Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149 15.4" Notebook PC (Intel Celeron M Processor 340, 256 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD/CD-RW Drive)

Rating:
Summary: Perfect Computer
Review: Although this is my first labtop, I have alot of experience with them. I love the size of this screen, it definitly seems larger than it actually is. Anyways everyone else has already talked about all the specks so I wont go through all of BS, but anyways this is a great computer for anyone. I just love it, its perfect.

Rating:
Summary: Celeron M is not the Celeron of yesterday
Review: Bought mine from B**T B*Y for $649 + tax after rebates ($50 instant, $300 mail-in). Definitely worth this price if you can find it. If I were planning to spend the MSRP of $999 without any rebates, I'd buy a computer with a Pentium M.

I have been building computers for friends and family since 1996 and can tell you that in the past I wouldn't have dared installed a Celeron processor. Celeron's are Pentium Chips that have been intentionally handicapped so Intel can sell a chip to the budget market. AMD does the same thing with the Duron (no longer sold) and the Sempron.

The Celeron M is a Pentium M less the "on the go" battery saving enancements and with either 1/2 as much or 1/4 as much L2 Cache depending on the Penium M series.

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF A CELERON M!! IT IS A GREAT CHIP!! The new celeron M's are standing up with Pentium M's in equivalent tests. This is because they have the exact same Front Side Bus speed and at least 512kb L2 Cache.

"Budget" laptops doesn't mean what it used to. You don't have to spend more than $1000 anymore to get real performance. A great buy if you can find it with a few good rebates!

CPU:
The Celeron M can stand toe to toe with an
equivalently clocked Pentium M. Battery Life is the only
major difference and in most cases it is only a 20-25%
difference. This chip could easily be used for gaming if
you could find a manufacturer to install the same quality
video chips they sell in higher priced Pentium M laptops.

Audio Encoding Speed:
I have been importing CD's into itunes
and have gotten a consistent 9.5x - 12x
encoding speed. That is nearly as fast as
my desktop with an AMD Barton 2600+ has
been getting the job done (10x-13x).
That's also with only 256MB of RAM and
while I'm simultaneously surfing the Web!
Tell the sales guy to get off your back
when he starts trying to upsell a Pentium
M because of the better "multitasking"
ability.

Video:
Shared and comes preset to use 16MB RAM which is adequate but
after you install another 256MB Ram you can bump it up
to 64MB. Photos and Videos Look crisp/clear.

LCD Screen:
Rivals laptops that cost twice as much. You won't
find a cheaper, higher quality 15.4" widescreen
display!!

Wireless LAN:
EXCELLENT. Incredible range and very good signal!!
I was sketchy about the Atheros Super G but it
outperforms my Netgear wg311t card!!

Battery Life:
Exceeds expectations. One of the few times when
the mileage agrees with the sticker. You can
choose 4 different modes of battery/performance
priority. On "Normal" I'm getting right at the
the 3.5 hours stated in the Specs even with heavy
DVD/CDRW use.

DVD/CDRW:
Excellent.

Keyboard:
Full size and very easy to type on. Buttons are in
logical locations and don't feel cramped.

Mouse Pad:
Smooth feel. Buttons are on the Narrow side but
that's a personal preference item and it hasn't
given me any trouble.

Speakers:
Corners were cut here. The speakers are adequate for
basic sounds and watching movies at very low volume
but you'll feel like you're listening to AM radio
when you turn up the volume on your favorite CD. I'm
not complaining for a sub $1000 laptop.

Again if you are a "Gamer" you'll be forced to buy a laptop with a Pentium 4 HT or an Athlon 64 based system with dedicated Video. This computer is more than enough to handle M.S. Office, Surfing, Movie watching, Audio libraries, etc.


Rating:
Summary: Excelente compra, por el precio que pagas
Review: Este es un excelente equipo pleno de funcionalidad móvil. Si lo que buscas es un equipo que satisfaga tus necesidades de entretenimiento y trabajo en el camino, este equipo te vendrá como anillo al dedo. Soy maestro en una Universidad y utilizo esta notebook para todo. Me es muy útil para presentar el material de la clase a mis alumnos y gracias a su tecnología inalámbrica puedo fácilmente enlazarme en el campus. ¡Una gran compra!

