Many of us use our laptops for work where durability and reliability is of utmost importance. Due to technical advancements, most of the laptops in the market today are much more lasting than they once were. Nevertheless, in terms of track record and support, there are a few brands than leads the rest of the pack. Japanese companies such as Toshiba and Fujitsu are illfamed for developing very lasting computers. Here is a quick review of the Toshiba Satellite laptop series, a favored among corporate users and professionals.

Toshiba Satellite laptops have been in the market for more than 10 years now and it is showing no signs of decline when it comes sales and popularity. This laptop series is designed for a very specific niche market – business and professional users. They may not be the prettiest or most stylish models in the market but they are way more dependable and practical than a good deal of other laptops.

Toshiba Satellite laptops have a no-nonsense, no frills attitude to it. Everything when it comes to it is exceedingly functional. For work and business, you will find everything that you need there. If you don’t need it, you won’t find it on the laptop. There are way to a heap of notebooks out there with lots of bells and whistle features that we scarcely use. The Satellite series has an ergonomic layout that is designed for greatest or most complete or best possible ease for the duration of prolonged usage.

Another marketing element for this series is it is reasonable price tag. Despite it is powerful specs (and impressive track record), these notebooks are ofttimes much for less than it is counterparts from other brands. The Toshiba Satellite A355-S6924 (2.2GHz Intel T6600 processor) and the A355-S6931 (2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 processor are presently the most general models in the market. The former model has 250GB of memory while the latter has a 320GB hard disk.

They both come with Intel’s X4500MHD graphics card and built it Harman Kardon stereo speakers. If you are looking for a well priced, heavy duty, powerful, sleek, authenti laptop, a Toshiba Satellite laptop will be your perfective choice.

Replace your desktop PC with the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6935 laptop, featuring all the power and hard drive space you suppose from a top-of-the-line desktop but in an without apparent effort mobile package. Stylishly designed, this Toshiba Satellite features a large, bright 16-inch LCD (1366 x 768)–with a true 16:9 aspect symmetry and 720p native high-definition resolution. It’s also great for using as a media center, with Toshiba’s Express Media Player enabling you to bypass the scheme and access CDs and DVDs with a touch of button. The dual-layer DVD±RW drive likewise burns CDs and offers LabelFlash print functionality. A 1.3 megapixel digital web camera built into the LCD’s bezel lets you quickly snap photos and participate in live video chats.

The integrated webcam does more than just video chats. It includes Toshiba Face Recognition capabilities–the extreme hands-free, hassle-free way to log onto your laptop. Just show your face to the webcam–no keeping track of hard-to-remember passwords and no unnecessary typing. And if you’re using one laptop for assorted users–say for the whole family or for a little business–Toshiba Face Recognition lets you switch profiles with one simple look.

It’s powered by the 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor, which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. It also offers a fast 800 MHz front-side bus speed and 2 MB L2 cache. It likewise includes Intel’s 5100AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. Other features include a extensive 400 GB hard drive, 4 GB of RAM (maximum), 5-in-1 memory card reader, Draft-N Wi-Fi networking (802.11a/b/g/n), ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics (512 MB discrete, with up to 2301 MB of dynamically shared video memory), HDMI audio/video output, and Toshiba’s Fusion finish with Horizon pattern.

This PC likewise comes preinstalled with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium, which includes all of the Windows Media Center capablenesses for turning your PC into an all-in-one home amusement center. In addition to effortlessly playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you’ll be capable to record and watch your favored TV shows (even HDTV). Vista likewise integrates new search tools all around the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that may warn you of approaching hardware failures.

This Toshiba notebook is Energy Star 4.0 certified and it is RoHS-compliant, efficaciously reducing the environmental affect by restricting the use of lead, mercury and sure other highrisk substances. .caption { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica neue, Arial, serif; font-size: 10px; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; } ul.indent { list-style: inside disc; text-indent: 20px; } table.callout { font-family: Verdana, Helvetica, Arial, serif; margin: 10px; width: 250; } td.callout { height: 100 percent; background: #9DC4D8 url(http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/electronics/detail-page/callout-bg.png) repeat-x; border-left: 1px solid #999999; border-right: 1px solid #999999; padding: 10px; width: 250px; } ul.callout { list-style: inside disc; text-indent: -12px; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; } h5.callout { text-align: center; }

Spec Check 16-inch LCD screen 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor 400 GB hard drive 4 GB RAM (maximum) Dual-layer DVD±R drive with LabelFlash Draft-N Wi-Fi (802.11a/b/g/n) ATI Radeon HD 3650 graphics (up to 2301 MB shared) Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit) Fusion finish with Horizon pattern Weighs 6.5 pounds

The Basics

• Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor has a 2.0 GHz processor speed, fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache may support speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries selective information amidst the CPU and RAM, and a rapidly and without delay front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

