Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite P25-S609 Media Center Laptop (3.00-GHz Pentium 4 (Hyper-Threading), 1024 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Please be careful before you decide to purchase this from certain Amazon.com Marketplace buyers. I have been eyeing this laptop for a while now but the price is still out of reach for me and so still waiting for the price drop.
Anyway, there are some "just launched" private sellers that lure you into contacting them directly by offering ridisculously low price like, say under $1000 for a brand new system, or even sometimes they mention it's in like-new condition to make it more believable I guess. They will sound really polite and encourage you to buy directly from them instead of going through the Amazon.com process by sending them the funds through Western Union, that way you will get the laptop sooner and they will even provide the shipping cost! I know because I have encountered a couple of these "sellers" here at the Amazon marketplace. I was almost tempted by the so-called great deal, then my common sense sunk in and I knew there was something wrong about it all. I didn't go through the deal, informed Amazon.com instead what these sellers were trying to do as it is against policy to sell here and not use the appropriate Amazon.com checkout process.
I've heard countless others like this at another popular site, Ebay, of scams that happens everyday by sellers only accepting Western Union as payment. YOU WILL NEVER SEE YOUR MONEY AGAIN OR GET YOUR ITEM!
Just be wary of "sounds too good to be true" deals here or anywhere else for that matter. I came so close to giving my money away and never getting the laptop in return. If you don't believe this just do some research and you'll find out for yourself. Just a friendly warning from a regular Amazon.com customer (and a Marketplace seller as well).

It's too bad that Toshiba has such horrible customer service. This machine is wonderful, as are most of their products. But if you have a problem and need help, they aren't there for you, they don't know their products and don't really care much about their customers.
The machine is lighter than I expected but huge. You need a special case if you plan on taking it anywhere. The battery last about 2 hours, not too bad for such a powerful machine. The WiFi connected right up to my home wireless network and the connection is great even from quite a distance. The screen is beautiful and the sound can't be beat on any laptop. It has 64mb video ram, I wish it were 128, but sure better than the standard 32mb. This laptop has a lpt and serial port where my 5205 only has USB. I did find that my external hard drive was not recognized on the rear USB port but was on the side USB port, not sure why yet. There are 4 USB 2.0 ports and the SD card slot with I use to copy photos from my Pentax digital camera to the laptop. All in all, it is a really great machine at a remarkable price for the features.

First off, people on here who criticise this for low battery life are just silly. This is a desktop replacement, not meant for use in a car or on an airplane. If you saw it that would be obvious. I use it in the house, and only move it from room to room. Now to what matters, how do I feel about this after a month of usage. It rocks! I am a power user, very discerning. This is the most beautiful, fun to use PC i have ever owned. And I've even owned an Apple PowerBook G4 in the past. This is much more capable given the larger PC universe and range of software out there. It's fast, it's beautiful and it's making all my friends envious. Everything works perfectly, and the screen is truly beautiful! My only complainst is that at this price, bluetooth should come as standard. I use the networking 802.11g at home and it was simple to use and picks up the signal no trouble. I've used it for games, and inless you are at the bleeding edge of gaming you will find the nVidea graphics card amazing, can deal with all the current games out there, no matter now 3D intensive they are. Note: Call of Duty doesn't support widescreen, so it only occupies the left hand portion of the screen. Movies look great on here and software has lots of room to work with.

If you want a PC that is fast and sexy to boot, without all the usual wires, go get this beauty!

This laptop is everything it is said to be. It is a desktop replacement, you can't be weak and be able to take this laptop around with you all day. From the 17" screen to the DVD burner, it amazes me every day. This computer is a little on the pricey side, but right now you can get a $200 rebate. As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. I believe this machine will last quite a while. I have not had a use for Toshiba's customer service, but I am pretty sure that I would be able to get adequate service from them. I bought this laptop from a seller on eBAY. The only thing with eBAY is the problem of fraud. You have to be careful who you pay. Be sure that they at least take Paypal, but better yet use Escrow or COD. If you want a great laptop, get a Toshiba, in my opinion, it kicks all the big brand name's ass.

I bought my wife a new Powerbook. This is what we should have bought. A friend has one and it is incredible. The fit and finish are fantastic. I am kicking myself for not looking around more before I bought.

I was puzzled why Toshiba would discontinue the P25 series so quickly leaving the 15" P15 as the only Media Center laptop they offer, but on with the review. I recently purchased this beautiful machine on discount at CompUSA and I knew this was the laptop that I was looking for.

This laptop is truly a DESKTOP REPLACEMENT (don't look for battery life to be stellar) with jaw-dropping specs even for a desktop (except for the graphics which seem a little undersized with a FX Go5200 64MB). The unit is put together well but visually, the looks are an acquired taste.

Another problem is the keyboard which seems so small compared to the rest of the laptop. A 10-digit keypad like the HP 17-inch notebook would have been a welcomed edition. At least, Toshiba could have put the Windows and Menu buttons in the standard position instead of the upper-right hand corner.

