Toshiba Satellite A45-S250 Laptop (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R/RW Combo)

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Shipping Weight: 14 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B0001A8S3K
• Item model number: A45-S250
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes
• Date first available at Amazon.com: January 7, 2004

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Sitting at the head of the class within Toshiba's entry level notebook lineup, the Satellite A45-S250 offers powerful multimedia options at an affordable price. An appealing notebook for both students and small business owners, it features a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor, 60 GB hard drive, 512 MB installed RAM, and a 15-inch TFT display. It also offers a DVD writer, FireWire port (for connecting digital video cameras), and 54g built-in wireless LAN.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: Though not world-beating in size, the 60 GB enhanced-IDE hard drive (4200 RPM) offers more than enough storage capacity for road warriors.
• Processor: The 2.8 GHz Mobile Intel Pentium 4 processor offers enough speed for your work today and into tomorrow. Thanks to its Mobile features, the processor can save power when it's not needed, thus conserving battery life. It also has a 512 KB L2 cache and a 533 MHz FSB (front-side bus).
• Memory: The A45-S150 comes with a 512 MB built-in memory (2 x 256 MB DDR SDRAM, 266 MHz)--a good start for power users--with a maximum memory expansion up to 1 GB (2 x 512 MB). It has two slots that can be expanded to 2 GB (2048 MB).
• CD/DVD Drive: It comes equipped with a DVD+-R/+-RW drive that writes both DVD and CD discs. For DVD-RW discs, it has a 4x write/2x rewrite/2x read speed, while for DVD+RW discs it has a 4x write/2.4x rewrite/2.4x read speed. For CDs, it has a 16x write/10x rewrite/24x read speed.
• Keyboard & Mouse: The A45-S150 has an 85-key keyboard with 12 function keys and a two-button touchpad.

Sound and Graphics
It features an integrated Intel 852GME graphics controller with 32 MB of shared video memory. The 15-inch TFT active matrix display has a native resolution of 1024 x 768 and supports up to 16 million colors. The integrated audio card provides good sound while keeping the cost of this package down; the A45-S150 has two internal speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The A45-S150 offers a good range of connectivity options--including 54g wireless:

• 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals--from digital cameras to MP3 players
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) ports for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 parallel port for connecting older printers and scanners
• 1 RGB monitor port
• 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type II)
• 1 TV-out (S-Video)
• 1 headphone jack and 1 microphone jack
• Secure Digital (SD)/MultiMedia (MMC) memory card reader

It also has an integrated 802.11g wireless LAN (which is compatible with the more widespread 802.11b and offers faster data transmission rates), integrated 56K modem (V.92), and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
The A45-S150 comes with the Windows XP Home Edition operating system, and it also features Microsoft Works (for working with word processing and spreadsheet documents). Other preloaded software includes Norton Antivirus 2003 (with 90 days of complimentary live updates), Quicken New User Edition 2004, and ArcSoft ShowBiz DVD 1.3, InterVideo Win-DVD Creator 2.

Dimensions and Weight
Definitely not the smallest on the block, the A45-S150 notebook measures 13.2 x 11.7 x 1.9 inches (L x W x H) and weighs a comfortable 7.7 pounds.

Power
The included rechargeable lithium-ion battery has 12 cells (which refers to the number of charge-storing components within the battery) and offers a standard amount of power for a notebook PC (around 2.9 hours of typical use).

What's in the Box
This package includes the Toshiba Satellite A45-S150 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars good but a problem, May 21, 2004

By 

Sachin Walia (Sunnyvale, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A45-S250 Laptop (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R/RW Combo) (Personal Computers)

I bought this a week back. so far so good..however i am facing a peculiar problem. the booklet mentions that this can write cd-r at a speed of 16x however when i tried writing with nero 6 (which i have been using since long) it allowed me to write only at 4x. i checked with nero support if this is the problem with nero but the support site mentions that they do support this dvd writer with its full capability. (the model is i think pioneer dvr-k12d or something). i called toshiba and told them this problem and they said they dont support any 3rd party apps. that was so pathetic of them to give such uninformative answer. however rest looks fine so 4 stars.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good, April 23, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A45-S250 Laptop (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R/RW Combo) (Personal Computers)

So far so good. I had one problem which required I go through their phone support system. The first round was aboslutely useless. The guy acted as if he didn't even care. The next day I gave it another go. That time I was connected to someone who really tried hard - he stuck w/ it while we inunstalled and reinstalled modem drivers and reconfigured, etc., etc., finally got things going. Now all is well. Great PC. Everything seems to work as advertised.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My First PC !!, May 15, 2004

By 

John Wayne "Big John" (Crestview, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite A45-S250 Laptop (2.8 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD+R/RW Combo) (Personal Computers)

I really did not know what to expect. Toshiba did a great job of providing every conceivable bit of information a person might need regarding the product. I was grateful for that! I bought the Linksys Wireless G router and the hook up to my existing cable router was virtually automatic. All I had to punch in was my e-mail address one time only!
The freedom to go anywhere in the house or even outside on the front or back porch and be on the internet without wires was a fantastic feeling! I really love this this little baby!!!
I have only had the computer for a few weeks now, so I haven't really had any problems yet. I've downloaded Incredimail Premium and found only one Spam and Pop-up killer that works with it (Giant Corp), but with all the changeover to an alternate mail program this Toshiba has taken it all in stride! Anyone should be happy with this product!!!