Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite A15-S157 Laptop (2.20-GHz Celeron, 512 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This Toshiba laptop is built very nice with superb features. 15" screen is very good for watching DVD or computing work, resolution is great. 40GB hard disk is big enough for most people considering that it has a fast CD-RW built-in.

All the usual connectivity features like USB 2.0, ethernet, modem, 802.11b wireless built in. 512MB is excellent for Win XP and possibly future OS. If you don't need extra RAM and wireless you can get S127 model for somewhat lower price.

2.2GHz Celeron is more than enough for 99% of people. The battery life is adequate and weight is a very reasonable 6 lbs for 15" screen laptop. Keyboard is very good and touchpad is excellent once you get used to it.

It will get hot since it uses a desktop Celeron and there will be some fan noise. Get a Centrino/Pentium-M based laptop if you want cooler, more portable and smaller laptop. But it might cost you twice the money.

Much better built than a Dell or HP. Dell has too many tricks on their website to get a decent price for similar configuration. HP uses third party chipsets on their low end laptops. Athlon laptops are also equipped with poor quality SiS chipsets. The chipset used in this is Intel 852GM with 32MB shared video memory. Intel chipsets are solid and stable.

All in all a superb laptop for students, home users and small business use. Perfect PC replacement with easy portability. Toshiba rocks!

As an owner of a Toshiba S127 and this S157, I can tell you that this thing is pure quality. Dell's laptops have gotten almost pitiful in quality, while IBM are insanely priced. Where's the quality, inexpensive laptops? Toshiba is your answer.

Trust me guys. Get this model. I bought the S127 and ended up giving it to my mom. This model comes with the built in wireless Internet (which is awesome), 40GB of storage, 512MB DDR (XP uses MUCH more than 256MB even doing the simplest tasks), and 2.2Ghz Celeron (you can't tell the difference between 2Ghz & 2.2 Ghz,trust me).

I scored my S157 in brand new condition for $825 off some really nice guy off eBay I struck a deal with. (I picked it up locally)

I'm going to review every single thing about this laptop, sequentally. Please note that this is an unbiased review:

1.) Keyboard: Probably the best keyboard i've ever used in over 18 years of computers. I loved these soft key laptop keyboard. Doesn't have that annoying cursor thing in the middle of the keyboard that some people like to use. (Most despise it, though)

2.) TouchPaD: Works great. Two basic buttons, silver color, and work perfectly.

3.) 15" XGA screen. The screen is nice, bright, and vivid, but I definately could use SXGA (1280x....) XGA is only 1024x768 and is just enough for basic tasks

4.) Speakers: Silver titinium stereo speakers. They work adequately for basic needs. What can I say? They're laptop speakers. Go pickup some Logitech Z-340s for $30 at Best Buy. They will compliment these nicely.

5.) Design: Design is superb. The laptop is suprisingly thin (1 inch) and the colors are perfect. Really great job.

6.) Weight: 6.15 lbs, according to my measurements.

7.) LEDs: The LEDs are great. 5 basic small LEDs that tell you what's going on. Nothing fancy.

8.) 802.11b Wireless (S157 only). This is great. You can save your PCCard slot; you can also disable/enable the device whenever you want. Someone mentioned somewhere that the built-in wireless card means it uses the notebook as an antenna. I don't believe that though.

9.) CD-RW/DVD ROM: Works perfectly. I would've perferred a trayless drive (like the Pioneer 16x DVD drives) but hell, this is great. They both work great.

8.) Battery Life: Battery life is not as good as I would like it to be. I get 2 1/2 hours max out of this computer on a full battery charge, assuming light working conditions. Extra battery costs $150+tax at Best Buy or Circuit City. I'm using my mother's S127 batter. ;)

9.) Noise Level: Both computers are dead silent. There is a fan that turns on once in a while to cool the computers. The fan isn't loud at all.

