Toshiba Satellite A305-S6908

Designed to meet the demands of a multimedia-hungry family, students on the go, and small businesses with demanding computing needs, the Toshiba Satellite A305-S6908 offers a versatile base for all your needs. It includes a generous 15.4-inch widescreen TruBrite high-def display for amazing color depth and clarity, plus room to multitask and work with spreadsheets. And video is powered by the Intel GMA 4500MHD integrated chip, which provides up to 1750 MB of total available graphics memory for watching HD movies and TV as well as excellent 3D gaming. And you’ll enjoy crisp audio from the Harman Kardon stereo speakers. A built-in 1.3-megapixel webcam (with integrated microphone) lets you join in on video conferences as well as make long-distance VoIP calls using Skype.

It’s powered by the 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor, which boosts speed, reduces power requirements, and saves on battery life. It also offers a fast 800 MHz front-side bus speed and 2 MB L2 cache. It also includes Intel’s 5100AGN wireless LAN, which will connect to draft 802.11n routers and offers compatibility with 802.11a/b/g networks as well. Other features include an enormous 250 GB hard drive, 4 GB of installed RAM (max capacity), dual-layer DVD±RW burner (with Labelflash disc printing), ExpressCard 54/34 slot, a combo USB/eSATA port, SPDIF digital audio output for surround sound, and a 5-in-1 memory card adapter.

This Laptop comes preinstalled with the 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (SP1), which includes all of the Windows Media Center capabilities for turning your Laptop into an all-in-one home entertainment center. In addition to easily playing your DVD movies and managing your digital audio library, you’ll be able to record and watch your favorite TV shows (even HDTV). Vista also integrates new search tools throughout the operating system, includes new parental control features, and offers new tools that can warn you of impending hardware failures

Processor: The Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 processor has a 2.0 GHz processor speed, fast 800 MHz front-side bus (FSB), and 2 MB L2 cache. (An L2, or secondary, cache temporarily stores data; and a larger L2 cache can help speed up your system’s performance. The FSB carries data between the CPU and RAM, and a faster front-side bus will deliver better overall performance.)

Some of the advanced Intel innovations of the Core 2 Duo processor include:

• Smart Memory Access: Improves system performance by hiding memory latency, thus optimizing the use of available computer data bandwidth to provide data to the processor when and where it is needed.
• Advanced Digital Media Boost: Effectively doubles the execution speed for instructions used widely in multimedia and graphics applications.
• Dynamic Power Coordination: Coordinates Enhanced Intel SpeedStep Technology and idle power-management state (C-states) transitions independently per core to help save power.
• Deeper Sleep with Dynamic Cache Sizing: Saves power by flushing cache data to system memory during periods of inactivity to lower CPU voltage.

Hard Drive: The generous 250 GB Serial ATA hard drive (5400 RPM) provides more than enough capacity for storing a large audio and video library, as well as extra space required for video editing. This SATA hard drive also quickens the pace with a higher speed transfer of data–akin to Firewire and USB 2.0.

Memory: The 4 GB of installed RAM (PC6400, 2 x 2 GB) maximizes the capacity of this notebook, and it also offers an ultra-fast 800 MHz speed.

DVD/CD Drive: The dual-layer Labelflash DVD drive is compatible with a wide range of formats, including both DVD+RW and DVD-RW discs, CD-RW discs, and dual-layer (DL) DVD±R discs, which can hold up to 8.5 GB of data–great for backing up your MP3 collection or your most important documents. It features the following speeds: 6x for both DVD±R DL, 8x for both single-layer DVD±R, 8x DVD+RW, 6x DVD-RW, 5x DVD-RAM, and 24x/16x for CD-R/RW. It reads DVD-ROM discs at 8x and CD-ROMs at 24x.

With the Labelflash functionality, you can burn high-resolution, high-contrast pictures on the label side of DVD discs using the same laser used for data recording. Enjoy transparency and high-quality not found in traditional printable media. All you need is a Labelflash DVD disc to start labeling without a printer.

Keyboard & Mouse: This notebook has a standard 86-key keyboard and electro-static two-button touchpad. It also offers CD/DVD media player and control buttons (play, stop, next, previous) as well as a volume control dial.

Dimensions & Weight
This notebook measures 14.3 x 10.5 x 1.55 inches (WxDxH, and it weighs 6 pounds.

Power
It comes with a 4000 mAH lithium-ion battery pack for extra-long battery life.

What’s in the Box
This package contains the A305-S6908 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions. It is backed by a one-year limited hardware warranty.

You may want to check out my other guide on Laptop Computers