Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 (Celeron 2 GHz, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB HDD)
Pricing not available
CNET Editors' Review
The good: Excellent performance; DVD/CD-RW drive is standard.
The bad: Heavy; so-so battery life; expensive compared to its competition.
The bottom line: Aside from its speed, Toshibas mainstream Satellite A15 series is pricey for what you get. Its adequate for home or school use but not for business.
The Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 is the fastest Celeron-based notebook we've tested, easily beating out its two competitors. The Satellite A15-S127 houses a 2GHz mobile Celeron processor, while the Compaq Presario 2100 and the Dell Inspiron 1100 use 2GHz desktop Celeron processors. All three systems throttle down the CPU speed when running on battery power, but the Satellite A15-S127 does it to a much lesser extent, which helped its mobile performance.
To measure mobile application performance and battery life, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's MobileMark2002. MobileMark measures both application 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: Compaq Presario 2100 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Celeron; 224MB SDRAM 133MHz; ATI Radeon IGP 340M 32MB (shared); Fujitsu MHS2030AT 30GB 4,200rpm Dell Inspiron 1100 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Celeron; 256MB SDRAM 133MHz; Intel 82845G Graphics Controller 64MB; IBM Travelstar 30GN 30GB 4,200rpm Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Mobile Celeron; 256MB SDRAM 133MHz; Intel 82852/82855/GME Extreme Graphics (up to 64MB shared); Hitachi DK23EA-30 30GB 4,200rpmThe Toshiba Satellite A15-S127's battery life was the polar opposite of its performance, placing last in our small roundup of systems. Its 14.8V, 4,400mAh (65WHr) battery failed to carry the system past the three-hour mark, which means that you'll want to recharge the battery between classes or meetings. With its 14.8V, 4,400mAh (63WHr) battery, the Compaq Presario 2100 fared a bit better, lasting just more than three hours. The Dell Inspiron 1100, with its huge and heavy 14.8V, 6,450mAh (95WHr) battery, lasted four hours.
To measure mobile application performance and battery life, CNET Labs uses BAPCo's MobileMark2002. MobileMark measures both application 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: Compaq Presario 2100 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Celeron; 224MB SDRAM 133MHz; ATI Radeon IGP 340M 32MB (shared); Fujitsu MHS2030AT 30GB 4,200rpm Dell Inspiron 1100 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Celeron; 256MB SDRAM 133MHz; Intel 82845G Graphics Controller 64MB; IBM Travelstar 30GN 30GB 4,200rpm Toshiba Satellite A15-S127 Windows XP Home; 2GHz Intel Mobile Celeron; 256MB SDRAM 133MHz; Intel 82852/82855/GME Extreme Graphics (up to 64MB shared); Hitachi DK23EA-30 30GB 4,200rpmThe entry-level Satellite A15 series offers a pedestrian one-year warranty for parts and labor and the battery. You also receive one year of 24/7, toll-free tech support. Three-year extensions, onsite repair, and next-business-day repair are available as upgrades. The 260-page online manual is decent, and the online help documentation and supplementary printed materials fill in any holes. The Toshiba Web site offers all of the driver updates and the downloads you'd expect from a top-tier vendor. The Ask IRIS (Instant Response Information System) knowledge base is pretty hit-or-miss--returning as many irrelevant results as it did relevant ones. 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 Review User ReviewsSee all user reviewsMost recent user reviewsShowing 3 of 25 reviews stars "Wanted a better Computer..." By BKloppenborgPros: Light weight Fast enought for what i wanted to do.. Cons: Toshiba CS, Thing broke down more then a FORD!!! Summary: Well this was my Second Computer i had a Compaq EVO-180 before this which was ALOT better anyways this thing is really light weight and decently fast... Well when i got it i got the extended warrenty with it 2 yrs compared to 1.. Well after 1 year: Battery Was ... Expand full review stars "Disappointed" By tyman77Pros: 15"screen, DVD/CDRW Cons: Gets HOT!, Only runs 45 min. on battery Summary: I bought this Toshiba notebook thinking it would be as reliable as my 7yr old Toshiba 4000CDS, turns out I was wrong. I bought this toshiba in August of '03 from Best Buy for around $699 after rebates. I have not used the laptop very much in the two years ... Expand full review Where to BuyPricing not available  Where to BuyPricing not available 
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