10.) PC Card Slot: It only has 1 PC Card slot, but that's not an issue anymore now that I have built in wireless internet

11.) Ports:
Serial: Great but I don't use it.
Parallel: Ok, I still don't use it.
2x USB 2.0: Now, this is beautiful. I have several USB devices, some even USB 2.0, that I use with this computer.
Neither models come with S-Video, DESPITE what some specifications say. The model also comes with external VGA for connecting to a projector or external monitor.
RJ45 (Ethernet) AND Modem already installed. What a great value.

12.) Performance:
Hard drive: Works decently. Only 4200 RPM, so don't expect mind-blistering performance, but it's fast enough even for an end user.

Processor: 2.2Ghz Celeron is like a crippled P4; nevertheless, it performs almost all basic functions with ease. Gamers apply elsewhere.

Sound: No comments. Sound works. :)

Video: This is my biggest complaint (besides the microphone) about this model. Comes with 32MB Intel Extreme Graphics (Shared). Because it's shared with system memory, people tend to think it's 64MB Intel graphics; believe me, it's NOT. It's 32MB Intel extreme graphics that will let you do only the basic video or gaming. Don't expect any kind of performance from this. I really wish Toshiba had put an ATi Radeon mobility in here, but for the price I'm not complaining. :-)

* Software: I don't use the software that comes with this bundle, but make sure to check the personal cons below for additional details.

* Toshiba Utilities: As with most utilities, I don't like running manufacturer's utility files, but Toshiba's aren't _that_ bad. (I still don't run them, though). They allow you to control most of the function buttons at the topic and assign them different functions.

Build Quality: This is where the laptop truly shines. Putting IBM's insanely high quality and price tag, this is the best laptop you can get for budget-price quality. Toshiba rules.

Personal Cons:

* No built in Microphone. The thing has a port for a microphone, but I really, really wish Toshiba had put one in. I know this isn't an issue for most people, but I use microphones on a daily basis. They're cheap, granted, but that's another thing to lug around.

* Rebates: Ugh, I hate rebates. I got my S127 for $760 (after 8.5% tax) and after $250 rebates. I got my S157 for $825 cash from some guy on eBay.

* One thing that annoys me is that Toshiba has loaded this comp with plenty of useless junk like AOL, Special offers, etc. This is an easy fix. I just wiped the drive and put XP Professional on there and boom, it's done. :) The S157, IIRC, comes with Microsoft Works, which I don't use.

If you want more detailed pictures of this laptop, search on www.newegg.com. They have both models and detailed pictures on it.
I hope I haven't missed anything. :)

I am a student (14yrs) and I was shopping around for a laptop for [a certain price range]. I tried dell and hp, but there was no way to get this kind of configuration for this price. Then I found this laptop, and I immediately knew I had to get it. It arrived less than a week after I ordered it on amazon.com. Here are the pros and cons of this laptop:

PROS:

*Performance:
The laptop comes with a 2.2ghzs celron processor, which is more than enough for the average student. It is even very fast at ripping MP3s, which uses a lot of processing power.

*Graphics Card:
The graphics card that comes with this is a 64MB Intel video card. I was blown away by its performance. I turn all the graphics settings in Flight Simulator 2002 to full, and the video still moved smoothly. This graphics card is certainly good enough for the casual gamer, but serious gamers should look elsewhere. (The battery life stinks when playing games though - I only got about one hour when playing NFS III)

*Screen Size:
The screen is huge - almost as big as a 17" CRT monitor. It is also very crisp and clear. I will never go back to those bug bloated blurry CRT screens.

*Weight:
This isn't really a pro or a con - at 6.2lbs, it is neither heavy nor light. A 2.2ghzs Pentium 4 laptop would be about 8lbs (very heavy), but compared to a 4lbs Apple Power Book, this laptop is quite heavy.

*802.11b:
This laptop has an integrated WiFi card. When I bought this laptop, I also bought a USB 802.11b Wireless network adapter for [a price], and in 20 minutes I was surfing the net with no wires attached. Also you can turn of the wireless card to save batteries if you're not using it. Great for surfing the net anywhere in your house.

*Combo Drive:
The integrated CD burner / DVD drive means that you can watch DVDs or burn Cds right from your laptop. This is a great plus for people who want to do everything from there laptop. Now I almost never use my desktop PC.

