sometimes it is called an integrated Radeon X200. It is part of the weakest third of mobile video cards and can only be used for older games. It is sufficient without problems for office applications and for surfing.

Intel Core Duo (successor of Pentium M), is a double core processor with a very good relation of performance to current consumption. The 2 MB L2 Cache are used common. The maximum current consumption of 31 Watts is only 4 W more then with Pentium M. Due to the low energy need is Core Duo also suited for subnotebooks. Further now it supports SSE3 orders. The performance can nearly be doubled for applications, which were designed for multiprocessors (compared with Pentium M).
The weaker variants like T2300 and T2400 are apt for office applications and surfing.
Core Duo T2050E is a weak variant of this processor, which consumes low current.

15 inch display-variants are the standard and are used for more than the half of all notebooks. The reason why so many people like displays with medium size is, that this size is not exhausting for the eyes, does not need too much current and the laptops can be kept quite compact.

Nowadays meanwhile the 17 inch display size is a more frequently offered standard format for desktop-replacements. The DTR-Laptops can't be carried easily, need much current, but on the other side texts can be read easily and high resolutions are no problem. DTR mainly are intended for stationary usage on desks, where the weight and the energy need are unimportant.

Toshiba is one of the biggest international notebook-manufacturer. There exist many reviews for Toshiba models. The ratings of German magazines are very positive, but the relation of price and value is evaluated rather average. The ratings according the features and display are also quite well for Toshiba notebooks.