Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite 5105-S607 Laptop (1.7-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB hard drive)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is the best laptop ever. This laptop is for replaceing your
desktop, so the price is a little deep. Toshiba puts all the best hardware in this laptop.

Pro:
CPU: The new P4 1.7GHz. Not just it is faster than PIII, it also has 512KB L2 cache (fast memory) with Intel SpeedStep Tech to save ur battery's life. 400hz front size bus, faster than most of the desktop. (eg AMD's 1800XP has only 266hz front size bus)

Memory: Oh my god. It has 512MB DDR Ram (PC2100), compare to normal SDRAM. This is so much much faster. Performance almost double.

Harddrive: 40GB hard drive, and IT IS 5400RPM!!! Compare to normal 4200RPM, it is a 20% faster.

DVD/CDRW: A must...

GRAPHIC CARD: WOW ! NVIDIA Geforce 4 440 Go with 32 DDR ram. Geforce 4 just came out a month a ago for desktop. Even the Go version is a water down version of desktop, it still provides a good frame rate to make hardcore gamer happy.

Sound card: Only a 16 bit sound card, but it comes with S/P DIF optical output, which you can record music to your Mini Disc player or hook up to some nice speaker.

Speakers: Harman/Kardon (w/sub woofer) speakers are great, i played some classical music on it and i can actually hear the 3D sound coming from left and right. Great for gamer too, you can hear where the bullet coming from.

Screen : 15" UXGA, very bright screen.

A lot of extra features you can't get on desktop: Smart media drive/SD drive for your digital camera pic downloa.
A small LCD in front with Play/FF/Rew button, so you can close your laptop ,still play music and knowing what song is it playing. New touch pad (C-pad), a great idea. IEE394, USB port.

Con:
Weight: with battery, it is almost 7.8lb.

Style: It looks like a toy, too colorful.

Short battery life: around 1hr and 10 mins.

SOftware: Not very useful software package.

Once again Toshiba has proven that they're the leader in the portable computing market. The 5105-S607 exceeded all of my expectations the minute I took the product out of the box. Start with the mobile P4 1.7GHz SpeedStep-enabled processor and a 400MHz front-side bus. This model is one of a very select few laptops available (at the time of writing) with this next-generation processor.

As for memory, the system ships standard with 512 MB of PC2100 DDR RAM, enough to make Windows XP Home scream and your games come to life.

The hard drive is impressive: 40GB at 5400 RPM. This feature alone is enough to turn your current desktop into a paperweight.

For the techno-savvy, the 5105-S607 features a built-in DVD/CD-RW combination drive, perfect for burning CDs on the road. In addition, digital audio and video outputs allow the unit to connect to any television or home audio equipment for watching DVD movies and more. In addition, the unit is one of very few to feature an integrated IEEE-1394 DV connector for your digital video camera and built-in SmartMedia and SD card slots for quick downloading of digital photos.

The unit also features Synaptic's new CPad pointing device... The touchpad features a small backlit LCD screen that allows you to use a calculator, capture signatures/small drawings, etc. Unfortunately this new touchpad failed on my first 5105-S607 but Toshiba was quick to offer a replacement.

For the multimedia buff the system has yet another LCD display on the front allowing you to play, pause, stop, fast forward and rewind playing media. Disappointing, however, is that these hotkeys can only support certain applications: a severe limitation in the endless world of DVD and audio playback software.

As for the screen: a 15" Ultra XGA (UXGA) LCD that is crisp, clear and bright. Coupled with the new NVidia GeForce 440 Go and 32MB of dedicated video RAM, the machine offers impressive 3D performance and resolution up to 1600x1200.

Sound is provided by an onboard Yamaha AC-XG 16-bit sound card... enough to make most users happy. The Harman/Kardon speakers and a small subwoofer round off the package, making it ideal for listening to music, gaming and more. The 3D sound support is good, but too airy in certain situations.