*Dual Monitor Support:
This is great for people who want to make power point presentations from there laptop. You get a lot more control over the presentation.

CONS:

*Battery Life:
They say you get more than 3 hrs battery life, but don't expect more that 2 and a half hrs of word processing, and even less when watching a DVD or gaming.

*Heat:
The bottom left hand side of the laptop gets very hot . After a about 15mins, it gets too hot to use on your lap. I did find a position where I didn't touch the hot part, so that solved the problem.

CONCLUSION:
This is the best laptop out there for the average student, casual gamer or someone on a budget, but serious gamers, and persons who want a light weight laptop, or lots of battery life should look elsewhere.

I purchased this model from a different vendor, but it is the exact same computer. This has got to be the notebook computer with the most value for least cost available right now. For the typical student (like me) this system has more than enough computing power, memory, and cool features. The integrated wireless card is amazing. I got home, turned the computer on and instantly saw that it had located 3 wireless networks that my neighbors were broadcasting. I have my own internet connection, and have since told them that they need more security, but that just shows how well it works. The screen is large and easy to read, and the dvd-cdrw drive is very handy. 512 mb ram makes everything load very fast and allows quick switching between programs.

Highly recommend

Primo; fast, dense, clear, clean, compact, lightweight, and sleek... perfect combinations.

This laptop is a steal for the price. I have had it a month now and I love it. I did a lot of checking around before I bought a laptop because I didnt know a lot about laptops at the time. If you were to buy a Dell with the same scymatics as this laptop, you would easily pay double. Compaq's are about $500 more for the same thing. Right now I am in Mosul, Iraq and I use this laptop for about 8 hours straight everyday and I havent had a single problem. The wireless internet is definently a plus. I can sit in my tent and get signal off a wireless router 50yds away no problem. The ease of use of this computer is great. Compared to the pentium 4, the Celerion is still a great operating system. If your looking for something cheap yet reliable, this is the laptop for you. Look on epinions.com or pricegrabber.com and read other peoples reviews and you will see how great of a computer this is.

Had this computer for 20 days. Its a great computer for the price. The built in wi-fi works like a charm. Screen, keyboard, and size is great. Processor and memory was sufficient for my purpose including a little use of paint and drawing programs. Only thing I didn't like is their touchpad. They have something called Draglock feature turned on which makes it hard for me to do what I normally do with my touchpad. I only found out after fiddling around with adjusting all sorts of touchpad settings that it was the Draglock being turned on that was bothering me. If you having trouble with making your touchpad act smoothly, I suggest you turn this feature off. However it is not easy to get to. It is under 5 layers of menu screens. The final menu you will find it is under "tapping settings". Overall, a super buy when you consider the rebates I got this with.

I conducted a lot of research before I purchased this computer. For the price (under $1000), the Toshiba Satellite A15-S157 seemed to be a great deal. I was wrong. First, the computer's DVD player literally never worked. Not for 1 minute. Naturally, by the time I realized this, the warranty was out. It expired the week before and they wouldn't let me renew it, nor would they fix the problem. Keep in mind I had owned it for only 1 yr. by that time.

Then, two keys on the keyboard stopped functioning. They just don't work anymore. Finally, to top it off, the cooling fan stopped working. Now, I can barely use the computer. After calling Toshiba and speaking with someone whom I could not understand (what country was I connected to?), I learned that Toshiba wasn't going to help me.

In short, this laptop has been horrible. I owned a Mac G4 laptop before this one, and the Mac lasted me 4 years without any problems! This Toshiba is piece of junk (made in China to boot) and unfortunately, their customer service is no better. If you still choose to buy this thing, remember Toshiba's motto: caveat emptor.

I have had my Toshiba for a few years and here's what I have had to deal with:

1. CPU fan stopped working
2. Bulb in screen went out
3. Hinges are toast - screen won't stay open
4. Latch to keep lid closed broke
5. Hard drive crapped out
6. Left side of keyboard quit functioning

Do not buy Toshiba!!!! They're disposable.

Easy to use, I was online with my wireless connection is less than 2 minutes after I started it up. Great value and features. I paid just over $1K for mine.