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Category: Personal Computers
Brand: Toshiba
Model: PT314U-01K01C
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Toshiba PT314U-01K01C Review
Toshiba PT314U-01K01C Review by M. MacBradaigh (Pacific Northwest)
I love this Toshiba! First off, I should let you know my purposes are probably different than most people. I promptly loaded Ubuntu Linux 10.10 (the Super OS version) overwriting/erasing Windows 7 from the hard drive. I have Windows 7 at work, and I it's pretty good, but not so much better than XP that I'd die to have it over XP. But I digress...
PROCESSING
This Toshiba has 4 GB of RAM, an Intel i5 processor (the laptop versions - the laptop ones only have 2 processors instead of 4, but they do have 4 channels to push data through - only the desktop i5 processors have the full 4 processors, look it up on Intel's site for full spec's.) with it's 2 processors and 4 channels is plenty of processing juice for a laptop, unless MAYBE you're trying to do high-end graphics and/or video editing. For surfing, playing DVD's, photo editing, word processing, emailing, etc and having multiple app's open at once, it's plenty. You can have a gajillion programs open at once, and a gajillion tabs open on the web browser (I like Firefox, Chrome, and Opera).
STORAGE
500 GB Hard Drive! In a laptop, I think it's pretty awesome. I have about 130GB of music alone, plus my photos, videos, and other documents. Also, in my particular case, I loaded up VirtualBox (an operating system emulator software from Oracle somewhat like VM Ware), and installed a virtual "guest" Windows XP. For those who are wondering what the heck I'm talking about, it basically allows my (now) Linux laptop to run Windows XP like it's a desktop application, and any "windows-only" software programs. This allows me to use Napster, iTunes, or any other instance where something just won't play nice unless it's 'Windows'. 500 GB is plenty of storage for all of that and then some.
GRAPHICS
The screen is just pretty. Graphics and icons are crisp. Watching videos is a joy. My wife and I prefer to watch Netflix and DVDs via the laptop, and this laptop is awesome for it.
SOUND
This is my only complaint. It's not loud enough without help. To be fair though, I haven't seen ANY laptop that is loud enough without help. The remedy? A $10 pair of speakers that are powered through USB plugged into the laptop. Simple. Now it's louder than maybe even the TV in the front room.
BATTERY LIFE
This was a major area I looked at. This is rated at about 8 hrs. My experience is about 4 and 1/2 tops. I'm sure it depends on what programs you run/how much processing stress you are putting on it. It may also be less efficient with Linux than in Windows 7. I'm by no means sure of this, because I changed Operating Systems immediately after buying it. 8 hours may have been pie in the sky to begin with. I'm pretty happy with 4+ hours of battery life. It's not 8-10 you get in 'Netbooks', but then Netbooks aren't typically full-fledged computers that can run a gajillion programs at once, and Netbooks typically have limited processing power, so the trade-off makes sense.
SIZE/WEIGHT
I was surprised by how small and light this laptop is. It's super easy to load in my laptop bag, and about 1/3 to 1/2 as light as my last laptop (Acer Aspsire 5520). Even with external speakers, laptop cooler pad, USB 4 in 1 hub, and power chord, it's easy to tote around.
PORTS
This has only 3 USB ports (one of which is also eSATA). I usually only need 2 USB ports at a time, but sometimes I need more than 3. My solution was a very inexpensive 4 in 1 USB hub (I think about $10-15, I really don't remember...). It has a combo SD card reader and an HDMI port, which is nice if you want to export in High Def or hook it up to your TV.
PRO's
* 4 GB RAM
* Intel i5 processor (dual 2.53 Ghz with 4 channels, I believe)
* 500 GB storage
* eSTATA and HDMI ports in addition to USB and SD card ports
* Nice graphics quality
* Decent laptop battery life at 4.5 hrs in my experience
* Decent price for the spec's... you can get an i7 processor and/or more storage and ram, but you are looking at breaking $1000 and up, and up....
CON's
* Screen size may be too small for some people's tastes. I personally don't mind it, but it a bit smaller than my last
* Sound could be louder.
