Best Buy Toshiba Laptop offer- Help Me Decide

[lenninkynan]

Hi, everyone, this is my first post. I just purchased a Toshiba L25-S1216 laptop at Best Buy that they have on sale this week at $399 (down from $699). This computer replaces an old Dell Latitude LS from 2000 (don't laugh).
I realize this is an entry level laptop but I would appreciate input from the experienced members of this forum to tell me if:

1). Is this a good deal, great deal, or should I wait for something better?

2). I understand I can install my own memory to upgrade the paltry 256 ram
that the machine comes with. Do I have to buy another 256 ram stick or
can I put in a 512 ram stick or a 1gb stick to run along with the original
256 ram in the machine now? Do both sticks have to be the same amount
of ram? Which Ram do I buy--please be very specific, I've never done this
before.

3). Could someone explain the graphics situation that comes with this laptop?
What can I play (and not play) with this machine? I would love to be able
to somehow play arkanoid, a breakout game from the late 1980's which is
a DOS game. I own a floppy disc of the game made for a PC.

4). I will use this computer strictly to surf the internet, play whatever games
it is capable of doing. I've never downloaded music or videos so I don't
know if I can with this but would like to try(my ignorance is showing I realize). I use dialup. In
the future I would like to sell on Ebay...is this machine up to it?

Here are the specs:

15" XGA screen
256 PC 4200 DDR2 SDRAM
40 gb Eide (Ata-6) 5400rpm
Ati Radeon Express 200M graphic with 32mb-128MB dynamically allocated
shared video memory
Direct sound support
Svideo TV out
3 highspeed USB 2.0 ports
Built -in Atheros high speed wireless LAN (8.02.11b/g; 10/100 Base-TX
ethernet LAN with RJ-45 connector; V.92 high speed modem.
Microsoft XP

Thanks.

[Avadann Kedeth]

ANY new Toshiba for $400 is a good deal, really. I mean you aren't getting much in the way of specs, but it's a laptop for $400. End of story.

[lenninkynan]

Thanks for the fast reply. Could you help answer my question concerning the Ram? Do I have to run equal amounts of Ram if I put in another stick? Which Ram is best for this machine? I understand I have to get DDR2 SODIMM
but when I went to Newegg, there were so many different types. 200 Pin, DDR 333, DDR 400, DDR 533 and different CAS Latency numbers. Could you explain which to ignore and which I can ONLY purchase for this type machine?
At what point is too much RAM not worth getting with this laptop?

[Learux]

Check here

http://www.notebookreview.com/

Learux

[lenninkynan]

Thanks Learux,
In your opinion, is the extra $100 worth it for 60 gb hard drive versus the 40gb in the $399 toshiba and having a tru-brite screen versus an active matrix TFT-LCD display? It does come with a 1 year warranty for parts and labour versus the 90 limited warranty too. Also an extra USB port.

[Un4given]

A 40GB drive is pretty good size for a laptop, and if you aren't going to be downloading lots of music and movies, that is more than enough space for Windows, e-mail and office applications, with plenty of room to spare.

Laptops are usually not dual channel on the RAM because of space/heat restrictions. As such you shouldn't need to match the size of the RAM module to upgrade; although you will need to determine if the laptop has more than one RAM port. If it only has one you will have to remove the existing module to install the larger one. If it has more than one slot, you can simply add another module. The maximum size for supported RAM modules should be listed in the User's Guide, which should be available online from the Toshiba site. Given that it uses DD2 RAM it is new enough that I would bet money that it would support modules of up to at least 1GB in size. For all intents and purposes, if you have two RAM slots, adding another 512MB module should suffice for what you want to do.

[Learux]

I cant answer the 60 versus 40 for you. That all depends how much you will use. For me 40 is more then enough.

Also I am not a big advocate of BB extended warranty but in case of laptos I think it is a good investment. Depending on price off course. I dont know if it is a fixed amount or a percentage of purchase price. If it is a fixed amount you might skip it because a 25% premium for extra warranty is imo not worth it!

Learux

[lenninkynan]

Thanks Un4given. I do believe there is another slot in the laptop to just plug in the additional RAM. Could you point me to a particular offering at Newegg or some other source for the additional 512 RAM? I don't understand what the pin number means, nor the 3 digit number that comes after the DDR (333, 400, 533 e.g.) means. Does it make a differnce which manufacturer it is? What is a good price for that much RAM? I'm such a rookie.

[lenninkynan]

Thanks Learux.
They have 2 plans.....one for $250 dollars that covers everything including spilling water on it and another plan for $150 dollars that covers most damage including damage due to dropping it and cracking the screen. By your math, even this plan is too expensive. The Toshiba A105-S101 that will be on sale later this weekend is $100 more ($499 versus $$399) but has the 1 year warranty versus the 90 day limited with my current purchase. Is waiting for the weekend sale of the A105 worth it for the extra 20gb hard drive and the 1 year warranty?

[Un4given]

Thanks Un4given. I do believe there is another slot in the laptop to just plug in the additional RAM. Could you point me to a particular offering at Newegg or some other source for the additional 512 RAM? I don't understand what the pin number means, nor the 3 digit number that comes after the DDR (333, 400, 533 e.g.) means. Does it make a differnce which manufacturer it is? What is a good price for that much RAM? I'm such a rookie.

PC4200 refers to the speed of the RAM, which you will need to match. Laptops use SO-DIMM modules (Small Outline Dual Inline Memory Module). Newegg has Crucial 512MB PC4200 SO-DIMM modules; in the case of DDR2 its 200 pins. Looks like it will be just under $55 with shipping. There are a few others that were a few dollars less, but Crucial is a quality name and known for making very high quality modules.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146515

[lenninkynan]

Thanks again, Un4given.