Rating:
Summary: Great laptop
Review: I bought mine in december 2004 so I'm writing this review after 1 month of intensive use.
1.Fist impression:
The laptop comes very well equipped and after 10 minutes you can surf web, burn CDs or listen to the music or wath DVD

2.Hardware
It took me some time to realize the difference between Celeron M 1.5 and Centrino 1.5. After I bought this device i found some benchmarks showing that Celeron is only slightly slower than the same frequency Centrino and the only difference is baterry working time (1hr more for Centrino). 512KB of L2 case seems to be enought while 2Mb Centrino may not be used.
Hard disc could be a bit faster (only 4200 rpm).
Excellent 15,4" screen seems huge when comparing with my old 14" toshiba. Very bright!
The first thing I installed after purchase was additional 256 Mb or RAM (the same as installed Samsung 333/2700)

3.Experiences
Slight problems with two things mentioned in the other reviews: The touchpad sometimes for 1-2 seconds stops responding but it happened like 2-3 times after 1 month of use.
USB ports seem to connect and disconnect my iPod without any reason.After inserting my card reader into the side USB my laptop did not recognize it but after inserting into back USB everything is fine. To make it even more complicated external DVD burner works great in all the ports and never disconnects.

Summary
Really great purchase. Laptop is thinner than comparable Pentium 4 machines and has two advantages: does not overheat and is very silent (when working in Office or surfing web the cooler hardly turns on).The performance is great for everyday use (I use my desktop DELL P4 2.4 Ghz) and i dont feel any difference in everyday tasks).





Rating:
Summary: Very good for the brand (Toshiba) and price
Review: I bought this laptop nearly 3 weeks ago. Price is low, one of the lowest I have seen by Toshiba ever (with discounts and etc.) and it has nearly everything that you might need for a home PC. I didn't give it 5 stars because of its bad touchpad, it is not sensitive and it locks itself for around 0.5 second or something like that for any activity (not something adjustable), and because of that you can't work fast with it,(I don't know maybe you will get used to it). I have had Toshiba laptops before and never had this problem, maybe new models from most of the manufacturers are lacking a good touchpad these days. Screen and performance is what you would except from such a price with the quality and reliability of Toshiba. Size and design is good, keyboard and connectivity is very good as well as its weight considering its size.
I recommend it unless you need much more processing power and a very good screen and video capability.


Rating:
Summary: USB ports not working properly
Review: I've had this laptop for two weeks. So far everything seems to work except the USB ports. The laptop has three ports: two in the back and one on the side. All three ports seem to have some sort of problem when connected to a USB2.0 device (I've tried both 2.0 thumb drives and external optical/hard drives). The ports seem to see the device being plugged in and out from time to time, although the external device was doing nothing but connected to the laptop. Also, the ports would report a warning message like "the device is a high speed device, it would function faster if it's plugged into a usb2.0 port", which seems to imply the laptop does "think" the port(s) is(are) usb2.0. The bad thing is that the problem doesn't always occur but happens very frequently. I was lucky to demonstrate it to the technician when bring it back to Compusa for an exchange. However the second unit seems to have the same exact issue. The units have the original installed winxp home. I also tried installing winxp pro and updated the laptop with latest MS and Toshiba drivers and still got the same problem. It appears to me that this machine (S149) may have a design problem in the USB. I'm returing the second unit as well.

Rating:
Summary: Fair Computer Bad Customer Support
Review: It is an OK computer. It feel flimsy compared to my old HP. When my AC adapter went bad customer support would not just send me a new one in exchange for the broken one. I had to send in the notebook and the AC adapter. Major inconvenience having to wait plus I didn't like the idea of sending a flimsy computer through the mail. I will not buy from toshsiba again because of their customer service. If you are considering a toshsiba then you may want to buy their premium warranty package if want to be treated well.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad for $699 after rebate
Review: When I was shopping for a notebook for my wife, I found this and was instantly amazed at the price/performance ratio.
PROS:
This laptop looks great, has a nice large keyboard, and the 15.4 WXGA display is beautiful. No kidding. It only came with 256 MB ram, but it was easily upgraded to 512mb just by popping in a new module underneath. I notice the pre-installed DDR memory was PC2700 type (333mhz), another surprise. The Celeron M at 1.5 Ghz really does well, it even has 1 mb L2 cache. I'm anxious to pair it against my Centrino 1.4 also with 1mb L2. This laptop is quick and the wireless works excellent. I turned it the first time and within 10 minutes I was already surfing the web (at 54mb/sec!) as it easily found my router, and my neighbors :) Actually, the sound on this baby is much better than on many of the other laptops I looked at. I watched a DVD the first night and had absolutely no complaints.
CONS:
A bit larger/heavier than what I was originally shopping for, but I couldn't pass up on the great deal. And at 6.x lbs, it's really not that heavy. The video is NOT for gaming! But like I said, you'll have no probs watching movies. Sometimes the fan blows a bit louder than one might expect, but it only does so for a few secs then it turns itself back off for another few minutes.
SUMMARY:
Not much to complain about. All around great "budget" laptop.
This laptop will do everything except render the latest games. Not a bad deal to me.