Toshiba Portege M205-S809

Reviewed on 2/20/04    Release date: 11/1/03    Shopping for a tablet is a little like packing for an extended camping trip: every ounce of creature comfort you throw in the bag weighs on your performance and endurance. The Toshiba Portege M205-S809 offers a nice balance of features that lets it successfully walk the line between ultraportable notebook and tablet PC, and mobile technology, like hiking, is all about balance. Although the M205 lacks an internal optical drive, it comes bundled with a USB DVD/CD-RW combo drive. Toshiba's convertible notebook can swivel into a tablet and includes support for wireless, Ethernet, and dial-up networking. It also has one VGA and two USB ports, as well as a PC Card and an SD card slot. Although the M205 is more expensive than Fujitsu's LifeBook T3000, we feel it's worth it.

Design of Toshiba Portege M205-S809

The M205's no-frills touchpad lacks dedicated scroll areas and extra buttons.

Like other convertible tablets, the Toshiba Portege M205-S809 has a swivel hinge at the base of the display that lets you flip and fold the screen into tablet mode. It's neither the biggest nor the lightest convertible tablet we've reviewed, but it successfully integrates a nice array of features into a decidedly svelte, ultraportable design.

We like the full-size keyboard, which makes for comfortable typing, despite the condensed form factor. The M205's no-frills touchpad lacks dedicated scroll areas and extra buttons, but it is responsive and configurable. The Portégé M205 is also easy to control as a tablet. Its well-designed pen and sensitive thin-film-transistor (TFT) display make navigating and writing on the screen as easy as using the keyboard and mouse. We also like the spring-loaded pen-docking slot on the right side of the M205.

A modest array of ports and controls graces the edges of the M205. The back panel harbors a VGA port for an external display, two USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, and an RJ11 port for the tablet's built-in 56Kbps modem. The front panel contains a conveniently located volume wheel, microphone and earphone jacks, and an SD media slot. There's also a handy hardware on/off switch for the wireless adapter on the tablet's right side, which can help save your battery when you're not using the network.

Features of Toshiba Portege M205-S809

Toshiba also sells the tablet under the moniker M200--the same unit without the external drive.

The Toshiba Portégé M205-S809 combines the full array of features you expect from an ultraportable with the functionality of a tablet PC. It lacks an integrated optical drive but comes bundled with a slim and useful USB DVD/CD-RW combo drive that runs on either battery or AC power. Toshiba also sells the tablet under the moniker M200--the same unit without the external drive.

You can get the Toshiba Portégé M205-S809 in many configurations, but the standard components make it a high-performance tablet even in its most basic form. Bluetooth is a $50 option. Toshiba's convertible tablet comes replete with an Intel Pentium M 1.5GHz processor, an Intel 855PM system chipset, and a Wi-Fi-certified Intel Pro/Wireless LAN 2100 802.11b adapter, making it a true Centrino. The basic configuration includes 512MB of memory in two 256MB modules, which unfortunately populate both of your available memory slots, making a future upgrade less convenient. Toshiba offers memory upgrades up to 2GB. The M205 comes with a 40GB hard drive, but you can also customize it to 60GB or 80GB of storage.

At 12.1 inches, the M205's TFT display is small, especially considering its 1,400x1,050 SXGA (Super Extended Graphics Array) resolution. Fonts and icons are predictably tiny, but the display's vibrant colors and wide viewing angle make it a pleasure to use. The display's pumped-up virtual screen real estate can come in handy if you work with high-resolution images, and the Nvidia GeForce FX Go5200 32M is powerful enough to support small-scale video editing and Web design.

Performance of Toshiba Portege M205-S809

Mobile application performance
The Toshiba Portege M205-S809 came in last place in mobile performance in this small test group. The system uses Toshiba's Power Saver utility for its power-management software, and we set the Power Saver utility to Normal when we tested it. As a result, since the Normal setting throttles the CPU to very low levels when the battery is nearing the end of its life, the system's performance was much lower than that of its peers. Both the Gateway M275 and the Fujitsu LifeBook T3000 beat the Toshiba by 23 points. If you're looking for a tablet with good on-the-go performance, consider the Gateway M275.

Basic Specs

Product Specifications:
Product Description: Toshiba Portege M205-S809 - Pentium M 1.5 GHz - 12.1 in TFT active matrix
Recommended Use: Education , Small business , Corporate business
Dimensions (WxDxH): 11.6 in x 9.8 in x 1.5 in
Weight: 4.4 lbs
Localization: English / United States
Platform Technology: Intel Centrino
System Type: Tablet PC - Convertible
Built-in Devices: Speaker , Wireless LAN antenna
Processor: Intel Pentium M 1.5 GHz
Cache Memory: 1 MB - L2 cache
RAM: 512 MB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR SDRAM
Floppy Drive: None
Hard Drive: 40 GB
Optical Storage: CD-RW / DVD-ROM combo - External
Optical Storage (2nd): None
Storage Removable: None - None
Display: 12.1 in TFT active matrix 1400 x 1050 ( SXGA+ ) - 24-bit (16.7 million colors)
Graphics Controller: NVIDIA GeForce FX Go5200 - 32 MB
Audio Output: Sound card
Telecom: Fax / modem - PCI - 56 Kbps
Networking: Network adapter - Ethernet , - IEEE 802.11b , - Fast Ethernet
Input Device: Keyboard , Touchpad , Tablet Pen
Voltage Required: AC 120/230 V AC 100/240 V
Battery: Lithium ion
Run Time (Up To): 4.34 hour(s)
OS Provided: Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year warranty