If you could design your own laptop Toshiba managed to cram a lot of mobile computing goodness into the E205's svelte design, including both VGA and HDMI outputs, a digital media reader, and even an eSATA port. There are a few compromises in the E205's design, however, including no Gigabit Ethernet support, no Bluetooth, and no ExpressCard slot, as well as integrated graphics that will leave mobile gamers wanting."
Seems they either didn't listen to their customers anyway, or those customers don't know a lot about computers. HDMI out is nice, but VGA? Why not DVI? eSATA is pretty much useless unless you already use it a lot (which I doubt, keeping in mind what I see as the intended customer base), because USB 3 will become much more widespread next year given its greater speed and backwards compatibility. Were I them, I would definitely have included Bluetooth. Maybe not Gigabit Ethernet (since it would be a greater-costing technology that not many people fully use anyway). And integrated graphics is just shameful with HDMI out and that nice screen.
in an effort to have the perfect balance of performance, price, size, weight, and features, what would you include and what could you live without? As part of its Blue Label program, Best Buy asked that question of its customers--accepting as much feedback as its customers could give and then channeling that information back to the laptop manufacturers it partners with. The ensuing results of this feedback now manifest themselves in the three current Best Buy Blue Label exclusive laptop offerings: the Dell Studio s15Z-2249CPN, Sony Vaio VPCS11FM/S, and Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904.
All three of these laptops have a fair bit in common: They are all mainstream laptop designs, powered by Intel Core i5 processors, they come with 4GB of DDR3 SDRAM memory, and include generous 500GB hard drives. (They are somewhat diminutive as mainstream laptops go, but they're not quite thin-and-light laptops either.) The Toshiba (14-inch display, 2.53GHz Core i5) is the least expensive of the group, with an $899.99 price tag (which was just reduced from $999.99); the Dell (15.6-inch display, 2.53GHz Core i5) sells for $999.99, and the Sony (13.3-inch display, 2.26GHz Core i5) is the most expensive, at $1,049.99. In our opinion, however, the Toshiba is the sexiest-looking of the bunch, and we were fortunate enough to get it in for testing.
•Intel Core i5-430M @ 2.2GHz (2.5GHz maximum Turbo Boost frequency)
•4GB DDR3 SDRAM @ 1066MHz
•14-inch diagonal LCD TruBrite HD (1366x768, 16:9); LED backlight
•Intel HM57 Express Chipset
•Integrated Mobile Intel HD Graphics
•500GB (5,400RPM) SATA hard drive
•802.11a/g/n Wi-Fi
•Integrated Intel WiDi technology
•Slot-loading DVD+/-RW DL optical drive (with LabelFlash)
•Built-in stereo speakers
•TouchPad pointing device with multi-touch control
•Memory card reader
•Integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam and microphone
•5,800mAh, 6-cell Li-Ion battery
•VGA and HDMI outputs
•USB 2.0 ports x 2
•Combination eSATA/USB 2.0 ports x1
•RJ45 (Ethernet 10/100Mbps)
•Headphone and Mic input jacks
•SD / MMC / MSPro / xD Multimedia Card Reader
•5.1 pounds
•2.01 x 5.0 x 1.2-inches (dimensions)
•Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
One other thing that these three laptops have in common is that they all include Intel's new WiDi (Wireless Display) technology and come with a Netgear Push2TV WiDi adapter. WiDi is a new 802.11n-based technology from Intel that allows a laptop to wirelessly transmit its display to a TV's HDMI connection at a 720p resolution. These three laptops are the first such devices on the market to support the WiDi technology--but you should start seeing WiDi built into more Core i5 and Core i3 Since these are all reverse engineered from alien tech, I just wish they would come out with the final version.
You know the unlimited power and info system that is as small as you want it, with virtual keyboard and projection! Maybe the size of that Bluetooth headpiece? :)
It always amuses me how people are against capitalism, yet they always are the first to rush out and get the latest developed tech?
laptops in the coming months. We got our first peek at WiDi back in January at CES; and as promised, with the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904, we finally had our chance to spend some hands-on time with the technology. More about WiDi shortly, but in the meantime, here's a bit more about the E205...
