Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite 1415-S173 Laptop (1.80-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive)

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was looking for a decent laptop for under $1000 and this Toshiba model fit the bill perfectly. I wanted a laptop with CD-RW and DVD drives, a minimum of 256MB RAM and 30GB hard drive space. Obviously, I was not looking for a professional laptop that is super-thin and light. I was looking for something that can be a decent replacement for a desktop without paying $2000 for the privelege.
This model has a very fast processor (it is Celeron, but if you are like most computer users, anything over 1 GHz is overkill!), pretty spacious hard drive and the ability to record CD's and watch DVD's. If you are into games that require 256MB of video RAM, this is not the laptop for you, but I watch DVD's on this laptop (on just battery power) and it plays back flawlessly.
The laptop also comes with MS Works software, software for creating CD's, WinDVD and other goodies. Overall, a steal for under $1000 (you can get it for under $1000 even though the list price is over $1100 right now). It also has a huge 15" screen as opposed to the 14" screens that most low-end laptops have.
The main disadvantages of the laptop that I see are: (1) no serial port. This can be taken care of by using up one of the 3 USB ports and a USB to serial conversion cable. (2) The maximum resolution of the screen is 1024x768 (I am used to 1280x1024, so this is a bit of a pain in the neck). (3) Only 2.5 hours of battery run time. (4) On the heavy side at almost 8 lb (including battery, not including charger, adapter etc.).

This is a very good machine for users looking for a mobile desktop. It has all the key features for a mobile desktop: powerful Intel CPU, DVD, CD-RW, 15" screen, plenty of RAM and HDD space.

The CPU was built by Intel to be used in desktops, not notebooks; that mean it uses more power and runs a little hotter. Toshiba has been using desktop CPU in their low cost machines because they cost less. If (like many users) you tend to plug your notebook in and use it at a desk, then this is a pretty good deal. If you are looking for a thin, light, long life notebook that will sit on your lap for long periods, then this isn't the machine for you (those machines are much higher up the price ladder).

The graphics on this notebook are okay, but they won't run newer 3D games very well. They are great for moderate gaming, CAD work, or watching DVDs. In all fairness there are very few notebooks in this price range that have 3D gaming quality graphics. The HP xt125 is an exception to this rule if you really want a gaming capable notebook (it has it's own tradeoffs like a 14" screen). If you "want it all" you will have to spend a bit more money.

This is a low cost notebook so you don't quite get everything. The quality of the components is good, but not first rate, the battery life isn't a long as more expensive offerings, and this isn't a notebook built for hardcore gamers. But if you want a powerful computer you can carry around with a large screen, then you won't find many that compare in this price range.

This machine is awesome for its price! I bought it 2 weeks ago and Im very satisfied so far. Although the 1415-S173 features a Celeron, the lite chip from Intel, it has a full 256 KB of L2 cache so its performance nearly matches those of the far more expensive Pentium 4 chips (since until Northwood core arrived, P4s featured 256 KB L2 caches). Besides, the processor is a mobile battery-friendly chip.

The laptops hard drive is pretty fast and spacious; its DVD/CDRW unit works flawlessly and is among the less noisy units Ive ever seen. It burns CDs at a 24X speed! DVD or DIVX reproduction is as smooth as a silk (not to mention DIVX encoding, is fast!). Ok, it has only 16 MB of video memory but those are real MB, not shared ones, so their performance is a way better if compared to most laptop graphics within the price range. Also, the graphics chip, which is what really makes the difference, is a speedy GeForce 4 Go 420! (NOT an ATI M6-C). This machine shines in games (they look gorgeous in its huge and bright 15 screen), even in some newer ones like NFS 6 or Unreal Tournament 2003 (maybe it doesnt matches the standards of high end desktop graphics of course, but those titles were still perfectly playable).

My only complaint about this machine is its weight you should have strong shoulders if you want to carry it around. However, I still give it an A+

This is a great work horse, fully adequate for day to day activities like email, web browsing, CD recording, DVD playing, office applications, and the likes. With its 16 MB of dedicated graphics memory, the nVidia chipset also allows for moderate gaming, if so desired. This is a great step ahead of most other offers in this price class, since the majority of the competition in this price segment seems to rely on sharing main memory for graphics. The latter approach is not only costing the user memory, but also tends to be slower than dedicated graphics memory.

While the standard 256 MB RAM initially seem to be adequate, over time it turns out that in order to take full advantage of the capabilities of this machine, another 256 MB are helpful. Since there's an empty slot readily available, inserting a PC2100 S0-DIMM oneself is a no-brainer.

Depending on the user's environment, there's also an optional wireless card available that can be mounted inside the laptop computer. Given the relatively steep price tag of the internal card, the user will have to decide whether to go with this option, thus keeping the PC card slot available, or rather opting for any of the readily available PC card wireless cards.

Given the fact that the internal card only allows for 802.11b, some users might consider this at a mere 11 Mbit/sec to be too slow and thus will rather sacrifice the PC card slot to insert a card capable of higher wireless transmission rates as provided by 802.11a and/or 802.11g.

In order to get the most out of the battery, it is important to adjust the power management settings accordingly. Out of the box, the defaults are set to provide maximum performance, thus draining the battery pretty fast. If, however, the settings are adjusted to preserve battery life, the battery lasts easily for more than two hours (well, that's still depending on what you're doing - playing CD's or DVD's it'll obviously drain faster).

One major drawback of this laptop is its considerable weight; at 8 lbs it serves well for a dedicated workout of various muscle groups when lugging it around.

