Toshiba Satellite M65-S809 17" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive)

by Toshiba

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 15.5 x 11 x 1.5 inches ; 7.8 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 11 pounds
• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
• ASIN: B000BJICIC
• Item model number: PSM60U-095021
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: September 23, 2005

Product Description

Amazon.com Product Description

Unhook yourself from your desktop with the powerful and nicely portable Toshiba Satellite M65-S809 notebook PC, which features a widescreen 17-inch XGA display with TruBrite technology and the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 128 MB of shared video RAM. The large screen real estate is great for multi-tasking through multiple documents and application windows as well as enjoying DVD movies in their native aspect ratio. It also features a battery-sipping 1.73 GHz Pentium M (Centrino) processor, a 100 GB hard drive, 512 MB of installed RAM (2 GB maximum), dual-layer multiformat DVD drive that also burns CDs, integrated 54g wireless connectivity, multi-format memory card reader, and Windows XP Home edition operating system.

The Basics

• Hard Drive: A welcome size for road warriors, the 100 GB Enhanced IDE hard drive is a bit above average in size for notebook PCs, and faster than average at 5400 RPM. It's also user removable, enabling you to upgrade its size at some point down the line.
  
• Processor: The 1.73 GHz Pentium M 740 (Centrino) processor is in the middle of the speed spectrum for this processor class (October 2005). It is well equipped for office productivity software tasks, from complex spreadsheets to databases. The Pentium M processor is designed specifically for low-power mobile usage, and it features the latest in power-saving technologies--ensuring you push your battery and productivity to the max. It also has a large 2 MB L2 cache--which will help speed up your system's performance--and a 533 MHz front-side bus (FSB).
  
• Memory: The 512 MB of built-in memory (2 x 256 MB, PC4200, DDR2 SDRAM) is a good start for power users, and it offers a very fast 533 MHz speed. It has two memory slots in total, with a maximum memory expansion up to 2 GB (2 x 1024 MB).
  
• CD/DVD Drive: The double-layer DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD+R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data--great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 8x DVD+R DL, 4x DVD+R, 2.4x DVD+RW, 8x DVD-R, 2x DVD-RW, 4x DVD-RAM, and 24x/4x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.
  
• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 85-key keyboard and electro-static two-button touchpad. It also offers a launch button for the Express CD/DVD media player and control buttons (play, stop, next, previous).

Screen, Graphics and Sound
The M65-S809 has a 17-inch TruBrite TFT screen with a widescreen 1440 x 900-pixel resolution. It also provides TruBrite technology, which makes images brighter and more vivid thanks to its anti-glare feature. Video and graphics are powered by the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900, which uses Intel Dynamic Video Memory Technology (DVMT) and provides up to 128 MB of shared video memory. It also features an integrated audio card with headphone and microphone jacks and the capability to deliver SRS TruSurround XT virtual surround sound and SRS WOW stereo enhancement through the two built-in speakers.

Connectivity and Expansion Slots
The M65-S809 has an integrated Intel Pro/Wireless Network Connection 2200BG LAN, which supports both 802.11b and 802.11g (54g) wireless connections in your office, home, and at Wi-Fi hotspots. You get a good offering of connectivity options, including Firewire:

• 3 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) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• 1 VGA monitor port
• 1 S-Video out
• 1 PCMCIA (or PC Card) slot (Type II, PCMCIA R2.01, PC Card16, CardBus)
• 1 headphone jack, 1 microphone jack
• 5-in-1 memory card reader, compatible with Secure Digital (SD), MultiMedia (MMC), Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, and XD Picture Card

It also has an integrated 56K modem (V.90) and an RJ-45 LAN network port (for a 10/100 Gigabit Ethernet connection to networks and DSL/cable modems).

Preloaded System and Software
This system comes with the Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 operating system with Advanced Security Technologies, which helps to reduce unwanted downloads and pop-ups while surfing the Web. It also comes preloaded with Microsoft Works, Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, McAfee AntiVirus, InterVideo WinDVD and WinDVD Creator, Sonic Solutions RecordNow.

Dimensions and Weight
This notebook measures 15.5 x 11 x 1.5 (WxDxH) and weighs 7.1 pounds.

Power
It's powered by an 8-cell rechargeable lithium-ion battery, which has a battery life of up to 4.5 hours (depending on usage). It has a 4-hour full charging time with the notebook off, and 12 hours with the computer active.

What's in the Box
This package contains the M65-S809 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty.

