The Toshiba Satellite A205 series is an affordable 1.55-inch thick laptop that features a display with 15.4-inch that has 16:10 aspect ratio, high definition TruBrite WXGA TFT with widescreen type display. Along with 1280-by-800 pixels of resolution, support 24-bit colour (16.7 million colours) and it also has an appropriate viewing angle for vertical and horizontal images. The laptop is built around the Intel Centrino Core 2 Duo T5300 Processor that comes with a 1.73 GHz, 64-bit computing, Mobile Intel 945GM Express chipset, plus it has 667 MHz of data bus speed. Its configuration also includes 2 MB of L2 cache that temporarily stores data and it can help speed up the system’s performance, 280 GB hard drive (Serial ATA/IDE with rotation speed of up to 4200 rpm) that provides a massive storage for storing multimedia collections or editing digital video, along with 2 GB of DDR2 SDRAM (4 GB maximum) that has 667 MHz speed. Apart from that, its graphics is managed by the nVidia GeForce Go 7300 that provides extraordinary faster graphic performance, quality visual and flexible display options. It also has 128MB of dedicated video memory and its 5-in-1 media card reader supports a variety of flash memory cards such as Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard, SD Memory Card, Memory Stick Pro and xD-Picture Card for fast transferring of data, video and photos. In addition, it is equipped with an optical drive DVD re-writer, DVD±RW (±R DL), with Double Layer High-definition DVD-RAM that provides enough space to store and manage files and folders of any size and it also works as a burner for recording data to DVDs or CDs, plus it also has Labelflash function that can burn grayscale text and images onto specially coated media. It provide reading speed of 24x for CD and 8x for DVD; writing speed of 24x for CD, 8x for DVD±R, 4x for DVD±R DL; plus CD/DVD re-write speed of 10x for CD), 4x for DVD±RW and 5x for DVD-RAM. It is also a HD-DVD with 720p resolutions for delivering brighter and clearer picture. In terms of sound feature, it has a built-in sound card powered by Harman/Kardon stereo speakers at the corners of the laptop. The Toshiba Satellite A205 series features a full range of advanced connectivity solutions ranging from modem/fax that has 56 Kbps transfer rate (support ITU V.92 protocols), supports the standard data link protocol such as Ethernet, Fast Ethernet, Wireless connectivity (that support IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11g, IEEE 802.11n draft), plus also supports wireless LAN with its Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN. Other input devices include four integrated input/output high-speed USB 2.0 ports (4 PIN USB Type A) for upgrading its memory, one ExpressCard slot, one external monitor interface PCI express, one display/video VGA 15 pin HD D-Sub (HD-15), display/video S-video outputs, one headphones output (mini-phone stereo 3.5 mm), one microphone input (mini-phone 3.5mm), one V.92 Modem, one modem phone line (RJ-11), one network – Ethernet 10Base-T/100Base-TX (RJ-45), one Firewire (IEEE 1394), and three Media slots, one 5-in-1 card reader slot and one Kensington Lock. The laptop delivers a minimum operating temperature of 41.0 °F, maximum temperature of 95.0 °F, while its humidity during operation ranges from 20 to 80%. It also comes with compliance standard plug and play and in accordance with Federal Communication Commission (FCC) rules.
Specifications
Form Factor
The Toshiba Satellite A205 series is a glossy surface, curved edges and piano-black laptop designed with Multi-Core Intel Centrino technology, built-in devices stereo speakers, bright blue indicator LEDs and wireless LAN aerial. It comes with a product dimension that measures in at 14.3-inch in width, 10.5-inch in depth, 1.6-inch in height and weighs in at 7.6 pounds.
Features
The Toshiba Satellite A205 series features built-in stereo speakers, built-in microphone, digital web-camera with 1.3-megapixels, a pointing device touchpad, and finger print reader for security purposes. It also comes with Toshiba’s Assist program that allows the integration of several software options, such as the wireless interface, user password and a PC diagnostic.
Display
It features a 15.4-inch high definition TruBrite WXGA TFT active matrix widescreen display, with 16:10 aspect ratio, support 24-bit colour (16.7 million colours), vertical resolution of 800 pixels, plus 1280-by-800 pixels of maximum resolution display.
Input Device
It has a user-friendly input device such as 86-key keyboard, multimedia control keys and two-button touchpad. Besides that, its power button is just on top of the keyboard next to six special function buttons which consist of four playback controls, one button to launch Internet Explorer and another button to launch the Windows Media Center application. The volume control is handled through a wheel set-in below the touchpad.
Operating System / Software
The Toshiba Satellite A205 series is pre-installed with Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate 32 Bit as its operating system. Furthermore, additional software that comes together with the machine includes 60-day trial of select Microsoft Office 2007 suites, Yahoo! Music Jukebox, Toshiba Speech System, McAfee Internet Security Suite (Trial), Toshiba Value Added Package, Google Toolbar, Microsoft Office 2007 Home and Student Edition (Trial), Toshiba Disc Creator, Toshiba Assist, InterVideo WinDVD 8 SD, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Toshiba Extended Tiles for Windows Mobility Center, Toshiba ConfigFree, Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment, Microsoft Works 8.5, Microsoft Windows Media Player 11, Windows Media Center, and Google Desktop.
Memory and connectivity
It supports a 2.0 GB of DDR2 SDRAM that can be expanded up to maximum of 4 GB and comes with 667 MHz speed. The laptop also supports Firewire port, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g+n wireless networking, USB ports, VGA, 10/100 Ethernet, 56k modem, media card reader and an Express Card slot.
Power and battery
It is powered by a Lithium-Ion battery that has a 4000.0 mAh capacity, external power supply with an input voltage requirement of AC 120/230 V and its battery life can accommodate up to two hours and 208 minutes of unplugged work.
Review
Toshiba’s new line of mainstream laptops manages to add just enough sizzle to keep things interesting, despite being released just weeks before Intel’s Santa Rosa platform (and its new CPUs and chipsets) debut. The interesting feature of the laptop is the built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi antenna. These high-end perks help the system stand out from the mainstream crowd and make it worth a look if you’re specifically interested in any of them – (CNET, 2009).
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