Laptop Reviews of the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 and the Dell Inspiron Duo

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Today we'll be reviewing two laptop systems with interesting designs, the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 and the Dell Inspiron Duo. Each is priced somewhat high for its class. We'll take a look at how functional they are, and whether the increased price is justified in each case.

The Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 is a 14-inch laptop that is available on the retail level at a fixed configuration. It combines solid performance and features with a decent design. The Satellite E205-S1980 can be purchased for $949.99 from Best Buy. As protection, it comes with a lengthy two-year warranty on parts and labor.

The Satellite E205-S1980 comes with a 2.53 GHz Intel Core i5-460M processor with 3 MB of cache. The processor's multiple cores give the E205-S1980 solid performance across the board. You can run various applications simultaneously without any significant lags in speed, and common tasks, such as Internet browsing, document editing, multimedia viewing, and casual gaming are all possible. Added multitasking help comes in the form of 4 GB of DDR3 SDRAM.

Graphics are supported by an Nvidia GeForce 310M card that allows users to enjoy some modern gaming on the laptop. The card features Optimus technology, which switches between Nvidia and integrated graphics when necessary to conserve battery life. Speaking of battery life, the E205-S1980 is said to offer around six hours of usage on a full charge. That's pretty good, although you should expect much less usage if you are gaming or watching video for an extended period of time. A good amount of storage is available on the E205-S1980 thanks to a 500 GB hard drive.  The operating system that comes pre-installed is Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit.

The Satellite E205-S1980 comes with plenty of additional features as well. It has a DVD drive so you can watch DVDs and listen to CDs. Another entertainment feature is the laptop's inclusion of Intel Wireless Display. This allows you to stream movies, music, photos, and other content wirelessly to a television. An additional NETGEAR Push2TV adapter is required for it to work, however. For Internet connectivity, there's 802.11n Wi-Fi, as well as embedded 4G WiMAX technology for users on the go. Toshiba also included an integrated webcam and microphone for video chatting with friends. Should you need to transfer data from other digital devices, there is a built-in media reader that supports a wide variety of formats. SD cards and Memory Sticks are a couple of examples of the formats supported by the media reader.

The Satellite E205-S1980 is an attractive laptop, although its blue Fusion finish on the lid and other accented areas may not appeal to a more professional crowd. The laptop is comfortable to carry around; it weighs 5.1 pounds and measures 13.7 inches wide by 9.6 inches deep by 1.2 inches thick. The E205-S1980's 14-inch display has a HD resolution of 1,366 x 768 and produces decent graphics. Not so decent are the integrated speakers. If you want to watch movies on the laptop, be sure to connect some headphones.

The laptop's keyboard is decent; it features flat keys. The keys are well-sized, but are not the most comfortable to type on. A row of dedicated media controls sit to the right of the keyboard, offering quick access when listening to music or viewing videos. The touch pad supports multi-touch gestures, but its smallish size is a tad disappointing. Connectivity is satisfactory. The left side of the laptop houses a USB 2.0 port and microphone and headphone jacks. The right side houses the media reader, the DVD drive, a HDMI port, and two more USB 2.0 ports, one of which is also an eSATA port. Other connections include an Ethernet port and a VGA port.

The Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 is a solid laptop, despite its flaws. Its design is a bit unique, yet still attractive. The feature set has enough that should satisfy most users, and the same goes for the laptop's performance. The only real gripe is the price, so make sure to shop around a bit before you decide to purchase the Satellite E205-S1980.  

Next: Dell Inspiron Duo >>
 

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