Product Description

The Satellite M65 is a notebook PC that's a virtual complete replacement to desktop PC use. Graphics - Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 900 with 8MB-128MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory Realtek ALC250 16-bit stereo software sound supports 3D Sound, Direct 3D Sound, DirectSound, Direct Music, MIDI (playback), Sound Volume Control Dial; Built-in harman/kardon stereo speakers with SRS Labs audio enhancements featuring SRS TruSurround XT virtual surround sound Integrated V.92 software modem 10/100 Base-TX Ethernet Integrated Intel Pro/Wireless Network Connection 2200BG 802.11b 802.11g 1 PC Card slot support 1 Type II, PCMCIA R2.01, PC Card16, CardBus ExpressCard slot supporting ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter (Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card, xD Picture Card) Ports - RGB (monitor) port / TV-out (S-Video) / i.LINK IEEE-1394 / 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) ports (v2.0) / External Microphone jack / Headphone jack / RJ-45 LAN port / RJ-11 modem port Dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear) - 15.5'' (394.0mm) x 11.0'' (280.3mm) x 1.2'' (29.8mm)[F]/1.5'' (37.0mm)[R] without feet / Weight - About 7.5 lbs Pre-installed Operating System - Windows XP Home Service Pack 2 / Software - Toshiba Software and Utilities; Electronic User's Guide; Microsoft Office OneNote 2003; Microsoft Works Version 8.0; McAfee VirusScan (30-day trial); Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment; Adobe Acrobat Reader version 5.0; InterVideo WinDVD 5; InterVideo WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum; Sonic Solutions PrimeTime; Sonic Solutions RecordNow! Basic for Toshiba; Sonic Solutions Drive Letter Access; Microsoft Windows Media Player version 10

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A bit bulky, but overall a great laptop, November 24, 2005

By 

Matthew G. Belge (Lincoln, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite M65-S809 17" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive) (Personal Computers)

I have had the MS65 machine for 3 months now and mostly I really love it. Its big - approximately 7 lbs, and about 1.4 inches thick. I travel with it a lot - so if it were lighter I would love it even more. But its very fast, has a huge, fast hard drive, and I like its appearance (the copper colored cover gives it nice appeal from the bland designs most laptops have.)

Probably its best feature is the display - at 1440 x 900, 17" diagnol, the display is huge for a laptop. This allows me to display two documents side by side, which is a huge plus. Also the screen is gorgeous - deep rich color that is very true to life. Its wonderful as a road machine for visual designers or anyone who really carea about image quality. In fact, I have used an external 19" LCD display made by Phillips, and the built in display on this machine is much much better - the Phillips lacks in color depth, contrast, and refresh speed when compared to the Toshiba's built in display.

The worst feature is the keyboard - very stiff, you have to really pound the keys. Its full size keyboard, but the touch is not at all light.

I have 1 gig of RAM, and run demanding applications like PhotoShop with no problem. And it just rips through the typical productivity tools - spreadsheets, Powerpoint, Word, etc.

The DVD burner is great, but the supplied software is a joke.If you want to drag and drop files to burn to DVD, you have to set a switch on/off in the control panel. A real inconvenience. But I bought a copy of Roxio Media Creator for $70, and that handles all the drag n drop capabilities just fine.

As near as I can tell, the headphone jack that comes with this machine is very mediocre - the sound from my pretty good Senheiser head phones is not what I would want it to be.

The built in wireless networking works flawlessly, and often picks up networks 1/4 mile away!

All in all, I love this machine. I wish it were lighter, I wish the keyboard was better, but all in all one of the best choices out there for heavy duty graphics while reasonable in price.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Keyboard problems aren't worth it!, December 5, 2006

By 

LaurenW (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toshiba Satellite M65-S809 17" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 740 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 100 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive) (Personal Computers)

I have had this computer for one year now and have just had the keyboard replaced for THE THIRD TIME! In desperation, I started reading reviews for this laptop.

I have now seen that the keyboard is a consistent problem. I wish it were just a matter of getting used to pressing harder, but the problem is more than that. Trained as a legal secretary a zillion years ago, I know how to type, so it's not a matter of missing the keys or pressing too lightly.

As I am typing this review, every third word or so has to be retyped because a key is not registering! Sometimes I have to bang a key three or four times before it registers! (It also has a jumping cursor which moves and enters keystrokes indescriminately around the screen!)

It does have great graphics and speed. The numeric keypad was the main reason I purchased it, as I do a lot of tables. However, I am at my wit's end with this darn keyboard problem and hope that Toshiba will either fix it right or allow me to exchange it!