Included software is minimal: Windows XP Home Edition (what was Toshiba thinking?), Toshiba's entourage of management utilities, Toshiba DVD player and simplified CD-burning software. Toshiba's unique Software Updates feature automatically downloads new software when it becomes available--but then again, so does Windows Update. I've had two circumstances where Windows Update and Toshiba's utility would both select drivers, with one outdating the other. For a seasoned PC pro, this shouldn't be a problem.

Now the cons: Weight... 7.8 pounds with battery. Enough to make the last minute airport terminal to terminal dash a hassle. But, with advanced power management features, the battery lasts about 1:45, which I consider poor for such a high-end machine. If you're flying, consider purchasing an in-flight charger adapter.

My only additonal rant is Toshiba's abandoning legacy ports on this model. You'll find USB, monitor, IEEE-1394, audio, ethernet (Intel 10/100 Pro) and modem ports only. If you need to connect a PS/2 keyboard, mouse or a serial device, your out of luck. In addition, the two removable media drives only support SmartMedia and SD cards--no CompactFlash, which is by far the most popular. I was strongly disappointed by this, but can live with my external USB card reader.

Overall, I'd recommend this machine to anyone looking for an ideal desktop replacement. The powerful processor, graphics, memory and the arsenal of connectivity options make this a perfect contender for that spot where you monitor now sits.

Have had my 5105 for 2 months and have the following observations:

- Wake up Apple! The resolution of the screen (1600 x 1200) blows away the PowerBook I have and all current models. It is time to put an LCD and keyboard on your rack mount computers because that is what it will take to keep up with this machine's number crunching power.

- The Wi-Fi capabilities might as well not be there. The bottom of the computer has a slot for some kind of 802.11/Bluetooth card. But I can't find the card(s) for sale at Toshiba.com or anywhere else. I'll probably end up buying an Orinoco card when I go wireless.

- Only having XP Home on the machine is a drag. When I started installing Visual Basic .Net I didn't have a bunch of stuff I needed. Toshiba HELLO!, this is a power user machine!

- The synaptics LCD touch pad is amusing but not well supported and will take some time to begin to use. Amazingly the only place I could find information on how to work it (tap twice when you think you need to tap once) was in the manual. Not on the Toshiba or Synaptics web sites. The calculator has been useful 5 or so times in 2 months.

- Windows XP update has done a good job of updating the drivers for this machine. The only manual driver installs I've have done are the BIOS updates (installable from windows with 1.6 and later).

- Working with an external monitor is annoying because:
(a) Windows XP does not automatically identify the monitor and remember your desktop settings (MicroSoft's fault).
(b) So when you plug in the monitor you have to manually click on "extend my desktop" (MicroSoft's fault)
(c) With the Combo drive ejecting to the right of the unit and the video connector on the left, the monitor "wants" to sit on the left. The XP dialog (of course) assumes the monitor sits on the right, so you have to drag the icon EVERY TIME you connect your external monitor. (Toshiba are your enginerds actually USING the products they design?)

- The sound is unbalanced on my unit. I think because the "sub woofer" on the bottom is closer to the right speaker, the sound feels unbalanced to the right. Not a big deal for me as I plug in to Boston Acoustics, but curious that Toshiba didn't catch this. Or, is it just me?

I bought this model because it already had the add-ons I needed for a number crunching contract job. The value is commendable as even 2 months later the price has not fallen and the specs remain competitive. Usually I buy the week before the new models are announced. :-(

The warmth of the 5105 however, can't compare to the G3 500 mhz PowerBook it is replacing. There is something cold about the design, like the process was driven by cranking out a checklist rather than incorporating enthusiasm and community.

Speaking of community, to date I haven't been able to find a site to support the Toshiba like [website] or [website] have supported my PowerBook. The Toshiba forum on CompuServe is a purgatory of whining about startup problems. Problems, problems, problems, without any Toshibish interjections of answers.

