The Toshiba A305-S6843 Laptop
Recently I decided it was time to replace my laptop. My old Laptop was a Toshiba 4300 series. The laptop came originally installed with Windows 98SE, 800mhz PIII processor, 16 gig hard drive, DVD rom, 128 meg RAM. When I got this laptop originally it was "The stuff" so to speak.
When Windows XP was released I upgraded the OS to Win XP Pro. Over the years, I maxed out the RAM (384meg) and swapped the 16 gig harddrive to an 80gig. And now this machine was "the stuff" again.
Well, after a life of about 7 years the machine was "showing it's age" So I decided it was time to update. Needless to say I was happy with the Toshiba so I decided to stay in that brand for the new machine.
I needed a laptop with a good fast processor, lots of RAM and Harddrive, Video with it's own memory, wireless N, DVD, Vista Ultimate, etc.. Basically a laptop that I could really "work" on and wasn't too heavy. Tall order, I know. But, after a bit of looking I came across the Toshiba A305-S6843 (at BestBuy of all places) and it nearly had everything I was looking for.
This laptop is packed with features.
It boasts:
- Intel Core2Duo T8100 2.1ghz processor, Intel GM965 Chip set
- 4 gig (4096MB) PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM
- Multi Format DVD+/- RW drive with double-layer support (spports Labelflash direct-disc labels)
- 15.4" WXGA TFT-LCD widescreen display with TruBrite Technology; native support for 720p HD content
- ATI Mobility Radeon - HD 3470 with 256MB
- 400 gig of hard drive space. (2 x 200gig SATA Drives)
- Builtin Webcam and microphone
- Intel a/b/g/n Wireless Wi-Fi Link 56k modem
- built-in harman/kardon Speakers
- s-video output and HDMI connection
- 5-in-1 bridge media adapter supports Secure Digital, MultiMediaCard, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture Card
- i.Link (IEEE 1394) Interface with 4 high-speed USB 2.0 ports
- Weighs approx 6 lbs. measures 1.5" thin.
- Vista Home Premium 64bit Edition
The only thing that didn't pass my requirements was the OS. I really wanted Vista Ultimate but, I can do the "Windows anytime upgrade" for $150ish to upgrade to Ultimate.
Here's the best part... the thing that really sold me on this machine. It was only $1099.00. In my opinion for the RAM, Processor and Harddrive that was an amazing deal. (Since buying this machine the price has increased to $1249.00. Still a good price I think)
Enough for the specs, here is what I think so far.
Pros:
- Quick booting
- Super fast operating (with 4gig RAM and a T8100 processor, it should be)
- Awesome Display, Movies, text, web all display very well
- Sound... Well, the sound is very clear and loud
- Battery life is decent, on average I get about 3hours or so per charge.
- Doesn't get very hot during operation. (my last Toshiba would burn your lap after a while)
- Quite operation - even when the fans speed up
Cons:
- Vista Home Premium 64bit - Would have preferred a pre-install of Vista Ultimate 64bit
- The glossy finish on the keyboard gets a little "slick and greasy" feeling
- no COM port.. (I know this is dying out but I need it to connect to some equipment)
- Serial to USB adapter wont work. (no Vista 64bit SIGNED drivers)
Overall this has been a great purchase. Super fast, lots of RAM, powerful and not too heavy.
If you are looking to replace your current laptop then, in my opinion, this would be a viable solution for you (it has been for me). You get lots of "bang for the buck". I think You could definitely do worse for the money, but not much better.
I have to say that my initial impression of Mozy Backup was not that great. Besides the abundance of outgoing bandwidth at my server the initial backup was very slow. I was only sending up a little over 1.5 gig of data and, it took the better part of a day to complete. But, now that I think about it more, that was actually a good thing. That way the first backup does not totally consume your outgoing pipe. 