With the Media Center Edition of Windows XP, I have gotten rid of the television in my room and replaced it with this notebook. However, I don't see why the television tuner had to be a removable module forcing you to chose between a battery and television. The thing is so huge and so heavy (10 pounds!), I think Toshiba could have fit in the TV Tuner.

So if you are looking for a true desktop replacment, look no further because, despite some minor problems, this is an all-around excellent machine.

I bought this laptop three months ago, so I should be able to give it a good review having used it every day since the purchase date. I am a laptop user, I don't like desktops because I am always on the move and I need my files on one computer to grab and go. Whether it be work related or a LAN party. So far I have to used it to play UT2004(all graphics on max), Splinter Cell & Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow, Counter-Strike Condition Zero, and a few others. It plays them well. I was definitely impressed as I heard that the P25 can't play games that well due to the 64 meg video card. The blue housing is beautiful. The screen in huge and definitely viewable from all angles. The wi-fi works great and is backwards adaptable to 801.11 B and A standards. It does all the tasks that I require flawlessly. Also the speakers sound great, they are definitely loud and clear. The placement of them also allows games and movies to be heard as though two speakers were behind your head for a surround sound feeling. Also the DVD burner is an excellent addition. Being able to add files to a RW DVD then delete them later is like having the equivalent of 8 cd's packed into one at your disposal. All in all I highly recommend this computer but I do have some complaints. First, the screen is a little dim. During DVD playing or game playing I don't notice it though. Second, I don't really like this border around the keyboard, they could have made the keyboard bigger. Third, the speakers have a lot of treble but no bass. For the price I paid they could have slipped in a subwoofer like the previous models. Other than those 3 gripes I consider this laptop a top performer and tough competition for those who are in the market for the Apple 17 inch screen G5's or any laptop for that matter.

Don't buy the P25 if you want mobile computing. The battery life is short and the screen will be too dim to work comfortably unless you use the High Power setting which REALLY eats up the battery.

There is no way to operate the P25 in a car or plane. Power inverters DO NOT WORK with the P25 (I have tried 4) and the 19 volt input requirement rules out cigarette lighter
adapters.

Tech support is in Turkey. Very pleasant people but it takes a long time to get a problem resolved. They don't seem to know this product very well. You will need them however because the on-board documentation (pdf) is awful. Example - I still haven't found the instructions for burning a CD.

I expected much more from Toshiba!

This computer (next to my beau) is the light of my life. I've had it for 11 months and am head over heals in love. I use it for photo manipulation with Photoshop CS, web development with Dreamweaver MX 2004, animation creation with Flash MX 2004, authoring multimedia projects with Director MX, a bit of music mixing with Adobe Audition, streaming music from Rhapsody, listening to NPR and watching DVDs.

All my peripherals (Epson Photo printer, iRiver mp3 player, SanDisk media reader, cordless mouse) plug and play nicely together, all at the same time. The big, beautiful monitor is the best feature. Watching DVDs in bed is such a treat!

The computer is a dream to type on. Feels like there are shock absorbers or pockets of air beneath each key.

The harman/kardon speakers are the only drawback. Having heard the speakers on the Toshiba Satellite 5205-S704, which are fantastic, rectangular speakers that actually raise up above the keyboard area, I had high expectations. But the volume on the P25 speakers is far too low. I overcome this with Creature speakers plugged in.

Whilst I wouldn't want to transport this computer with me every day due to the weight, it does fit in my bike messenger bag for those occasional trips across town or overseas. Not many laptop backpacks will fit the 17" screen.

The WiFi is wonderful. Even in a small apartment. I love being able to take it to the kitchen table, the living room couch or the bed with no cords dangling off.

I've worked on 2 laptops and 4 desktop computers for multimedia in the past and this one is by far the best.

This computer leaves me with some mixed feelings. I am very happy with my previous machine T5005-S507 and have replaced it seeking higher speed, USB2, more memory and a larger display all of which are included in this machine. In the area of
performance it is hard to complain - faster memory and a subwoofer would have made the bundle even more impressive.
I miss the XUGA display and the subwoofer availalble on the 5005. I am still trying to understand why they have brought back the parallel port but not the serial port.

My biggest issue is aesthetic. Whereas the 5005 is such a good looking machine, the P25 is hard to get used to. Why is the keyboard so small when there is all this space? The use of
metal is a nice touch but what is the idea behind the white
plastic area around the keyboard and touchpad? I also much
prefer the hard plastic exterior shell to the more matte finish
of this machine. In short I prefer the plastic used in the 5005
case for its looks and finish. The P25 has wisely made the
move from Bluetooth to 802.11 and it has covered all the bases there impressively.

Overall this machine is great in delivering exactly what it promises. It is a luggable desktop replacement and you have
to understand the limitations of its size and weight.