Heavy Laptop Packed with Power (Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600)

Member Name: PaulsView4U

Product:	Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600
Date:	11/09/04 (3589 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Versatility, Screen

Disadvantages: Weight

The Toshiba Satellite Pro 4600 Laptop Computer is a good reliable workhorse and I have been using mine most days for the last two years.

>>> General Description <<<

At the front of the computer is a display latch. Sliding this to one side allows the display panel to hinge up to set the screen to your desired angle and to reveal the keyboard. At the front of the computer there are built in stereo speakers and some system indicators to show the status of the DC in, Power, Battery, built in Hard Disk drive and Diskette / CD ROM drive.

On the left of the computer there is a security lock which I use to keep it ?strapped? to my desk whilst in office. There is also a fan, power connector, power button lock, PC card slot (this can accommodate two 5mm PC cards or one 10.5mm PC card, reset switch and wireless LAN switch.

On the right of the computer there is a volume control, headphone jack, microphone jack, Modem jack, Diskette drive and DVD ROM Drive (model dependant), a LAN jack and an Infrared port. I find the infrared port useful for quick transfer of information with my PDA when the PDA is not synchronised live with the computer.

At the back of the computer is the DC in connector, mouse/keyboard port, video out, serial port, docking interface port, parallel port, external monitor port and USB Ports (2 off)

Underneath is a memory expansion socket and access to the battery

>>> Specification <<<

Processor: Intel Pentium III 700 MHz (model dependant)
Memory: Two slots accommodating the following modules
64MB
128MB
256MB
Comes fitted with 128MB and I have added 256Mb to give it a bit of extra speed
Cache: 128kB or 256 KB
Video RAM: 16MB SDRAM
Disks: 2 Sizes of hard Disk available ? 9.35GB or 18.62GB
Diskette ? 3.5?
DVD ROM / CD ROM

Display: 1024 horizontal x 768 vertical pixels, available in 3 sizes (13, 14 or 15?)
Graphics: 64 bit
graphics controller
Modem: Built in 56kBit
Keyboard: 86 keys, compatible with IBM enhanced keyboard.
Size: 321 x 46.5x274.5mm (14? display)
Weight: Typical 3.17kg
Battery: 2 Types. Lithium Ion Battery Pack and Real Time Clock Battery
After switch off the battery pack will retain data for approx. 4 ? 7 days, the RTC battery will last for greater than 1 month. The battery pack takes approx. 3 hours to charge from fully discharged. Fully charged batteries will give you approx. 2.5 hrs of general operation.
Network: Network Interface Card installed (Ethernet)

The computer comes Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition installed but I now run windows 2000 (which seems a backward step!)

>>> General and Comments <<<

The computer has a built in Pointing Device called the ?AccuPoint II?. It is in the centre of the keyboard, and is a small nipple (but not as much fun!) used to move the cursor on the screen (instead of the mouse). This is done by applying slight pressure from your pinky. A colleague of mine has the same computer and immediately bought a mouse for his. I persevered and after a week or 2 I found that it was as easy to use as the mouse ? and being in the centre of the keyboard it is always there! There are also two larger buttons on the hand rest in front of the keyboard which act as ?left? and ?right? mouse buttons, ant two smaller buttons for scrolling up and down. These are all ergonomically placed so that the hand rests comfortably and you are able to navigate the pointing device and select the buttons with minimal hand effort.

The display has a very good viewing angle from the front and the sides and is bright, crisp and clear.

I have found the computer to be heavy. When used as a desktop it is not a problem, however, when carrying it around in a shoulder bag it soon starts to feel heavy (you eventually start to walk lop-sided!)

>>> Price <<<

The purchase
price for this laptop computer 2 years ago was approximately £1,100 + VAT, depending on screen size and how much memory fitted. They are currently advertised on E-bay at less than £500 (that?s progress!)


>>> Summary <<<

A good, versatile Laptop Computer that packs a lot of computing power, peripherals and interfaces into a small space. Good display and performance has always been adequate for Word processing, spreadsheets, presentations (gets slow if the presentation starts getting above 10Mb), Databases and Internet access.

The only real complaint is the weight, which if you are travelling, can get uncomfortable.

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