Toshiba M35-S320 Laptop Review - Display and Exterior
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"Intel Centrino mobile technology gives consumers access to the freedom of wireless LAN capability' and more mobility than ever at home or on the go. Designed from the ground up for mobility, all the components that comprise Intel Centrino mobile technology have gone through extended validation to maximize reliability and interoperability to deliver a breakthrough in freedom and connectivity: the Intel® Pentium® M processor, the Intel® 855 chipset family and the Intel® PRO/Wireless network connection."
A 1280x800 wide screen display may at first seem strange to new users, but the advantages of a wide display are pretty clear. It allows you to display spreadsheets, browsers, or word processors side-by-side on a single screen. People who are used to using dual displays for the extra desktop space should feel right at home with widescreen displays. Did I mention that movies look great on widescreen displays?
Finally the M35's harman/kardon stereo sound is one of the best notebook speakers available. While headphones or true computer speakers still provide higher quality sound, the M35's built-in harman/kardon speakers look and sound great.
M35 Exterior
The Toshiba M35 is a pretty notebook. Its sleek plastic exterior is very eye-catching and smooth to the touch. The color gives the entire notebook a metallic feel which enhances a sense of durability. The top of the M35 is very clean and simple, showing just a shiny strip of metal and a Toshiba logo.
The front edge of the M35 holds 5 multimedia CD/DVD buttons, 5 LED indicators including power, battery, and AC charge, the volume wheel, Wi-Fi switch, and display latch.
The lower right side of the M35 hosts headphone and microphone jacks and two USB 2.0 ports. The upper right side is reserved for the DVD/CD-RW and a third USB 2.0 port. It would have been nice if the M35-S320 used a DVD-RW rather than a DVD and CD-RW combination, but that probably would have raised the price tag as well.
The lower left side features a Secure Digital card slot, PC card slot, PC card ejection button, and i.LINK port. The upper left side contains a security lock slot, S-Video port, and cooling vent. The left side also is home to a hidden parallel port.
I am not certain why this laptop has a parallel port - but the fact that it is hidden makes it a plus. Toshiba engineers were also thinking ahead when they included the Secure Digital card slot as many devices today like digital cameras and PDAs use Secure Digital memory cards.
Located at the back left of the M35 is a 15V DC in jack, telephone jack, and RJ45 Ethernet jack. The back right holds a VGA out port. The inclusion of both S-Video out and VGA out on this laptop makes it perfect for playing movies or making presentations on TVs or projectors.
At the center of the back is of course the M35's battery. The battery release switch is located on the bottom of the notebook. Other things on the bottom include the battery lock, memory cover, and hard drive cover.
You've probably noticed by now how the M35's exterior is both silver and black. Because the upper portion of the notebook is all silver and the bottom which slopes inwards is black, the entire notebook looks very thin. This is a great design technique and just shows how much thought went into the M35.
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