  With two computational execution cores in a single processor, it provides more outstanding system response when running multi-threaded apps simultaneously with no significant increase in power consumption. It’s optimized for multitasking and is ready to help the Microsoft Windows Vista operating system. It may simultaneously run multiple demanding applications–such as graphics-intensive games or severe number-crunching business productivity applications–while downloading music or running virus-scanning security programs in the background. Some of the modern Intel inventions of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

  • Smart Memory Access: Improves scheme performance by hiding memory latency, therefore optimizing the use of available computer selective information bandwidth to provide info to the processor when and where it is needed.
  • Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions applied widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
  • Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
  • Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory for the duration of periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

• Hard Drive: The extra-large 400 GB Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive (5400 RPM) offers a wealth of storage space, perfective for storing a immense multimedia collection or for editing digital video. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.
• Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM (PC6400, 2 x 2 GB) maximizes the capacity of this notebook, and it also offers an ultra-fast 800 MHz speed.
  

• DVD/CD Drive: The dual-layer Labelflash 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 may hold up to 8.5 GB of data–great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most indispensable documents. It features the following speeds: 6x for both DVD±R DL, 8x for both single-layer DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 5x DVD-RAM, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.

  With the Labelflash functionality, you may burn high-resolution, high-contrast pictures on the label side of DVD discs using the same laser used for data recording. Enjoy transparency and high-quality not found in traditionalisti printable media. All you need is a Labelflash DVD disc to get started labeling without a printer.

• Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a frequent 86-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) as well as a volume control dial.

Screen, Video & Audio
The 16-inch WXGA LCD has a solution of 1366 x 768 pixels–perfect for looking at movies in their intended 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. It likewise provides TruBrite technology, which makes images more magnificent and more bright thanks to it is anti-glare feature. Video is powered by the ATI Radeon HD 3650, which provides 512 MB of discrete graphics memory as well as up to 2301 MB of total available graphics memory as allocated by Windows Vista. ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series graphics processors have breakthrough efficiency, with extraordinary performance-per-watt and energy-saving features. Advance to the next generation of gaming with superior performance, more lifelike graphics, superb lighting and support for the latest Microsoft DirectX 10.1. Smooth edges, sharp images, and complex facial and reputation animations make for an special gaming experience that will keep you immersed for hours.

This notebook also features an integrated audio card and two Harman Kardon stereo speakers.

Networking, Connectivity & Expansion
Be ready for the next platform in wireless connectivity with the integrated quad-mode Intel Wireless 5100AGN Wi-Fi chip. Based on the draft 802.11n Wi-Fi specification, it offers up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range as existent 802.11g wireless. It’s also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found in home routers and Wi-Fi hotspots) as well as 802.11a networks (which has a higher throughput, but more fixed range–great for closed office environments).

It also includes a next-generation ExpressCard card slot (replacing the PCMCIA slot), which lets you take vantage of thinner, faster, and lighter elaboration cards for even more modern wireless, networking, storage, and security features.

It comes with an HDMI video output, which extends full 1080p aid to HD displays as well as provides uncompressed digital audio and video thru a single cable. Here’s the full list of connection options:

• 4 USB 2.0 ports for connecting a wide range of peripherals–from digital cameras to MP3 players (including 1 eSATA/USB combo port)
• 1 FireWire (also known as IEEE 1394 or i.Link) port for connecting digital video camcorders and other peripherals
• Digital video out: HDMI
• Analog video out: VGA and S-Video
• 1 ExpressCard 54/34 slot
• 1 headphone jack (with SPDIF digital output for 5.1-channel surround sound)
• 1 microphone jack
• 5-in-1 memory card reader (Secure Digital, MultiMedia, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, xD Picture Card)
• 10/100 Fast Ethernet networking
• 56K modem (V.90)

Operating System
The 64-bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium (with SP1) is the operating system for users with innovative computer needs, and it includes all of the Windows Media Center capablenesses for turning your PC into an all-in-one home amusement center for watching DVD movies and accessing your digital audio library. You may also use Windows Media Center to record and watch your bestloved TV shows (even HDTV) and to access new kinds of online amusement content. Computers that include Windows Vista Home Premium and an auxiliary Windows SideShow display will likewise concede you to access key selective information even when your computer is off. It is also more comfortable than ever to share files amongst other PCs in your household and to manage your laptop computer settings to more securely connect by way of Wi-Fi.

Every edition of Windows Vista provides the necessary tools and technologies to aid protect you whether you are browsing the Internet, connecting to a wireless network, or just reading e-mail. All editions of Windows Vista include new tools that may warn you of approaching hardware failures long before you have lost any important personal data. And, all Windows Vista editions include parental control features that grant you to manage and monitor your family’s use of games, the Internet, instant messaging, and other activities.

Preloaded Software
Microsoft Works 9.0, Google Toolbar, Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5, Norton 360 All-in-One Security (30-day trial), and Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (60-day trial).

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 15.1 x 10.5 x 1.52 inches (WxDxH, and it weighs 6.5 pounds.

Power
It comes with a 4000 mAH lithium-ion battery pack for extra-long battery life.

What’s in the Box
This package holds the Toshiba Satellite A355-S6935 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year fixed hardware warranty.