Advice please: L305D-S5869 vs. A205-S5866

Greetings,

Thought I'd post this where folks already owning Toshibas predominate. Between these two choices at Fry's, which would you choose?

Toshiba L305D-S5869
AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-60 1.9GHz
1GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz RAM (4GB max)
120GB 5400rpm HD
DVD+-RW
$399.99

Toshiba A205-S5866
Intel Dual-Core Pentium T2390 1.86GHz
2GB PC5300 DDR2 (2GB max)
160GB 5400 rpm HD
DVD+-RW
$449.99


By the way, I'm posting from this machine:

Toshiba A135-S4666
Intel Dual-Core Pentium T2080 1.73GHz
2GB PC5300 DDR2 (2GB max)
80GB 5400 rpm HD
DVD+-RW
$399.99


THANKS

 

The 1.9GHz AMD Athlon X2 (QL-60) would deter me from choosing the L305D. I like the L305-series because they're very clean looking, nothing flashy but nothing tacky either. However, the 2.0GHz AMD Turion X2 (RM-70) that Toshiba uses in almost all of their other AMD-based models is a much better performer. The QL-60 is rather lethargic, particularly running Vista Home Premium.

The A205 won't be a speed demon, but the Pentium Dual Core is adequate. Compared to the 1st-generation 1.73GHz T2080 you're using now, the 1.86GHz T2390 will be a bit of a boost in performance.

Just so you're aware of what's out there, Best Buy and Circuit City both have some AWESOME DEALS on a few Toshiba models this week.

At Best Buy-
A305-S6872, 2.0GHz T5800 Intel Core2Duo, 3GB DDR2-800 RAM, 250GB HD, Intel 4500MHD graphics, DVD RW, Intel 5100AGN wireless, harmon/kardon speakers- this is a new model with all the "Centrino 2" updates. Reg- $749, on sale for $599!

At Circuit City-
L305-S5885, 2.0GHz T5750 Intel C2D, 3GB DDR2-667, 250GB HD, Intel X3100 graphics, DVD RW, Intel 4965AGN wireless, Webcam, Reg- $829, sale- $599!

L305D-S5881, 2.0GHz AMD RM-70, 3GB DDR2-800, 200GB HD, ATI 3100 graphics, DVD RW, Webcam, b/g wireless, Reg- $729, sale $579!

Those are amazing deals. If you can one into your budget, you'd have a notebook that would be useful to you for quite a bit longer than the A205. The L305D, in particular, is a good choice for it's ATI 3100 integrated graphics. It actually outperforms low-end dedicated graphics cards on some tests!

Good luck!

 

allfiredup,

Thanks for the detailed reply! I'm such a bottom-feeder I was committed to deciding between those two, but your enumeration of the RM-70's virtues (along with those of the ATI 3100 graphics) is compelling to ask if you think the marginal cost of the following ($80 more than the L305D-S5869 and $30 more than the A205) represents substantial added value:

L305D-S5873
AMD Turion RM-70 2GHz
2GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz RAM (4GB max)
160GB 5400rpm HD
DVD+-RW
$479.99

If the RM-70 could perform adequately with 2GB RAM, I'd definitely be spared the added expense of maxing out the L305D-S5869 for my additional $80 investment in addition to obtaining an additional 40GB HD space. But maybe I could save $30 and just be happy with the A205, same RAM, same HD?