Toshiba Satellite P25 series
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CNET Editors' Review
The good: 17-inch wide-screen display; excellent performance; TV tuner module; DVD-rewritable drive.
The bad: Large and heavy; poor battery life; minor but irritating design flaws.
The bottom line: The Satellite P25 is a large, fast, powerfully configured multimedia convergence notebook with some annoying imperfections.
At 16.4 by 11.8 by 1.8 inches (W, D, H), the Satellite P25 series could almost pass for a small surfboard, but it's not as heavy as you'd think--only 8.9 pounds (10.4 pounds including the AC adapter). Styled in Toshiba's familiar metallic blue, the Satellite P25 series is handsome on the outside. Flip it open, and it's still attractive, but the silver-and-white color scheme for the keyboard deck draws your attention away from the screen when you're watching movies. So do the overly bright power switch and front-lip status lights, which we wound up covering for serious DVD watching. What's not distracting is the keyboard itself, which has no undersized keys and a nice, tight feel.
Until recently, Toshiba sold three versions of the Satellite P25 series. The company now promotes just one version, the P25-S609, although we tested the P25-S607, which can still be found in some stores. The P25-S609 features Windows XP Media Center Edition 2004; a 17-inch wide-screen display with a 1,440x900 native resolution; a 5,400rpm, 60GB hard drive; a DVD-RAM/DVD-R/DVD-RW/CD-RW drive; and an Nvidia GeForce FX Go5200 GPU. It also comes with integrated 802.11 a/b wireless networking. Our Satellite P25-S607 test model also included an infrared remote control. However, it works only with the included outboard USB infrared port, not the built-in front-mounted IrDA port--an annoying design issue that Toshiba should address. For productivity and to support the Satellite P25 series' numerous multimedia capabilities, Toshiba includes a large software bundle: Microsoft Works for business tasks, Panasonic MotionDV Studio for video editing, Intuit Quicken Basic to handle personal finances, Norton AntiVirus 2002, and a month's worth of AT&T Worldnet dial-up Internet service. The S607 model includes Sonic's MyDVD for movie authoring and burning. Toshiba also included several useful configuration and help utilities. Mobile application performance
SysMark2002 performance
To measure maximum notebook application performance, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's SysMark2002, an industry-standard benchmark. Using off-the-shelf applications, SysMark measures a desktop's performance using office-productivity applications (such as Microsoft Office and McAfee VirusScan) and Internet-content-creation applications (such as Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Dreamweaver). 3D graphics performance
To measure 3D graphics performance, CNET Labs uses Futuremark's 3DMark2001 SE. We use 3DMark to measure desktop-replacement notebook performance with the DirectX 8.1 interface at the 32-bit color setting at a resolution of 1,024x768. Find out more about how we test notebooks. System configurations:Eurocom D470W Impressa Fujitsu LifeBook N series Toshiba Satellite P25-S607 The Satellite P25-S607's fast performance came at the expense of battery life. Even its 14.8V, 6450mAh (96WHr) battery couldn't compensate for the huge drain the system's desktop processor imposed. The Fujitsu LifeBook N series, which had the worst performance scores, took sweet revenge here, achieving the highest battery life. This is a direct result of its processor running at a relatively low speed and using less power. The Eurocom D470W Impressa benefited from a throttled CPU as well, though less dramatically; it lasted only 13 minutes longer than the Satellite P25-S607.
To measure mobile-application performance and battery life, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's MobileMark2002. MobileMark measures both applications performance and battery life concurrently using a number of popular applications (Microsoft Word 2002, Microsoft Excel 2002, Microsoft PowerPoint 2002, Microsoft Outlook 2002, Netscape Communicator 6.0, WinZip Computing WinZip 8.0, McAfee VirusScan 5.13, Adobe Photoshop 6.0.1, and Macromedia Flash 5.0). Find out more about how we test notebooks. System configurations:Eurocom D470W Impressa Fujitsu LifeBook N series Toshiba Satellite P25-S607 The Satellite P25 series comes with a standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty, but various three-year plans are available. Telephone support is available 24/7 for the life of the unit, but it costs $35 per incident after the warranty expires. We found the setup, ergonomic, and resource guides that came the notebook useful but lacking in detail about model-specific features. The software documentation (in a PDF file) was more comprehensive, but we still had a hard time finding any information on the TV-tuner module. Online support includes FAQs, BIOS and software updates, and downloadable manuals. A virtual tech-support agent named AskIris sent us to the online version of the user guide for the answers to our questions, but there was no direct link from the product page. We also found no e-mail link to a real tech person. To find out more about how this product's warranty really stacks up and what you should look for in terms of service and support, take a look at CNET's hardware warranty explainer. Hide ReviewUser ReviewsSee all user reviewsMost recent user reviewsShowing 3 of 77 reviews stars "Great laptop back in the day" By KitkaramakPros: P4 with hyper threading, component out for HD to TV, bays for adding TV tuner card, second battery, another DVD burner, etc. Powerful for it's time. 256mb of video ram for the high model, 32mb of video ram for the lower end model. Cons: Video card was an Nvidia 5200GO card. Weak. It should have been at least a 5600. Very heavy at 9.9LBS. Screen hinges cracked from a lot of use (however, they still function properly). You MUST sit it on a desk because it has FOUR fan ports. Summary: Best desktop-replacement PC I've ever owned. To this day, I still compare every laptop to it. The metallic finish was amazing, even though the plastic screen bezel was a piece of crap. I still own this computer, even though it's extremely old. You cannot block the bottom because ... Expand full review stars "Awsome, Fast and reliable... with routine upkeep" By wuznmee56Pros: I've had 2 of these in my home and another three in my buisness now for over 4 years. They are the best piece of equipment I've ever owned. With minor maintenance ( heatsink clean and proper malware protection) they are bulletproof. Cons: A little spendy at over 2,000 ea. but, 100 times more reliable than any other computers I've had..... And I've had a lot of them. Summary: I can't say enough about them. I susspect if anybody has had a bad experience with them, it was due to improper upkeep. These monsters run three fans for cooling. The power demand from the processor and the awsome 17in. monitor makes cooling essential. The heatsink needs regular cleaning ... Expand full review Where to BuyPricing not available SpecificationsSee full specsQuick Specs
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