Toshiba Mobile Satellite M505-S4947 14.0-Inch Laptop – Black/Silver
Aug.31, 2010 in
Laptops
Product Description
Offering generous features, solid performance and great portability, the 14-inch diagonal Satellite M505 laptop is ideal for on-the-go entertainment, work and learning. So you’ll stand out while you’re moving out, it… More >>
Toshiba Mobile Satellite M505-S4947 14.0-Inch Laptop – Black/Silver
from goodmaal.com.
August 31st, 2010 at 7:21 am
Have been shopping for a new laptop for a while and decided to choose this instead of the A500. It costs a couple hundred more but has all the features that I need and want. The big selling point for me is the modern and sleek style. It is beautiful to look at and not chunky like the A500 with the extra number key pad that I do not use. Greater mobility with the 14″ backlit led HD screen and a better Intel Core2 duo P7350 processor. The 400 GB hard drive that I can carry everywhere and no need to bring an extra storage device. The build in 3D sensing is a plus so if you drop your labtop the hard drive is protected. The backlit keyboard is really cool and the touchpad also have multi-function. The touchpad looks small but it is the same size as my 14″ IBM thinkpad T43 so it works okay with me. The multi-function touchpad is easy to use and you seldom need to use the click bottom. All you need is slightly move your fingers across the touchpad and slightly tab on the touchpad instead of clicking the left button. It also come with the extra 12 cell battery for extended use compare to the standard 6 cell and it does not extend outside the labtop like others. The harman kardon speakers is also a great value and sounds great. All these worth the extra couple of hundred dollars. I tried to customize the same build at toshiba and it cost a lot more than this and Amazon ship free and tax free and no recycling charge so it is a very good buy. The fingerprints and dirt is easy to see and clean with a wipe after each use and it is not that bad to keep your labtop sanitize especially if you have multiple users to spread germs around.
The labtop come with a few bloatware and easy to remove using windows uninstaller. Would recommend to install a good registry cleaner and defragmenter free ware to optimze your labtop after the uninstall. The Window Vista Premium 64 bit is easy to use bur in my opinion still runs slow even with the 4 GB of ram and the newer Intel processors. You definitely need to remove the extra bloatware to lighten the load. I am looking forward to the free upgrade to Window 7 to make this work better. The RAM is expandable to 8GB so it is a plus for upgrade when the RAM gets cheaper in the future. I just upgraded and double the RAM of my 4 year old IBM thinkpad and it runs a lot faster than before with Window XP Pro.
I highly recommend this Toshiba mobile labtop for good looks, mobility and usability in this price range. It does not come with bluetooth but I am planning to get a bluetooth adaptor and it is very inexpensive. Overall, I am very happy with this labtop. I am glad I got this last week because I saw the price increase already.
Rating: 5 / 5
August 31st, 2010 at 8:19 am
I did a lot of research on different brands and configurations. I was all set to buy a Toshiba (with an ugly chasis) for its functionality at a big box store when I came to Amazon. This laptop had all the configurations I was looking for at the same price. My only complaint is that I wish it had more usb ports and built in blue tooth. But I added a usb blue tooth dongle and it works fine (other than tying up one of my limited usb ports). The biggest feature for me was that it came standard with a 12 cell battery. Lifts up the back just slightly but actually makes the unit easier to type on because of the angle.
Fast shipping, secure packing, and overall great value for the money I spent. Thanks!
Rating: 5 / 5
August 31st, 2010 at 11:15 am
I was very dissapointed that the battery life was not as advertised. It was advertised in all the stores to have a battery life of 8 hours. When I called Toshiba, They said they were not responsible for that advertisement. After fully charging the battery I get a little over 5 hours of battery life instead of 8 hours. When I told the toshiba representative I wanted to return the product and get my money back he said he would have somebody call me to arrange this. He took down my number but nobody ever called.
