Toshiba Satellite P100-222 Review pics, specs

by Mohammed Al Khorafi, Kuwait

Overview and Introduction:

I’m a big time gamer and like to watch movies on my laptop. I wanted a machine that I could carry around every once in a while and have it rest on my desk the rest of the time. The most important issue was the graphics card. I don’t have a desktop PC so I needed the best. You’d think I’d settle with ATI’s x1600 or Nvidia’s 7600. Oh no, I wanted something stronger.

Toshiba Satellite P100 (view large image)

After days of research using the web and shopping outlets all over Kuwait, my decision was narrowed down. It was either the Toshiba P100-222 or Dell’s XPS M1710. The Toshiba P100 was available immediately, plus I would be getting better bang for my buck, so Toshiba it was. I bought it in person from an authorized dealer here in Kuwait for around $2,200. I could have gotten it for less online but would have waited for another month or so.

Toshiba Satellite P100-222 Specs as Reviewed:

• Intel Core Duo T2600 2.17 GHz
• 17-inch Trubrite WSXGA+TFT Display
• Mobile High Definitions Viewing
• Harmon/Kardon Speakers
• NVIDIA 7900GS 512MB
• 1024MB (512+512) Ram @ 533 (recommend upgrading to 2GB)
• 120GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (would rather have 60GB 7200RPM)
• 802.11 a/b/g Wireless via Intel 3945abg card

Build and Design:

I never imagined myself with an orange laptop. An orange mobile phone — be, an iPod — perhaps. But not an orange laptop. You know what though? It looks good. This is one of the better looking 17″ screen laptops out there.

The build quality is top notch. It feels as good as it looks. There is no flex at all, anywhere. I believe that this laptop will last a very long time. Everything seems to fit exactly where it’s supposed to, no clicks or clacks whatsoever. The black keyboard compliments the matte silver around it.

Keyboard, Touchpad and Buttons:

The extra space on this stallion was smartly invested by Toshiba with an efficient numeric keypad. However, I have an objection on the rest of the keyboard. It fits nicely with no flex at all, but I don’t see why they squeezed in some of the letters on the bottom right hand side of keyboard. The backspace also needs a little getting used to. Ferrari’s Testarossa and other older Ferraris have a different gearbox than the rest of the world’s cars (first gear is where the reverse gear is supposed to be), but that didn’t stop them from being a world racing legend, and as such this keyboard issue doesn’t bring the P100 down.

There are six shortcut multimedia buttons along the top of the laptop, just under the screen. The mouse pad is positioned a little to the left of center, but feels right.

There is a hard volume tuner next to an on/off button for wireless, which is a joy to have. You can increase/decrease volume before starting up the machine. I find this very helpful. If you are watching a movie on full screen, you can also change the volume easily.

Screen and Speakers:

The 17″ HDtogo screen is plain eye candy. There’s enough room to open several applications without straining your eyes. Widescreen is great for gaming and watching movies. With the WSXGA, anyone around you can also enjoy the movie/game.

The Harmon/Kardon speakers are conveniently placed under the keyboard towards the edge of the laptop, facing you when you would be watching a movie. The sound quality is excellent, the speakers produce an absolutely fantastic treble response and the bass shakes the entire notebook.

Batteryand Power:

The power brick is bigger than the regular ones but no complaints here. The battery life is really bad. It wouldn’t last a short flight, but who plans on using this on an airplane? Wherever your notebook goes, your charger is going with it. You might get away with watching a movie (1hr45) at the most on batteries.

Ports and Slots:

Toshiba P100 left side (view large image)

Toshiba P100 right side (view large image)

Toshiba P100 back side (view large image)

Toshiba P100 under side (view large image)

The P100 has the CardBus slot, a 5-in-1 multimedia port (SD, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, MMC, xD-Picture Card) Ports include: 4 USB (two on the right, one on the left and one on the back towards the left side) 2.0, Firewire, external microphone port, headphone port, VGA, DVI and S-Video out.

DVD Super Multi drive (Double Layer).

Processor, Performance, Benchmarks and Gaming:

As much as I loved Pentium M, I forgot how it used to be. This Core Duo is for real. AMD, you had better do something about this. Benchmarks aside, this bad boy can pack a punch. Out of the box, I left it on for 24 hours straight. My P100 was downloading, installing, scanning and patching some games of mine all at once. It’s like having two full time secretaries and an assistant work for you. I only wish I got 2GB worth of RAM, too late now. I’m going to have to wait for 4GB!

All benchmarks were taken on stock settings and all programs running normally

3DMark05 Results and comparison:

3DMark05tests the graphics processing capabilities of a system:

Notebook3DMark 05 Results

Toshiba P100-222 (2.16GHz Core Duo, Nvidia 7900GS 512MB)

6,214 3D MarksApple MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)2,866 3D MarksAlienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 Nvidia GeForce Go7800 GTX)7,078 3DMarksThinkPad T43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics)727 3DMarksAsus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)2,530 3D MarksFujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)2,273 3DMarksHP dv4000 (1.86GHz Pentium M, ATI X700 128MB)2,536 3D MarksAcer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)4,157 3DMarks

PCMark05 Comparison Results:

PCMark05provides an overall system performance evaluation that includes the graphics card and processor.

NotebookPCMark05 Score

Toshiba P100-222 (2.16GHz Core Duo, Nvidia 7900GS 512MB)

4,692 PCMarksFujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo)3,487 PCMarks Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60)5,597 PCMarksSony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400) 3,637 PCMarks Panasonic ToughBook T4 (Intel 1.20GHz LV)1,390 PCMarksAsus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400)3,646 PCMarksSony VAIO FE590 (1.83GHz Core Duo)3,427 PCMarks

3DMark06 Comparison Results:

3DMark06tests the graphics capabilities of a system, it is more demanding than 3DMark05.

Notebook3DMark 06 Results

Toshiba P100-222 (2.16GHz Core Duo, Nvidia 7900GS 512MB)

3,534 3DMarksApple MacBook Pro (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 128MB)1,528 3DMarks

Dell Precison M90 (2.16GHz Core Duo, nVidia Quadro FX 1500M)3,926 3DMarksAlienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 Nvidia GeForce Go7800GTX)4,085 3DMarks

Compal HEL80 (2.0GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7600 256MB)1,654 3DMarksDell XPS M1710 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia 7900 GTX 512MB)4,744 3DMarks

Conclusion:

I’m not a big fan of 17″ desktop replacements. I prefer laptops that you can actually put on your lap. With this though, I have no regrets and am enjoying the power very much. It’s like having a future proof laptop that you know will last. At under 8 pounds, it’s not impossible to carry around. I would recommend this for anyone that needs at least two of the following:

• Gaming console
• DVD player/TV
• Personal computer
• Business Machine

Pros:

• Great quality build
• Excellent 17″ screen
• Quality HDD with plenty of space
• Core Duo processor
• NVIDIA 7900GS graphics card
• Not bad battery life (considering the power and size of the notebook)

Cons:

• Keyboard takes some getting used to
• HDD could have been 7200rpm
• Ram should have been 667 MHz.