Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive)

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 13.4 x 11.6 x 1.9 inches ; 7.9 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0000DALPW
• Item model number: PSA20U-0CH43V
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,963 in Computers & Accessories (See Top 100 in Computers & Accessories)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: October 3, 2003

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Designed primarily for the mobile professional, the Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Notebook PC is a solid choice for businesspeople and anyone else that needs a powerful and versatile mobile setup but doesn't require the extreme portability of an ultra-lightweight.

As the fastest member of Toshiba's midlevel A20 series of notebooks, the Satellite A25-S279 is driven by a potent 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor and 512 MB of DDR SDRAM memory (expandable to 1024 MB). These are solid components that should keep you computing at a top level for some time to come. However, if you operate a lot of 3-D applications such as high-end games or complex animation and design applications, the system's Trident CyberBlade graphics chipset with 32 MB of shared (not dedicated) memory is not sufficient. In this case, you may want to upgrade from the Trident or explore another Toshiba model.

Measuring 13.4 by 11.6 by 1.9 inches and weighing in at 7.9 pounds, the Satellite A25-S279 is a bit larger than average and may be too bulky for those who need their notebook with them on all their journeys. It is, however, packed with capable amenities. Toshiba has included an accommodating 60 GB hard disk, a full-size 85-key keyboard with hotkeys and dedicated CD controls, a generous 15-inch XGA TFT active-matrix display, and a convenient DVD/CD-RW drive through which you can burn and listen to audio CDs, archive files, and enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters. In its stock configuration, the unit does not permit DVD burning.

Connectivity options are solid. The system features three high-speed USB 2.0 ports for plug and play peripherals, an S-Video TV-out jack, an RJ-11 modem port for dial-up communication, an RJ-45 LAN port for high-speed networking, and integrated 802.11g wireless support for those times when you just can't plug in. Bundled software includes Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Works and Intuit Quicken New User Edition 2003. Typical battery life is estimated at an adequate 2.41 hours.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good but bulky laptop, December 2, 2003

By 

A worker (Northern California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

Before buying this laptop, I compared just two non-widescreen models, HP ZE5570US and this Toshi. The HP has too much silver plastic and it's just not my taste thought the HP is not that bulky as Toshi. For nearly one month ownership, A25-S279 is overall a good laptop as expected. The performance of 2.8P4+480M (512M-32M video) is more than enough for programming and some graphics s/w. Harddrive is very quiet. 54G wireless is no problem with my D-Link DI624 router. Not sure about PC game though.

However, you should notice there's no free CD burning s/w bundled but a trial one. Also the depth is a bit larger than a regular laptop. Be sure it'll fit your notebook case. They are the reasons I bought a Nero 6.0 Ultra and Samsanite carry case.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ugly duckling that will grow on you, February 6, 2004

By 

J. Cabanski "lynnredbug" (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

I just got my Toshiba A25-S279 yesterday so I can't say if it will last years and years like my buddy's did. The thing that jumped out as soon as I opened the box was how ugly the notebook was. Its large size is also a bit of a problem. At 13.4" x 11.6" x 1.9", it's very hard to find a bag that fits. Most "large" bags only fit up to 13" x 11". You have to go for an "oversized" bag. This notebook looks cheap when compared to other notebooks. And I don't mean Sony which is light years ahead in term of looks.

Here are the reasons why I bought this ugly duckling anyway.
1. It's the most reasonably priced notebook among other major brands. You can't find a better deal on P4 2.8, 60GB, 512MB, DVD-CDRW, built-in 802.11g than this one. Toshiba also gives out generous rebates. Check out their website for details. The store I bought mine from didn't advertise it. Lucky I found a $100 rebate on the Toshiba website.
2. Built quality. All of my friends who bought Toshiba never had problems with theirs. The battery stopped holding charges after over a year, but all notebooks have this problem.
3. It comes with a restore disk. If anything goes wrong, you don't have to scramble for a boot disk and install all the drivers. Just pop in this disk and click OK, OK, once in a while. Your notebook will be back to its original factory installed condition in an hour.
4. It runs directly off the A/C. To preserve the battery life, when I'm at home which is most of the time, I take out the battery completely. Plug the notebook into the UPS and let it run directly off the A/C plug. You can't do that with Dell's. The Dell's circuit isn't completed without a battery. My sister's Dell's battery is completely dead (doesn't hold charge for even one second) but she still need to put her battery in its slot anyway just so the computer would turn on. Very annoying.
5. Built-in wireless. At this price range, it's very hard to find ones that come with built-in 802.11g. Some come with 802.11b, yucks!
It's a lot nicer not having to haul around a wireless card that you may lose or forget to bring with you. Being built-in also means that it frees up the PC card slot for something else you may need.

I highly recommend this notebook to anyone who's going to use this laptop as a replacement PC, who's not travelling a lot, who doesn't mind the ugly look knowing that its the inside (P4 2.8, 512, 60GB yada yada) that counts.

4.0 out of 5 stars Only if the lid had held more..., August 18, 2006

By 

C. Emanuel "Bookworm" (Bucharest, Romania) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive) (Personal Computers)

I have bought this model in oct 2003, so it will soon have 3 years. Despite the fact that it is so bulky, I have been quite pleased with it. I would have continued to do my jobs with it if the lid had not succumbed just recently. Now it can no loger be fixed in a certain position. I have to place a book to tilt it, which is too bad.
I guess that after so many closings and openings, the parts which hold the lid have come loose.
I will try to see if I can get it repaired.

Emanuel