Rating: 3 / 5
August 31st, 2010 at 11:29 am
I owned three different Sony Vaio laptops over the course of 8 years. All of them had their quirks, but all of them were ultimately serviceable until technology advanced to the point they were outmoded. I am admittedly very tough on laptops – I take mine more or less everywhere I go and my laptop is my only computer. I’m self-employed so my laptops get a lot of heavy use. I really liked Vaios, but they’re a bit expensive for the price these days. When the last one died, I decided to look at what else was out there. After shopping around, I decided on this Toshiba M505.
I was sucked in by things like the integrated webcam with facial recognition software (barely works), better audio (that’s fine), the light weight, ample internal memory, and fast speed.
The speed of the laptop and the portability are as expected, no problems there. But this computer is about to drive me to drink. And while I like a good drink every now and then, I don’t want my laptop to frustrate me into drinking.
There are two major problems for me with this, which seem minor but are affecting the way I use the computer, day-to-day.
-For some reason, Toshiba put the power cord port on the RIGHT hand side, next to the USB ports, not the left or the back. I’ve never had a laptop with the power port on the right. I’ve never even seen one like this, and my husband hasn’t either (he’s a computer guy). I guess it would be fine if I wasn’t right-handed, sitting on the couch with the computer plugged into an outlet to my left. The power cord gets tangled in my (and my son’s, and my husband’s) legs because it cuts across the back of the computer. The computer has been pulled off the coffee table now several times; thank goodness for the “processor stabilizer” Toshiba builds in because I’m sure otherwise this thing would be toasted right now. The power cord got pulled out of the port so many times I had to buy a new power supply because the cable’s metal end piece got so bent I couldn’t fit it into the port any more. I have never had this problem through THREE Sony Vaio’s and my husband has been through three laptops in that same timeframe (a Compaq, an ASUS, and an Alienware) and he’s never had this problem either. Bad design.
- The touchpad would be a joke, if it wasn’t so frustrating. The touchpad is integrated into the laptop’s case, so there’s not a separate touchpad that’s not made out of the case material, which is what I’m used to. The material for the case is not appropriate material for a touchpad, apparently, because the touchpad basically doesn’t work. We’ve replaced the touchpad driver twice and the mouse arrow will still randomly jump around, select things that it’s not supposed to even when my fingers are not on the pad, not respond to light or heavy touch, etc. I have gone into the advanced pointer properties more times than I can count – I can’t get this stupid thing to work at all. Just to keep the pointer from uninstalling software and randomly selecting things and deleting them I had to turn off most of the functionality I used to use with my pointer device. Now I have to carry around a small-size USB mouse and a mousepad with me everywhere so I can use the computer without dealing with the touchpad. This issue’s been reported by a lot of other owners but unless there’s some way to replace part of the computer case, or completely retool the driver (which I think Toshiba’s already tried to do), I don’t see a fix for it. It’s usable as-is but for the money I spent I expect to be able to use the computer the way I’ve used EVERY OTHER LAPTOP I’VE OWNED, that is, without having to carry a mouse around.
I am honestly hoping this laptop develops a warranty issue and I can send it back to be replaced by something better. I have never hated a laptop so much within the first few months of ownership. It’s a sexy-looking but poorly designed product, and yes, ultimately it is my fault for getting sucked into the hype. As soon as this laptop bites the dust (sooner rather than later, please God) I will be going back to Vaios, no matter how overpriced they are. This whole experience with Toshiba has been a major disappointment.
Rating: 3 / 5
August 31st, 2010 at 1:57 pm
I got this in 2 days time no hassle. First let me say that it looks great but it is a real fingerprint magnet. the gloss just makes you look like you’ve just eaten and put your greasy finger all over it. Nothing a cloth can’t fix. Thinking about getting a skin and that will solve all the problems. It works like a charm now that I’ve gotten rid of all the bloatware.
Cons: When I first got it, all I got was this mind numbing static, so loud it made the dogs howl. However, after uninstalling all sound drivers, rebooting and then letting windows install new ones, all problems solved. Tech help is a bust but hey, that’s why there’s genius like mine! maybe I should apply for the job there! JUst a thought. Despite the bumps, I recommend this machine. It’s cool, light (despite the 12cell battery) and just pretty to look at. I’m still testing out the battery life so I can’t say if it lives up to the hype as yet. Meets my needs….
Rating: 4 / 5