Toshiba M30 has features to satisfy the most picky ones!
Written: Feb 08 '04 (Updated Oct 04 '07)
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Pros: Sleek look, large 15" wide display, TOSHIBA quality.
Cons: After 3.5 years of using it? None.
The Bottom Line: A perfect laptop for a picky user.
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| daydrmgirl's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite M30-S309 (PSM30U-0QKJ18S) PC Not... |
This review is written by a half computer illiterate. I will only review on my experience of shopping, deciding, buying and using this product, from a non-technical point of view. So here goes.
Who Am I?
I am a college student residing in a on campus student housing. I spend a lot of time in front of my desk, browsing the Internet, procrastinating, E-mailing, chatting with friends. Once in a while, I type essays or reports with Microsoft Word. A couple times a semester, I bring my laptop to the library and do my homework there. Once a semester, I make a powerpoint presentation and bring my laptop to present at lab meeting. But for most of the time, my laptop sits on my desk.
My beloved Acer Travelmate 610...
I bought an Acer Travelmate 610 laptop in 2001 for college (For review, see here). I loved it so much, I was planning to grow old with it (well, I don't know how you count computer age, but I bet they age 10+ years per human year). Until January 2004, someone broke into my house and stole my love one. I was suddenly thrown onto the laptop shopping/browsing train again... Thus my journey began.
What I Want
I knew I needed a built-in DVD-ROM. I have an external CD burner (review) so a built-in CD-RW was not one of my requirements. I wanted a relatively light laptop (less than 6.6lbs/3kg), but the display should not be smaller than 14 inches. I wanted a laptop from a large, international company with a good worldwide warranty program. A built-in wireless connection would be great, but I could do without it. The "look" of the laptop was very important to me, so IBM was not an option (sorry, IBM users!)
Another Acer Travelmate?
First, I went back to the Acer dealer I bought my first laptop from. Of course, my old laptop's model was not in production anymore. They do, however, had an upgraded version of the same model. This laptop seemed to fit all of my requirements, and since I was already used to Acer's laptop, I should have no problem getting used to it! Well, the only thing was, the edge of the display was fat... and ugly, in my opinion (I was probably biased on this part though since I was used to my old laptop's thin, professional looking edge around the display). I could not imagine looking at that ugly edge everyday, so I started looking into other models.
About the looks...
By now you probably realized how important the laptop's *look* is to me. I prefer metallic/gray/black hybrid ones, going for the professional look. Or, other colorful, playful colors are great too. This is a very subjective issue, but I'm letting you know my preference so you can decide if you agree with me or not.
Since Acer was no longer an option, I started looking at other international brands. I was totally in love with Sony Vaio PCG-Z1VA. It was a beauty, a real beauty. It was more than I asked for. However, the price is also a hefty 2,000+ USD. So, bye, Sony. I've also heard that Toshiba is very reliable, and its warranty program is very good as well. But when I started looking at its satellite series, nothing really caught my eyes until this -- Satellite M30. It looks sleek with its silver metallic cover. It features harman/kardon stereo, a 15" widescreen, and Intel Centrino technology. The published price was around 1,500USD, which seemed reasonable to me.
At the time I was browsing, the standard operating system (for PC laptop) was Intel Pentium 4. Intel Centrino just came out and was hot on the market, featuring wireless connection and light-weight mobile technology and such. Centrino is not as fast as Pentium 4 2.4Hz, but definitely an upgrade from my good old Pentium 3.
So the prize went to...
Once I decided on Toshiba Satellite M30, I started hunting for a good price online. I bought mine from newegg.com (a great company, by the way, review coming soon) for 1,349USD with Win XP home and 256MB RAM. I bought a 512MB RAM from transcend to add by myself.
=-=-=-=-=-=-The Toshiba Satellite M30-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
The Specifications for You Computer People
Weight: 6.2lbs
CPU: Intel Pentium-M 1.4GHz (400 FSB)
Display: 15.4"TFT (1280x800@24bit)
OS: Windows XP Home
Memory: 1x 256MB (Max.2GB)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForceFX Go5200,32MB(installed)
Hard Drive (HD): 40GB
Optical Drive: DVD(8x)/CD-RW(24x/10x/24x) Combo Drive
Communication: 56K Modem,10/100 LAN, Wireless LAN(802.11b)
Ports: 1xLPT, 1xVGA, 1xS-video, 3xUSB, 1x1394, 1xPC Card slot, 1xSD slot
Average Battery Life: 3.7 hour(s)
Dimensions(WxDxH): 14.1"x10.6"x1.4"
The 15.4" Display
I had some doubts about the widescreen disply since my dad was trying the convince me that a perfect circle on a standard screen will come out flattened on these wide screen. Let me say that is not true at all! The screen merely makes you see more things on the screen, e.g. when you type in Microsoft Word, if you can usually view the document at 120 % on a standard screen without having the scroll left and right; On a wide screen, you can view it at 150% without scrolling, simply because you can fit more words on the screen width. Same goes for browsing the Internet. It will not distort the fonts or graphics. It will just add more white space or background to the side.