This laptop sucks. Can you believe they are using a software modem that can not connect even at 14.4 kbps. The machine heats up like a fireball. Battery life is non existant. It is over-sized, won't fit in a bag. This computer combines the worst of desktop and laptop computers. As far Toshiba customer support is concerned, it is non-existant. Shame on you Toshiba for selling this piece of junk at $3,000 ( the original price ). I know that I will NEVER EVER buy anything Toshiba again.

I'm a web and multimedia designer/developer and the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S607 is a great sound and graphics desktop replacement system. Once I got my unit out of the box I was floored with its slick design. Of course looks is just the beginning, it felt almost twice as fast and more responsive than my second multimedia system, a Powerbook 667 G4 in most web, graphics and multimedia applications such as Flash, Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver.

For palette heavy applications such as Photoshop and Flash, Toshiba's HUGE 15 inch 1600X1200 resolution will be more than enough real estate to work with. Its 1.7 GHZ Pentium 4 processor and 400 MHZ system bus breezes through heavy and complicated Flash projects with a large amount of animation and sound. Its 5400 RPM 40 gig storage is fast and spacious enough to handle huge multi megabyte files. 40 Gig not enough for you? Then archive your files by burning them in the build in CD-recorder (DVD/CDR)

The keyboard feels solid and comfortable. The unique c-pad LCD track pad is a great extra for quick launching applications among other things. Another great feature of this system is its speakers (with a sub woofer to boot!) and its ability to play CD's and DVD's even if the laptop is closed, doubling as a portable DVD/CD player! If you do multimedia presentations like I do than combining a well made presentation with this notebook's huge clear LCD screen and vibrant speakers will never fail to impress your clientele.

Unfortunately there are no legacy ports for people who would want to connect their old peripherals. Also it is quite heavy and larger than your typical notebook hence "desktop replacement" and not a truly portable computer. Another disappointment for me was its very short battery life (lasted less than 90 Mins on average for me). I suggest to always work near an electrical source. Yet these shortcomings do not bother me at all.

The fast 1.7 GHZ P4, 15 inch UXGA screen, 512 MB of RAM, 40 gig hard drive, Firewire, 32 MB Nvida Gforce 4 to Go, great HK speakers - the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S607 has features that are usually found in most [high end] laptops... For its price and specifications the Toshiba Satellite 5105-S607 is truly a fantastic value.

I won't bother repeating what has been said before but I don't believe adequate praise has been given to the new touchpad, which at the present is unique to this model alone. This is my third laptop and I hated most touchpads. In fact, I really missed the pointing device from my old Fujitsu (like an IBM ThinkPad stick but bigger).

But thanks to the features of the new cPad on this Toshiba, it is already saving me time and frustration. There are four corner areas that you can program to do various features. The defaults are set to maximize and minimize, the Alt key (to access menus), and the Windows key. Along the right and bottom are also spaces to scroll, similar to the new wheel mice. These may sound like little bells and whistles, but they really help out in the long run when you are on the road without a mouse. That doesn't even count the additional features such as a calculator and *gasp* an actual keypad! Plus you can change the background image to whatever you want, or select from some included clipart. Our IT guy calls it the Tamagotchi, but it is truly Palm-inspired innovation at work.

The built-in SmartMedia and SecureDigital card readers are also a big help for my digital camera. Plus, there are more than enough ports (2 PCMCIA, 3 USB, 1 iLink, Network, Modem, A/V out, VGA).

The harmon/kardon speakers and subwoofer are also top-notch. I've turned the volume up to max and you get no distortion or tinny sounds. My main complaint is that the front audio controls seem to require turning the computer on. I was hoping this would be one of the intelligent CD drives that could run without extra horsepower and battery drain. Alas, it is still not the perfect laptop (certainly it does weigh a ton), but it's by far the closest yet.