* Only 3 USB ports
BOTTOM LINE
Unless you want to spend more $ for the better hardware specs in more upper-end systems, this Toshiba is pretty hard to beat. I recommend it whole-heartedly! Cheers! :)
Toshiba PT314U-01K01C Review by A. Kuempel (Minnesota)
Over all this laptop is spectacular. The thing weighs only 3.20 pounds and still has a DVD drive. So far the battery life has been no where near 8 hours but easily 4.5 hours((EDIT:This has improved now that I've turned off my optical drive.)) though I have not found as the previous review mentioned about shutting off the DVD drive so I'll look into that. The build quality is fantastic with, in my opinion, the keys on the keyboard located all in the right places. Also and this it huge, the track pad is brilliant. You have two separate buttons for left and right clicks and you can do multi touch scrolling that works pretty well or you can drag down on the right side to scroll( I know this seems pretty simple but I've been though over five laptops in the last two years and most of them have messed this part up big time). The screen looks good and the wireless seems to work great so far. There are a few negatives with this laptop but for me are not dealbreakers:
1) The speakers for this laptop just suck!(Somewhat expected in the small laptops but I think my 10.1 netbook has better sound quality than this).
2) Integrated graphics is a bit of a bummer but at least you know what you're getting and you get better battery life without having dedicated.
3) The bottom can get pretty hot/ There is a sound coming from either the fan system or the HDD which can be slightly distracting.
I've ordered this laptop case: CaseCrown Double Memory Foam Thin Pouch Case (Black) for Apple MacBook MC516LL/A 13.3-Inch Laptop though I have not received it I did read a review on the same case with a different design that said it worked great for their Portege R705 laptop so I'm hoping it will work well.
EDIT::::::::::::::::I received the case and think it is perfect for the job. Very thin and light, to see more details about the case read my comment after this review.
Also reviewer EPT told me how to turn off the optical drive and it REALLY does help the battery life. Here is their quote:
"You can go to the bottom right where your clock and battery life icon is. theres a white looking icon that looks like a Q for second but its actually a disc icon. click that and it will ask you to turn the optical drive on or off.
this is the easiest way: simply hold down the function key (or FN key), next press the tab button (while still holding the FN key of course), simply press the tab and highlight the the power off option for the optical drive, let go of the FN key. thats it."
This has been my favorite laptop I've ever owned and am very happy with my purchase.
Toshiba PT314U-01K01C Review by Kanwaldeep Rai "Kanwal" (London, UK)
Chose this over an Asus netbook, was looking at one of the new Atoms with dedicated graphics. However the 13.3 screen swung it for me and the versatilty over a netbook swung it for me - weighed up fucntionality against higher cost, whilst not compromising much in terms of form.
Laptop is very portable. Not as small as some of the netbooks outhere but the 13.3 screen real estate is worth the larger size. Use this for both work and personal. For work i tend to remote into my desktop at work or a server, though working on stuff locally has not posed any issues that I have experienced with previous laptops - heavy database work and multiple applications open ground them to a halt in the past.
What is great:
- i5 processor. Definate benefit over a netbook computer
- 4gb RAM helps with multiple applications open
- 500gb HD, good for all the business applications such as MS Office etc.
- Screen - higher res as Tosh went for 1366x768 against the usual 1280x800. Well lit and easy on eyes both for spreadsheet work and watching movies
- Weight, perfect for travelling
Haven't found a downside yet other than bloatware that ships (gotten rid of most of it) - though for the first time have found something useful in it and this is the application that monitors PC health such as temparature, fan speed etc. also haven't gotten to claimed battery life but am happy with this as I do tend to stress it a little and still get a good 5 - 6 hours out of it.
Thus if you have the budget and want the form factor of a netbook with processing power of a mid-range laptop go for this. Definate value for money when compared with the Sony's nd other high-end manufacturers
More Reviews...
Toshiba Portégé R705-P41 TruBrite LED 13.3-Inch Laptop (Metal/Blue):: Features
- Intel Core i5-460M Processor 2.53 GHz (2.80 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 3MB L3 Cache
- 500GB (5400 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive, DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 11 formats
- Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 8 hour battery life (measured by MobileMark 2007)
- 13.3" diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT display, Mobile Intel HD Graphics
- Configured with 4GB DDR3 1066MHz (max 8GB)
- Item Dimensions: 9 x 12 x 1 inches; 3 pounds
- Brand: Toshiba
- Model: PT314U-01K01C
- Product Type: Personal Computers
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