Toshiba Satellite X205 SLI4 Gaming Notebook
Introduction and Product Specifications
Mobile computing has come a long way in the last few years. Notebook manufacturers have been squeezing more power and features into ever more portable packages. As technologies have continued to be refined, shrinking in size and power requirements, manufacturers have been able to expand their creative ideas, bring ever more impressive options to market to fit virtually any budget. In recent months, we have seen excellent examples of both ends of the spectrum, from the budget oriented Asus Eee PC to powerful gaming/desktop replacement systems from Dell, Lenovo and Asus. Today, we're happy to add Toshiba to that list with an evaluation of their Satellite X205-SLi4 Notebook.
The Toshiba Satellite X205-SLI4 is a feature-rich laptop geared toward mobile gaming, with a potent Core 2 Duo T8100 processor, and gobs of memory and storage, while also sporting SLI ready GeForce 8600M GTs. Loaded with Windows Vista Ultimate and coupled with an HDTV ready Tuner, the X205-SLi4 makes a good impression right out of the box. This is one of the top laptops Toshiba has to offer with a host of premium features to position the Satellite X205-SLI4 near the top of its class. In the pages ahead, we'll spotlight the many features this premium laptop has to offer, then we'll run it through its paces to see how its performance compares to several other laptops in its class.
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| Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (32-bit) Processor Processor Type: Core™2 Duo Processor Number: T8100 Processor Speed: 2.10GHz Front Side Bus: 800MHz Memory Size: 3072MB Memory Speed: PC2-5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM Display Size: 17.0" widescreen Display Type: WSXGA+ with TruBrite® Technology Display Resolution: 1680x1050, Supports 720p content Graphics Engine: NVIDIA® SLI Dual GeForce® 8600M GT Graphics Memory: 767MB total: 512MB DDR3 discrete memory up to 255MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology Hard Drive Size: 160GB Hard Drive Speed: 7200rpm Secondary Hard Drive Size: 160GB 2nd HDD Secondary Hard Drive Speed:7200rpm Optical Drives: HD DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti drive supporting 12 formats Toshiba TV Tuner: TOSHIBA USB HDTV Tuner (External) Wireless LAN: Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965 AGN (802.11a/g/n) Bluetooth: Bluetooth® V2.0 + EDR Webcam: Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel Input Devices Internet Launch button Dual Mode Pad CD/DVD Buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track) 104 key US keyboard with 10 Key Pad Security Finger Print Reader Modem |
LAN: 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Audio: Headphone jack (stereo) Microphone jack (mono) S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port) 4 harman/kardon® stereo speakers with subwoofer AC Adapter 180W (19V x 9.5A) 100-240V AC Adapter Battery Type Li-Ion (6000mAh) PC Express Slot 1-ExpressCard™ Slot USB Ports 6-USB (2.0) iLINK i.LINK™ IEEE-1394 Media Port 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter HDMI HDMI output port S/P DIF output port S/P DIF output port S-Video TV-out (S Video) Software * TOSHIBA ConfigFree® TOSHIBA Disc Creator TOSHIBA HD DVD Player TOSHIBA Security Assist TOSHIBA Speech System Microsoft® Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial) Ulead® DVD MovieFactory® 5 for Toshiba McAfee® Internet Security Suite (30-day trial) Google Picasa™ TOSHIBA Games Console, designed by WildTangent® Weight Starting at 9.37 lbs. Color Flare Carmine Warranty * 1-Yr Parts and Labor, 1-Year Battery |
The Toshiba Satellite X205 comes in several flavors; with the SLi2 and SLi4 models being most similar. The Satellite X205-S9800 comes with Vista Home Premium, a more powerful GeForce 8700M GPU, but doesn't offer SLI and sports only a single 250GB 5200RPM hard drive and 2GB of memory. The next model up is the Satellite X205-SLi2 which also comes with Vista Home Premium while adding a faster processor, two 5400RPM 160GB hard drives and SLI capable GeForce 8600M GT GPUs with 512MB of memory and an additional 255MB of shared system memory. The Satellite X205-SLi4 takes things to the next level, upgrading to Vista Ultimate, dual 7200RPM 160GB hard drives, 3GB of DDR2 memory and an external HDTV capable Tuner for an additional $500.