Hi I bought my Toshiba laptop in October 2002. After only 15 days my HDD was dead. Toshiba fixed it for 10 days. Few weeks later my CD burner died. I burned only few CD before it happend.
This time I was waiting 2 weeks. So in less then 2 months, my Toshiba died twice, and I spent 4 weeks instead of enyoing my new computer, waiting home and with new ulcer on my stomach.
Now is working good, but I do not know for how long.

The battery life on this machine is disgusting. 1.67 hours? That is half the average life span of just about any other machine. However, by looking at the stats it is easy to see where all the power is going. The 1.7 GHz P4 processor is far from average. It also has only 32megs video card.
Laptop gets very hot! And after a while it freezes sometimes.
I made immediately exchange for Sony, which I am very happy now!
No stability problems and no heat issues!
Sony VAIO FXA53 Notebook (1.3 GHz Athlon XP1500) makes better deal, also battery life with Sony is up to 3hours.
I recomad Sony VAIO FXA53 Notbeook from Amazon!! 5 stars!

The Toshiba is handsome and speedy and the cPad, mouse pad is nifty and practical. The fact that the machine lacks both parallel and serial ports came as a bit of a shock as there was no way to connect my tape backup to transfer my files, but once past that, on all counts, the machine is a winner...which is lucky, as Toshiba Tech Support is non existent.

After an initial call when I got a pilot-voiced Texan who was a Cracker Jack and new his stuff inside out, I thought that configuring the machine would be a breeze. I am quite experienced and have configured dozens of machines both desk top and lap top, though I had never used Windows XP. However after that initial call I only got one or two people who spoke intelligible English, and when they did, it was only to make it clear that they would not help me. Though my Spanish is fluent, my technical vocabulary is about as limited as their technical abilities....The only phrase that they kept repeating made no sense... "Breakfast!" To the point where I thought I had a permanent crossed line with a Latino diner in Encino. It was finally made clear to me that what they were saying was Break/Fix...meaning that is all they do if broken they fix... "No How To!" Anything beyond a broken computer is considered configuring or teaching and is referred to a priority support line for $36 per call.

I have never heard of a computer company not supporting the operating system that they sell you with the computer. Certainly Compaq's Tech Support people were not only courteous, helpful and knew their stuff, but they also spoke English.

When I called Toshiba to ask how to extract the windows XP backup software off the windows cd I was told that it is not included on the Toshiba OEM version and that I could go out and buy the retail version of Windows XP. When I asked if doing that would void my warranty I was told that as long as I removed the retail version from my system and restored the Toshiba version they would help me with hardware problems. And when I had a genuine hardware problem where the modem didn't function, they were incapable of helping and an AOL Super Gal at heir tech support center in Bombay India came to the rescue

Bottom Line...I love the computer, but Toshiba tech support or the lack of it has given me an ulcer. Unless you are a very experienced user and know Windows XP, this is not the machine for you.

I bought my Toshiba 5105-S607 back when it was newly available. I still use it today.

It's not nearly as fast as newer computers, but it does everything I want it to, it has proven to be very reliable, and the "entertainment" capabilities it has aren't found in the majority of newer computers, unless you go very-high-end.

When I travel, I use it to web-browse and email, of course... it works perfectly well for that. I use it for GPS navigation (with a simple plug-in USB receiver)... it works perfectly for this purpose. I use it for watching DVD movies... it works just fine. I use it for watching (non-HD) TV, using my Hauppauge USB 1.0 tuner. I use it to listen to FM radio, using that same Hauppauge tuner. I use it to listen to a large collection of ripped music CDs which I store on the machine... the sound quality is better than most current laptops. I use it to play games... albeit not the most intensive current ones, I can play tons of currently available games just fine. It serves as the charger for my cell phone and bluetooth headset. It's the CENTER of my traveling life, honestly.

I'd replace it today, if there were something I could buy that would "update" me to modern capabilities without making me give up anything. But so far, there's nothing of the sort which I've been able to find. If I have to give up something I USE, and LIKE, in order to gain an intangible benefit I don't really need... I'm not going to.

