TOSHIBA Satellite L305-S5921 NoteBook Intel Pentium dual-core T3400(2.16GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 2GB Memory DDR2 800 160GB HDD 5400rpm DVD Super Multi Intel GMA 4500M - Retail

Reviewed By: Entregan on 5/12/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Bought 3. One running Vista, one running XP 64-bit, the other XP 32-bit. No problems because Toshiba website is the greatest finding drivers. Got another coming for someone else. Lightweight, cool running, more than good enough for Dreamweaver, Acid Pro, Adobe Premiere, and Vegas.

Cons: Small HDD. Battery life 2-2.5 hours on all 3.

Other Thoughts: Recommend. Make sure to turn on SATA compatibility mode in Bios if you're going to downgrade to XP otherwise you get an error message after trying to start up with the CD.

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Good Deal for the Money

Reviewed By: louieland on 2/20/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 month to 1 year

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: I've owed it for about two months. I like the screen. It flickers a bit when I do a quick scroll but nothing I can't live with. The key board feels good. I like the volume wheel on the front of the computer once I got used to the fact it was there. It's a nice time saver. You can put 4GB of ram in this computer, but if you do 1 of them will be used for video etc and Windows will only show 3 left to be used.

Cons: If I have one gripe with this computer it's that they put the backup files on the C drive. It cost you 20 GB of space on your HD for the life of the computer however and if you don't realize that they are there, you could loose them if the HD quits before you burn your own CD's. This feels to me like they are being pretty cheap on their part.

I'm still not sure what to think of Vista. The virus/firewall I was using crashed the system and I had to re-do the system over with the back up files. It's seems to me that people are having a bit of a problem creating software for Vista. Having used Zone Alarm for years I'm not that put off as some are by the constant questions whether I want continue doing what I’m doing to my computer.

I tried to wipe the HD clear and load XP but something in the system files wouldn't let me. I'm not sure why but my impression was something in the start-up bios files wouldn't allow me to do it.

Other Thoughts: I run Photo Shop CSII and Coreldraw and have three windows open on the Internet at the same time without any problems. Sometimes I wonder what people are complaining about. This computer doesn't have all the bells and whistles I guess but perhaps we're gotten our expectations too high for what we are paying for things. It wasn't so long ago people would have gladly paid $1000.00 for a machine like this and been glad to do so.

If I had one wish for this computer it would be for 4 USB ports.

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Good deal

Reviewed By: SavvySteve on 7/17/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Great price. Vista Home Premium. Very slick laptop and the finger pad is flat with the case of the laptop. No dust or junk to get caught up in the cracks. Very nice feeling keybaord.

Cons: The only real con is the amount of USB ports. I am also not a fan of the video out port the way it is recessed. Shouldn't be a problem since this is for a surfing the net and low tech stuff for my parents.

Other Thoughts: I immediately upgraded the RAM to 4GB and sold the 2GB that came with it online.

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Labtop BAD

Reviewed By: xkagex00 on 7/8/2009

Tech Level: somewhat high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Computer was fast in loading, webpages load fast

Cons: A problem occurred within the first week of usage, and I am now seeking a solution. There are constant errors. Sometimes computer crashes and physical memory needs dumping. Load it back up and there are missing/deleted files. Laptop create constant Web browsers errors. Overall, kinda annoying laptop to deal with. THEN laptop crashed completely. Details below:

Hello, my toshiba laptop that I recently purchased within the last week has malfunctioned. It does not load. States "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem: Insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer." "File: /boot/BCD , Status: OxcOOOOOOf , Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data." I checked inside the package and no reboot disc was found.

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Perfect for Older Parents' Use

Reviewed By: OpEdMunkey on 7/8/2009

Tech Level: high - Ownership: 1 week to 1 month

This user purchased this item from Newegg

Pros: Price (380) and feature set pretty much defines a good 'budget laptop'.

Cons: Nothing really given its intended and current use. Be nice to have a set of recovery disks but at this price I won't complain about having to make them.

Other Thoughts: I bought this to replace the 10 year old Mac iBook that my parents were using. They check email, do a little web surfing and personal finance, and that's pretty much it. They would have kept the Mac if it hadn't reached its OS upgrade limit.

I left Vista on it and didn't bother to remove any of the bloatware. For their limited needs it performs well and they are quite happy with it. I probably won't bother upgrading it to 7.

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