I actually owned an A355 Satellite for about 3 days until I got fed up with Windows, got a refund, and bought a macbook (nothing wrong with the laptop, it was the OS I had a problem with). I loved the fact that it had
|
|
such good specs (fast, plenty of memory, large HDD, 16″ screen, DVD-R, webcam, etc.) for such a low price (around $600), it was a quality name brand, and it had top-notch reviews on Amazon. But…I hated one thing in particular, one thing that just about ruined it: |
it was ugly, specifically it looked very cheap and dinky, almost like it came from Toys-R-Us or something, just horrible looking build quality. They’re actually quite well made, but they look just the opposite, here have a look and see what I’m on about, this is the current A355:
The Satellite Gets a Facelift!
Toshiba have remedied this problem, the new A500/U500 is just…I don’t want to say gorgeous, it’s not quite…but it IS actually good looking, very good looking, and it’s just such a huge improvement over the old Satellite line, have a look at this:
What they’ve done here, in my opinion, is to copy and adapt the looks of the Sony Vaio to their own Satellite series of laptops, which was
|
|
a very smart move–the Vaio is arguably the best looking laptop made (aluminum Macbooks being a possible competitor), and I think Toshiba has figured out that looks do factor into peoples’ purchasing decision when they’re looking at a computer, especially a laptop, and the old |
Satellites’ homeliness was unnecessarily costing them sales. Good move, Toshiba. Golf clap…
Tech Specs
There are two new models, specifically: the A500, which is the full-sized version with the 16 inch screen, and the more portable U500, with a 13.3 inch screen and weighing in at just under 4.5 pounds–they’re both the same price, $975, although this will certainly drop quickly such that I imagine you’ll be able to
|
|
pick one up before Christmas for what you’d pay for an old A300 series Satellite now. As far as firepower goes, here’s what it’s packing: An Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 8GB of memory, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD GPU (with up to 1GB of DDR3 VRAM), and either a 500GB HDD or 64GB SSD, and Toshiba is calling the |
battery life at over 3.5 hours. The larger one comes with a TV-tuner for analog and digital DVB-T programming, HDMI ports with REGZA LINK, and Harman Kardon speakers, so it’s meant to be more of a desktop-replacement media center, whereas its’ little brother is the light and portable road warrior. They’re due to hit Europe sometime this July, and should be available in the U.S. soon after, so definitely something to look forward to if you’re in the market for a laptop, or especially if you think you’re going to be in the market for a new laptop in the next 6 months or so: in that case, definitely hold out for the A500/U500 and watch for the price to drop before Christmas, this is going to end up being a replacement for Toshiba’s excellent bargain A300 series.
Source: Thanks, Engadget.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Toshiba A500 ottimo per la multimedialita’ // Jun 12, 2009 at 10:45 am
[...] Web: toshiba.it, technofart.com [...]
2 Hector // Jun 23, 2009 at 10:46 pm
And I used to think that A3xx Series had an awesome look
(I had an A215 that was really ugly, but good machine).
Now I can’t wait for A500.. hope it will be soon on Bestbuy
3 Andy // Aug 14, 2009 at 4:42 am
Reading and writing this on my new A500 I picked up the day it got instore here. Man what a great machine – makes my high speck home entertainment PC look old hat – very very happy with it
4 freelance seo // Aug 22, 2009 at 8:01 am
I just bought an A500, got it for a steal too!
Its great, only think I could knock is the screen rez and the battery life , other than that its amazing! and the graphics…. WOW the 4650 ATI chipset is packing a 128bit memory bus!! and its absoultly brillant!
IMO its the best all rounder. I could of paid 200 bucks less, for an acer, with 4gb and an ATI 4370, but after the reivew I read I decided it was worth the extra bang and go for the the tosh!
Oh and the built in DVB TV card is fantastic in my camper van in Australia!
5 JustSoAngry // Mar 1, 2010 at 4:38 pm
TOSHIBA SUCKS!!!
I ordered an A500 from Toshiba Direct. It took almost a whole month to be delivered and when it did arrive the AC adapter didn’t work!!
When I called the same day it was delivered to have a replacement AC Adapter sent I was told it could take up to another 10days!!! That was NOT good enough! I was then transferred to a “Case Manager” who said he could have it sent Fed-Ex to me. This being a Friday evening I would probably receive it by the following Monday. When it didn’t show up, I called to ask for the tracking number. I was then told by another “Case Manager” that they aren’t authorized to send anything “Fed-Ex!”
WHAAA???
Well that was the last straw! I wanted to return the product right then and there. The moron actually told me I’d have to return it to the “store” where I bought it…IDIOT! My “case” should have shown that I bought it through Toshiba Direct! Not some B&M store!
She then transferred me to sales to get an R/A (Return Authorization). We’ll see how long it takes them to refund my money!!
I’m so angry…I don’t do business with liars and will go onto ANY and EVERY discussion board to spread the news of my BAD SERVICE!
No way…don’t waste your money on Toshiba!!
6 Ronald // May 13, 2010 at 5:41 pm
sorry to hear your case. I have had well over 15 toshibas in my lifetime, all bought from toshiba direct, never had a problem, just now I ordered 4 laptops before christmas, sure they took long to arrive but it was christmas for crying out loud, sales are backordered, especially newer models. so perhaps you should be patient and give them a try. other wise buy your pc at compusa or best buy. but I’ve had more than 15 and never any problems. they dont break down, they are sturdy , screens are resistant even to kids, my kids stepped on mine, hard drives never fail. they are very very good. I took two of them apart and you can really see the difference from the competition. good luck!
Leave a Comment