On the other hand, the display is clear and bright enough to use as a replacement for a 17" CRT tube. With its 15" LCD display it offers almost the same visible area. If resolutions higher than the LCD's 1024x768 are required an external monitor can be attached - but in order to do the higher resolutions justice my recommendation is to attach at least a 19" CRT or an 18" LCD externally.

While the keyboard takes a bit of time to get used to, it operates better than a lot of the cheap "standard" keyboards quite often included in package deals for desktop machines.

Toshiba also paid attention to detail when placing the DELETE key. While a lot of other notebook manufacturers place it too close to a key like Shift, BackSpace or Enter, thus risking accidental deletion of characters, the key is easily accessible on the keyboard, yet sufficiently separated from these two other keys that one does not accidentally operate it.

After some initial adjustment of its sensitivity, I've also come to appreciate the glide pad, even though I used to swear by the razor-tip control offered by my previous notebook and laptop computers.

With the excellent sound provided by this system, and the fact that it is one of the quietest laptops I have encountered to date, this is a pretty good buy.

What can I say? I bought this 2 weeks ago, so I can't give it five stars just yet. But I shopped around alot, and this one always came on top. My wife has an HP Pavilion notebook, we have not have any major problems with it, but it does get quite hot and the power supply hums like crazy. Anyway back to the point in hand, as I read reviews left and right it became obvious that I was not buying another HP. I was left with Dell, Sony, and Toshiba. My colleages highly recommende both Dell and Toshiba, after trying several times to unsuccessfully get into the Dell Web support forum I decided to buy from Toshiba. So I shopped around and I went with this machine.

Review:
Use - I mainly use my computer for web browsing and CAD simulations. I have yet to throw something at this Toshiba that it has not been able to crunch in no time alone. Even some pretty intensive Matlab simuations, a breeze.

Components - I have used the DVD and CDRW pretty heavily (to make sure everything is working properly), no problem. The Celeron processor runs pretty cool actually, I guess the mobile architecture works pretty good.

Software - The software included is pretty standard; NAV, Works, Quicken, etc. The only one thing I would change about it, dump Works and include Wordperfect Home Office. But, since I already have MS Office that was not a drawback.

Conclusion - Great computer, I would say among the very best for the price range. If you have a little more money you could look at the 2435 but the extra amount of money does not buy you a great deal more.

You can't beat this laptop in terms of price - for the price you won't get a better deal on the market. It has everything you could ask for, yes maybe it could have more video RAM but it's adequate. The only thing I wish it had was the intellipoint mouse which I prefer over the touchpad one. But other than that fabulous laptop and a great price.

While there are certainly cheaper models available, you get what you pay for. I went to Best Buy with the intention of buy a $[money] laptop that met my minimum needs. However, after my wife adding her specifications of wanting a floppy drive and CD burner, I found the Toshiba 1415 as a best buy with a larger screen and a slightly faster CPU. Overall I have found the Satellite to meet and slightly exceed my expectations. My only gripe is finding out information about Wi-Fi from Toshiba is like pulling teeth. They would not even tell me the part number for the Wi-Fi Mini PCI card so I could order one without traveling to another state to have the card installed.

However, with persistance I found on the web, any Orinoco Mini PCI card would work, and finally ended up ordering Toshiba part number PA2314P04. Toshiba calls it a "kit", but it is just the bare card with no drivers or installation instructions. Fortunately, it is fairly easy to install, and the card works as plug & play under Windows XP. The only thing I had to guess at is which plug to use for the white attenna wire, and which for the black wire.

I also purchased the extended warrentee from best buy, since they told me the average life expectancy of a battery is a little over a year, and they cover the replacement of the battery under the warrentee. I am still torn as to whether it was really wise to spend $[money] of a warrentee on a $[money] laptop.

Bill

The Toshiba Satellite really tries to match feature-for-feature most of the things you'd want on a laptop/desktop replacement. The LCD screen is bright and clear, the components that you need are all there--DVD, floppy, 30GB hard drive and a reasonably fast 1.8 GHz Celeron CPU.

The system runs hot, however, because the battery on this unit is really NOT what I'd call good. It specs out around 2 hours but I get less time than that on mine. (Batteries can vary widely.) So, for long plane trips when you are stuck in coach with no AC outlet at hand, you are going to have to work fast before your system conks out, or else carry an additional charged battery.

There are three USB ports, a network 10/100 support and a 56K modem that on my unit connects at almost the theoretical maximum speed. These connectivity features are essentials for a portable, along with the touchpad pointer. I am not a fan of touchpads, but the one on the Satellite works particularly well, allowing me to forgo my cordless mouse on a cramped airplane tray table.

Neither the Celeron CPU nor the nVidia graphics on board this unit will be suitable for graphics-heavy work or games--it's a bit underpowered for these applications.

If the Satellite only had a better battery, I'd rate this a top-class road warrior. As it is, this unit has almost everything you want but it's not a one-hundred percent laptop for extended off-powerline use nor a full desktop replacement. It's kind of a compromise, but for the price, a reasonably good set of trade-offs.

I have had mine for about 2 weeks and have been really pleased with it. For the price it is excellent. Although I have now seen that Gateway has a laptop with 32MB of video RAM for about the same price.

If you are wanting a laptop for home use that doesn't include serious video applications then this is a good deal.

I have always had Toshiba laptops, and like all the rest they are GREAT. What more could you want in a laptop 30gb harddrive, 256mb memory, dvd/cdrw 15" display. It plays movies great, however if you are buying a laptop for the sole purpose of watching DVD movies, look for a model with more video memory. Overall I am very satisfied and have recommended this laptop to several of my friends and co-workers.
A ++++++