I appreciate the advice about Crucial RAM. While going to the link by Learux, I read that the sale this weekend for the A105-S101 will also have a free upgrade to 512 Ram. If I go with that deal instead of my current purchase ( I have 14 days to return it), should i still upgrade the memory? is 512 enough or is there a significant difference by having a total of 768 RAM or 1024 Ram?

[Un4given]

Thanks again, Un4given.

I appreciate the advice about Crucial RAM. While going to the link by Learux, I read that the sale this weekend for the A105-S101 will also have a free upgrade to 512 Ram. If I go with that deal instead of my current purchase ( I have 14 days to return it), should i still upgrade the memory? is 512 enough or is there a significant difference by having a total of 768 RAM or 1024 Ram?

Quite honestly, where Windows XP is concerned, I recommend 512MB minimum, especially where part of that has to be shared with the onboard video. Having 768MB or even 1GB wouldn't be a bad thing at all.

[Learux]

I think 20 gigs and a year extra warranty is worth $100.

MY laptop has 512 ram and I find it sufficient. Depending on what you want to do with it it should be enough.

[lenninkynan]

Thanks Learux.
Besides surfing the Net, playing whatever games that I can (I don't think I have the patience to learn more modern games, I would like to play Arkanoid a DOS breakout type game from the late 1980's but that is another question at another time), and maybe start downloading some music, that's about it. As of now, I don't expect to use the computer for any business needs.
What are the tradeoffs about the Tru-Brite screen versus the LCD type? I like that the Tru-brite screen is wide vision rather than square, but the glare seems annoying. Is it a more protected screen with that glass surface?

[lenninkynan]

Thanks Un4given.

They moved this thread for some reason. Any clue why or to where they moved it? Did I violate some rule in this my first post? How embarrassing.

[Learux]

They moved it because they thought it was more approprite in mobile computing. (I kinda agree:)

To compare the screens you need to go to the store and see for yourself. That is the only way to compare.

Learux

[Johnmcl7]

Thanks Learux.
Besides surfing the Net, playing whatever games that I can (I don't think I have the patience to learn more modern games, I would like to play Arkanoid a DOS breakout type game from the late 1980's but that is another question at another time), and maybe start downloading some music, that's about it. As of now, I don't expect to use the computer for any business needs.
What are the tradeoffs about the Tru-Brite screen versus the LCD type? I like that the Tru-brite screen is wide vision rather than square, but the glare seems annoying. Is it a more protected screen with that glass surface?

'Tru-brite' or whatever name the company chooses is basically a glossy coating on the screen which gives more vibrant colours and darker blacks. Generally these screens are the preference but some don't like them due to the increase glare.

John

[freedon]

$500 for a new laptop! Take it! Just upgrade the memory. Enjoy it :)

[marv]

I don't now if you are still interested in the laptop, or if they are still on sale, but it's a great laptop for the price. The Celeron M at 1.6GHz is not a slow processor, it has plenty of power for normal laptop use.

With XP Home, office and a e-trust firewall and AV and a few other programs we still have about 36 Gig of drive space remaining. The 256 MB's of RAM is not enough, I added a Gig of Gskill DDR2 4200 from newegg for $75 and it made a world of difference. With 256 MB of RAM the onboard video appears to default to using 64 MB and when you add more RAM it increase to using 128 MB.

The onboard wireless has great range. Connected to a D-Link 624 xtreme router and I get 1900 kbps download speeds, versus about 3200 kbps for wired.

Screen is great, speakers suck as expected. I don't like touch screen so I picked up a DCT optical usb mouse for $8 with a retracable cord, plugged it in and it works fine.

Plan on speeding a number of hours deleting all the "crap" trial programs preloaded on the system. Some of the Toshiba provided software is ok. Love the "radar screen appearance" for location near wireless networks. It is finding a couple of near wireless networks that are not showing up on any other desktop systems I have. (need to take it on a drive.....)

Geez, sorry, almost wrote a review there.

EDIT: Battery life about 90 minute with normal use. Toshiba sends you a 15% off coupon by e-mail when you register your laptop so you can get a new battery with about twice the use, for about $85 shipped.

[lenninkynan]

Marv,
Thanks for your wonderful analysis. I think I have compounded my situation. I purchased another Toshiba that was on sale last week, The A105-S101 which went for $499, just a hundred bucks more. The improvement over the L25-S1216 that you talked about is that it has 60gb instead of a 40gb hard drive, free upgradable RAM to 512 and the warranty is for 1 year instead of 90 days. It has a15.4" tru-brite wide-screen instead of just the square 15"LCD (although I would actually prefer not having the extra glare of the tru-brite).

Do you think that the 512 Ram is enough? What would be the outcome, good or bad, if I just bought an extra 512 Ram for one slot and use the other slot for one of the 2 256 Ram chips that I will now own with the original machine? Does not having equal amount RAMs in both slots corrupt the machine in anyway?

I am a real beginner with using a computer...I just email, surf the net and would like to play DOS games and a few of the modern games that wouldn't tax this budget machine. Which programs do you recommend I keep that Toshiba gives me and those that I wish to get rid of (How much space do I save by getting rid of them?) how do I go about doing that?

What is the "radar screen" you allude to?

Besides the USB mouse you mentioned (DCB...who are they?), which particular brands do you suggest? Logitech? etc.

Thanks for your comments.