The wide display is very pleasant to view. Though the screen is really no taller than a 14" standard, it feels much larger than that because of the extra space on the sides. I haven't watched DVD on it yet, but I bet it would be wonderful. Also another great thing about the wide display is that you can open two windows and work side-by-side on the screen, since neither of the windows will be too narrow. I love this screen display! The color is great too, by the way.
Keyboards, Touchpad, and Mouse
The keyboard has full sized 85 keys with 12 function keys. Nothing special here, really. There are Fn keys that overlie the original keyboard, which will function as number keys or cursor control. The right ctrl key is missing, which I find very disturbing sometimes, but I'm getting used to it.
The touchpad is a Integrated TouchPad pointing device with Scroll function. I really don't like touchpads that much, so I got myself the exact mouse I had before (review).
The Sound
Specs:
- STAC975051T Codec Chip; Software Sound; 16-bit stereo, full duplex
- Built-in harman/kardon Stereo Speakers
- Built-in Microphone (monaural); Direct 3D Sound (supported by driver), DirectSound (supported by driver) and DirectMusic (supported by driver); MIDI Support; Sound Volume (by Dial)
- Ports: External Microphone port, headphone port
I think the sound is wonderful. It's crisp and clear, and the bass is great too. My favorite feature on this laptop right now is that it allows you to listen to CD/MP3 music when the laptop is OFF! The stereo is great that I don't use my external speakers anymore (review)! Another useful feature is the CD/DVD drive acoustic silencer. It slows down the drive's reading speed when you are only listening to music, thus lowering the noise.
Packaged softwares
There were loads of stuff preloaded on the desktop. I don't really appreciate that so I deleted a bunch of them. It comes with 90 days of Norton Antivirus auto update, some photo editing software from ArcSoft, Quicken, Microsoft OneNote, WinDVD, CD-burning software (drag n'drop), etc. My laptop came with Microsoft Windows XP home. It does not come with Microsoft Office (I have school license for that).
Hard Drive, Battery and Memory
The 40GB hard drive is more than enough for me. I haven't had a chance to try out the battery, but one thing I like about the battery is that its slot is in middle in the back. So when you take the battery off, the computer is still well-balanced, and you do not see the empty slot unless you flip it over. I bought a Transcend 512MB RAM and added it to the second slot myself. No problem or whatsoever. Very easy to do by yourself. The original 216M RAM is a Samsung.
The USBs and other slots
Having three of these is great! I have one for printer, one for mouse and one for webcam/camera. These are USB 2.0 as well, so they are fast. What I also like about these USBs are that they are actually at different locations on the right side of the laptop. There are also a PCMCIA card slot and a SD card (it's for uploading pictures from digital cameras) slot, both on the left hand side of the laptop.
So am I happy?
Of course! I love it! I don't think I can live without it now. I'm also very paranoid since my last one was stolen, so I lock my new baby even at home.
Is M30 for you?
Definitely go to the stores and take a look at it yourself if you can. Feel it, type on it, look at the display, hear the sound. You might agree with me and love it and you might not. I can tell you that I am very satisfied with this laptop, but it's up to you to decide if it's for you. Also, go take a look at my other reviews and see if you agree with me on other products.
I hope my review has helped you in one way or the other in your process of buying a laptop! Take care!
I am using this laptop with...
Logitech Mouse
HP PSC (printer-scanner-copier) 2110
UPDATE: September 2007
Three-and-a-half-year after my purchase, I had to replace my hard drive because it was failing after hauling it around across the pacifics and all over the US for 3.5 years. So I got a new 150GB HD and my laptop is as good as new (still with 768MB of RAM, though I might replace the 256MB with 1GB at some point in the future). Anyways, my point is, the laptop is working beautifully again.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 1349
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Other
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 15 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-RW and DVD
Hard Drive (GB): 31-40
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Epinions.com ID:
daydrmgirl
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Location: New York, NY
Reviews written: 36
Trusted by: 2 members
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