Toshiba Satellite P305-S8825

Desktop PCs have a lot going for them: big screens, high-performance parts, and comparatively low prices, just to name a few. But if you're working in a smaller space, you don't always have room to squeeze in a whole desktop setup. The Toshiba Satellite P305-S8825 ($1,050 street) offers a nice compromise. This spacious laptop is classified as a desktop replacement, because it blends together a roomy 17-inch widescreen with a 7.5-pound chassis. It occupies a smaller area than a conventional desktop without forcing you to scrimp much on screen size, and, at about $1,000, doesn't cost much more than your average desktop.

The P305 could easily be used as a secondary system, something that you can leave on your desk most of the time, plugged into a port replicator or a second monitor. Although it's nowhere near as light as the 6.7-pound Apple MacBook Pro 17-inch, the 7.5-pound P305 is significantly lighter than the Gateway P-171XL FX (9.2 pounds), the Dell Inspiron 1720 (8.8 pounds), and the HP Pavilion dv9500t (8.2 pounds). If this is still too heavy, you can work your way down to the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6845, which has a 15.4-inch screen and weighs only 5.8 pounds.

The entire Satellite line, including the P305 Series, recently underwent a redesign. Rather than painting over the lid or adding texture to it, Toshiba refreshed its look with an inlaid pattern underneath a heavy gloss, a combination the company calls the Fusion finish. The technique is similar to the in-mold decoration pioneered by the HP dv6500t and most recently picked up by ASUS and Gateway. The interior surfaces—the palm rests and the dashboard—are decorated in a similar manner. The stylized speakers, illuminated Satellite logo on the bottom left-hand corner, and touch-sensitive multimedia buttons on the dashboard add to the P305's design appeal.

The notebook's 17-inch widescreen is suitable for multimedia content, but its glossiness might create enough glare to annoy those who work under a fluorescent light. Similar systems like the Apple 17-inch and the Dell 1720 have options for matte or antiglare screens.

Screen resolution is another factor to consider. You have the impression of a bigger canvas space, as well as sharper image quality, with a high-resolution screen, but text and font sizes appear tinier and could affect those with troubled vision. The P305's 1,440-by-900 resolution falls somewhere in the middle, whereas the MacBook, the Dell 1720, and the Gateway P-171XL go to extremes, boasting a high-definition- and gaming-friendly 1,920-by-1,200 resolution. And there are even bigger screens out there, like the mammoth 18.4-inch display on the Acer Aspire 8920G.

The P305's feature set won't disappoint, particularly compared with other laptops at this price point. I've seen manufacturers leave out an HDMI port because of the cost, but the P305 finds room for one on its left-hand side. The four USB ports—plenty for external peripherals—even enable you to charge devices when the laptop is turned off and unplugged. While the Acer Aspire 8920G and the Gateway P-171XL FX leave out the FireWire and S-Video-out ports, you'll find both on the P305. A numeric keypad, which is adjacent to the responsive full-size keyboard, makes the transition from a desktop keyboard a lot easier. And the twin Harman Kardon speakers are above average for a desktop replacement, although the five-speaker systems on the Acer 8920G and the Lenovo IdeaPad Y510 sound better. A 4-in-1 card reader (SD, xD, MS, MS Pro), a 1.3-megapixel webcam, and a dual-layer DVD burner round out the feature set.

So where did Toshiba economize to hit this price point? The answer appears to lie in the CPU. The P305's 1.83-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550 processor won't win any performance races, but it can still handle activities like video and photo editing, movie viewing, and heavy office tasks. The system's 3GB of RAM and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3470 graphics card keep the processor from choking, but they still couldn't save its benchmark test scores on SYSmark 2007 Preview, Windows Media Encoder, Photoshop CS3 tests, and CineBench R10. On the other hand, it's very difficult to build performance thoroughbreds like the HP dv9500t, the Dell 1720, and the Apple 17-inch for a price this low. For lack of a better expression, you get what you pay for with performance.

The same is true for battery life, unfortunately. I thought Toshiba could have put in something bigger than the 43-Wh battery, but because users are unlikely to take it on the road anyway, the P305's disappointing 1 hour 55 minutes on MobileMark 2007 can be tolerated.

There was a time when you had to pay an arm and a leg for a big screen on a laptop; it was the most expensive feature. But times—and technology—change, and the Toshiba Satellite P305-S8825 is right there with them, offering the benefits of a desktop without the hefty price of a laptop. Thanks to its 17-inch widescreen, a numeric keypad, and a full list of features, you needn't think twice about choosing it over a conventional desktop. And the $1,000 price makes moving from a desktop to a desktop replacement an easy transition.

Company
Toshiba America Inc
http://www.toshiba.com

Spec Data
* Type: General Purpose, Media, Value
* Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
* Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo T5550
* Processor Speed: 1.83 GHz
* RAM: 3 GB
* Weight: 7.5 lb
* Screen Size: 17 inches
* Screen Size Type: widescreen
* Graphics Card: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3740
* Storage Capacity: 320 GB
* Networking Options: 802.11n
* Primary Optical Drive: Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW