Toshiba Satellite M35-S320 Laptop (1.50 GHz Pentium M (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive, DVD-CDRW Combo)

Amazon Customer Reviews

(5 out of 5)

Great for anyone besides the hardcore gamer

I just purchased this machine to replace my desktop after looking primarily at the Dell 8600, the 15" Power Book and the HP ZV5160 and am having no second thoughts. My friends who bought the 8600 are. By comparison, the Toshiba is a little faster running the same applications, the screen has a bit better picture and the machine is over a pound lighter. I couldn't justify the extra $1,000 for the Power Book just for the "cool" factor. And my co-worker who went with the HP returned it a week later due to iffy quality and poor performance and bought a Toshiba. I am a novice when it comes to computer stuff, but right out of the box this machine was extremely easy to get going. The wireless worked like a charm. The machine, despite its light weight, has a very solid feel to it. For just storing pics and music, surfing the net and handling personal finance issues, I'm sure I over-bought. I was able to get this machine with a wireless router for $1,500, and I couldn't find anything that even came close for bang-for-the-buck. My friend tried running some super-intense game, and the machine couldn't quite keep up, but Toshiba doesn't market the machine for that, and that ain't what I got it for. As someone who has perpetual buyer's remorse, I cannot recommend this machine enough.

(5 out of 5)

I'm glad I went big

It was time to upgrade and I thought I wanted one of those mini laptops, you know the ones so small they don't even have an optical drive. Well I found one, the sony vaio v505, that did. However I ended up going for the toshiba machine because I realized that I would be using it as much or more at a central site than on the road. I am in med school and travel to different cities for weeks at a time for rotations. I need the portability of a laptop, but like the convenience of something nice to look at, enter the widescreeen. In a word it is magnificent. The notebook itself is very thin and although you feel the weight in your bag, it is not cumbersome. The things I like best about this laptop are its screen, sleek look, but more importantly great processor speed and good battery life. The utility config free is great and makes it a snap to connect to the internet, truly config free. The wifi is great too, my first run-in with them so no basis for comparison. I am rarely somewhere that I don't have an outlet, funny how most hospitals need electricity, so I carry the power cord, I wish they made a more portable version, and my travel mouse, I hate touch pads. The sound from the built in speakers is good, they don't sound tinny and don't break up at louder volumes, but don't forget they are less than an inch in diameter.

I do have a list of nit picky negatives, it's just the way my mind works, and I am also very wary of a review that has no negatives. First it could be lighter, but you could say that about any laptop. Secondly, I wish there were more usb ports, it has 3 all on the right side. You can buy one of those port splitters, but again its a laptop and too much bulk gets you away from the reason you bought one in the first place. Next, the IR port is on the front, and while I haven't needed to use it for a printer it seems an odd place to put it. Probably on either side near the back would be better. Finally, it doesn't come with Office 2003, you can buy it for $149, but then the value for the system comes down a little bit.

Overall, this computer is a do-it-all all-star. If you want to play games it handles them with ease, if you want to watch movies the widescreen is unusually good at it, if you want to write a research paper and have the accompanying PP presentation on the effects of lispro on gestational diabetes you can do that too. It works on the road and as a desktop too. I am very happy with it and am glad I went big!

(5 out of 5)

Great package, reliable brand

Got this laptop a week ago and I just love it. Being a computer nut, and a computer programmer, I had to pick a machine that would work well with my tasks. So far this one is handling the processor-intensive tasks I need very well. After realizing that I had been working on my old Pentium III 900MHz 512MB desktop for more than three years and still not feeling the urgent need to upgrade that one, I concluded that I'll probably use this laptop as a full replacement for my old warrior and not need to upgrade laptops in a long time.
The main factor when I decided for the Toshiba after comparing different brands was the reliability and reputation of this brand. Seriously, everytime I take some equipment (TVs VCRs, etc) for service at the retail store I notice the high number of HP and Sony Vaio laptops piling up the shelves. After Compaq merger with HP, and seeing their models similiarities, I'm now scared of Compaqs too. I took Dell out of the contest because of a personal bad experience with tech support and bad drivers I got in the past. All this, combined with the great price and package made it almos a no-brainer for me.
One thing that would make this one even better would be a multi-card-format reader instead of the SD-only reader. But I can live without that with my USB flash drive.

(5 out of 5)

Perfect for everyone but really intensive computing

Not to repeat the other review, let me just say that the computer is great. Watching a movie and surfing the web at the same time is totally possible with the great and wide screen. The keyboard feeling is great, the setup out of box is superb.

I would only say the when considering this machine with others with Pentium 4-M, the main tradeoff is between 1.5-2 pounds less versus computing power for processor-intensive uses like MatLab or Engineering software or advance digital work. If you are a traditional (mostly MSOffice kind of software) user this is by far the best option.

The only little detail I would like to point out is that I find the SD-slot somewhat difficult to reach when using the computer on a flat surface. Btw, the SD-slot is very convenient to transfer pictures and movies from digital cameras without the need to install specialized software. I also find it very useful for transferring info from my PDA to the computer.

Excellent for home-school, home-office frequent trips. Once again Toshiba did a great job.

(5 out of 5)

Excellent laptop and reasonable price

The laptop is just too good. Excellent audio and video and makes up a good cinemascope screen and good theater like environment for watching DVDs.
Connects to wi-fi network with ease.
Portability also good but some may not like the 15" WXGA screen which makes the laptop look lil big but then if you go for a lesser screen you clearly lose the clarity.
Keyboard is springy and not hard like other laptops but I would buy an additional set of mouse and keyboard.
I found the DVD drive to be too gentle and sometimes fear if that would come out if I use a bit of force.
Overall it is my dream machine and hope it would be the same for you too.
Happy Toshiba-ing