Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX
Notebook Specifications
Notebook: Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX (Satellite U500 Series)Processor: Intel Core i3 330M
Graphics Adapter: Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) HD Graphics
Display: 13.3 inch, 16:10, 1280x800 pixels, glossy: yes
Weight: 2.3kg
Price: 800 euro
Average of 7 scores (from 8 reviews)
Reviews for the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX
Source: V3.co.uk
The U500-1EX is a compact laptop, but it's heavy and suffers from poor battery life. And with the non-touch version available for significantly less, you're paying a hefty premium for the touch screen.
Single Review, online available, Very Short, Date: 06/11/2010
Rating: Total score: 40%
Source: Computing
The U500 laptop range gets a multi-touch screen, but it doesn't come cheap. Toshiba's Satellite U500 series has been around for a while now, but the new U500-1EX is the first to offer a touch-screen display. The U500-1EX is a compact laptop, but it's heavy and suffers from poor battery life. And with the non-touch version available for significantly less, you're paying a hefty premium for the touch screen.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 06/11/2010
Rating: Total score: 40%
Source: Reg Hardware
Touchscreen ought to be a killer app for portable computers – look what it did for mobile phones – but here in the Satellite U500-1EX it comes across as just another feature. To really make it worthwhile, Toshiba might have considered designing a built-in stylus for pen input and perhaps installing some more compelling touchscreen software. Without such sparkle to single it out, the product comes across as being merely quite good at quite a few things, which is akin to damnation by faint praise. It's also quite expensive at the suggested £821, although discounted prices are available.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 05/26/2010
Rating: Total score: 65%
Source: It Pro
We see what Toshiba was trying to do with this laptop, giving it something a bit different to entice the user to its models. Unfortunately as much as the laptop itself is not a bad machine, the extra bit of individuality makes the performance suffer and all in all feels a tad pointless.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 05/21/2010
Rating: Total score: 50%
Source: Techradar
Toshiba's Satellite U500 Series is aimed at mobile professionals and previous models have impressed us with their blend of style, comfort and quality. The Satellite U500-1EX comes with an impressive range of features and only a couple of flaws that hold it back.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 05/06/2010
Rating: Total score: 70%
Source: IT Reviews
When you first take the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX out of the box, you know there's something a little different about this laptop. The Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX has a smart, innovative design, packs a fair bit of power under the bonnet and has a commendable array of multi-touch abilities and peripherals. But it's let down by poor screen quality and relatively low battery life.
Single Review, online available, Short, Date: 04/08/2010
Rating: display: 40% mobility: 40%
Source: Electricpig
Toshiba wants to buck the laptop trend with the U500-1EX, eschewing the overall move towards Apple-like looks and super-slim design. Not to mention loading it up with touchscreen tech that some manufacturers just don’t seem too keen on. Does this make it a winner?
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 03/31/2010
Rating: Total score: 60%
Source: Trusted Reviews
We first looked at Toshiba's U500, the company's 13.3in laptop, last year in the form of the Satellite U500-178. We were generally impressed, particularly with the performance of our top-of-the-line model, even if the battery life failed to live up to expectations. Good performance and a generous set of features stand the U500-1EX in good stead, but it's too bulky and cumbersome for genuine mobile use and the touchscreen is largely superfluous.
Single Review, online available, Medium, Date: 03/29/2010
Rating: Total score: 60% price: 60% performance: 80% features: 80% mobility: 60%
Comment
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) HD Graphics: Onboard graphics card that is built in the new Arrandale CPUs (Core i3 / i5 / i7 Dual Cores). Depending on the model and Turbo Boost, the GMA HD is clocked between 166 and 766 MHz.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.
330M:
The Core i3-330M is a slower clocked 350M and therefore also lacks the Turbo Boost feature and clocks with max. 2.13 GHz. Thanks to Hyperthreading, 4 threads can be processed simultaneously. An integrated graphics card (GMA HD 3150) and a DDR3 memory controller are also included in the package.
» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.
13.3": This is a common display format for subnotebooks. Netbooks, UMPC and some subnotebooks have tinier displays. Nevertheless, the majority of standard laptops has a higher format. The advantage of a small display is, that the subnotebook can be small dimensioned and can be carried easily. Further the small display needs few energy, which improves the battery runtime and in consequence the mobility. The disadvantage is that the reading of texts is a bit exhausting for the eyes, especially with high resolutions.» To find out how fine a display is, see our DPI List.
2.3 kg: These sub-notebooks weight less than the average of all notebooks, but represent a heavier class of weight among the sub-notebooks. 13 inch displays are normal for this class of weight.
Toshiba: Toshiba Corporation is a multinational conglomerate manufacturing company, headquartered in Japan. The company's main business is in Infrastructure, Consumer Products, and Electronic devices and components. Toshiba-made Semiconductors are among the Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders. Toshiba is one of the biggest international notebook-manufacturer. There exist many reviews for Toshiba models.
55%: Such a bad rating is rare. There exist hardly any notebooks, which are rated worse.
» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.