The main complaints about this computer are that (1) it's hot, and (2) it has poor battery life. Both are true. The machine draws a lot of power, which explains both of the above. So, in order to use it, you need to assume that it's not really a "carry with" laptop, so much as a "portable desktop." You need a compact auto/air power adaptor and a compact 220/110 AC adaptor, and use it with them pretty much all the time, except when moving from one spot to another. You also need to either have it on a tabletop, or on a "lap desk." It's not suitable for leaving on your actual lap for any length of time.

The closest current equivalent to this is the Toshiba Qosmo (or however that's spelled). But even that doesn't have the ability to serve as an audio player when the PC itself is powered down, and I use that feature on this PC.

I've installed Fedora Linux, Win98SE, BeOS, and Ubunto Linux on this system as well (swapping drives is easy). It's pretty much painless.

The PC's BIOS is limited to 138GB. However, that's perfectly fine... I store archived stuff on a USB-connected 300GB drive I carry with me, and just swap stuff in and out overnight while I'm asleep... the disk-size limitation is the only actual ANNOYANCE I have with this PC, even today, many years after it was released.

___________________________________________

(EDIT: October 2011)

The reviews on here still exist, although the computer has long since been removed from the site. So, I'll update this review, just in case anyone ever goes searching.

Yes, I still have this, and it still works. But recently, it was "lost" to me briefly. I bought a replacement (a nice one, too) but I decided to fix the issue with this old one and I'll discuss that here.

The video card in this machine died a couple of months ago. I was traveling, and plugged a device into the USB port on the video card (left-hand side)... and the video card failed on me. Upon rebooting, I was in "fall-back video" mode, with no acceleration, and with significant graphical corruption. I did a quick online search and discovered that many folks had experienced the same thing... apparently, there had been some problems with the solder joints for memory on the video card failing. I was unable to find a replacement video card, so I just broke down and finally bought a new "netbook" laptop (an Asus EeePC 1215N, which is much more capable than this, even though it's merely a "netbook.")

At this point, I tried reflowing the solder on the board. I knew that this was a risk... and yes, as expected, the board worked briefly but failed completely shortly thereafter.

I was able to find a source for the replacement (new, never used) video card finally. Fortunately, using the part number printed on the board's surface, and with doing quite a bit of web searching, I was finally able to find a parts supply house with the video card for this machine in stock, and I purchased one.

And now, with a brand-new video card installed, the machine works just like new (actually, BETTER than new... I think that the video card may always have has SOME problems, as the replacement card seems a bit peppier... though still slow by contemporary standards).

Along the way, I discovered a lot more about the internals of this computer. This particular model did not come with internal Wifi, but there's an unpopulated "mini PCI" slot on the underside, which can accept any mini-PCI card.

I've been using a PC-card wireless card for a while, but the idea of having internal wireless is appealing, so I've just purchased a mini PCI wireless-N card. And since this machine doesn't have an internal wireless antenna (though other 5105-series machines do), I had to buy a 3-element internal antenna set as well. The cost was fairly low (less than $30 for the card, and about $5 for the antennae set), so I'm not losing much if it doesn't work out.

My intention is to install two of the antenna elements in the screen housing (upper right and upper left), at right angles (one vertically-oriented, one horizontally oriented) and the third in the main housing, to the left of the touchpad... so my three antennae will be at right-angles to each other (which is why you want three antennae, after all!)

Hopefully, this will provide a performance boost over my PC-card wireless performance. If not, I can always fall back to the PC card.

The biggest problem with this machine, now, is trying to get a replacement battery module. I had very bad luck with one purchased on here recently... but since I primary use it with external power, this is not a major concern.

Anyway... the machine is nearly a decade old now... a DINOSAUR in computer terms... but it's still useful and still serving me nicely. Unless I want to run Crysis, it does pretty much whatever I want it to do. Anyone who finds this review through a web search might want to know this! :)