Feedback on A305 S6845

Can someone, who has used this model please tell me how good is it's performance. Is it good for gaming and does it really produce a good deal of heat when compared to other similar config laptops?
I'm planning to buy this model very soon and any feedback would be appreciated.

 

I can't give you feedback on the exact model as I did a configure to order direct from Toshiba. So I got the A300-ST4004, which is basically the A305, only configured to your exact specs. I highly recommend going this route as I found I could configure the way I wanted and add things like RAM and an extra hard drive for less than what Toshiba would charge. Anyway, here are my thoughts, if it helps. I configured with the 2.4 GHz chip and ATI 3650 graphics, 120 GB Hard drive and 1 GB RAM. I added another 200 GB / 7200 RPM Hard Drive and 2 GB more RAM. In total it cost me around $1350 for everything, including the extra RAM & HD. It also came with a very nice free (after rebate) Case Logic notebook carrying bag. Also, I noticed the configure to order price has dropped by about $75 since I placed my order a few weeks ago.

Pros:
- Great value for the $
- Does video editing well - no performance problems
- Secondary hard drive bay

Cons:
- If you order without the 2nd hard drive, you will have to order a hard drive mounting bracket if you want to install one
- While it performs fine, applications don't open as quickly / it's not a "snappy" as I expected (Vista?)
- You will spend a lot of time wiping down fingerprints because of the gloss finish
- A lot of bloatware installed
- Tech support - some were helpful, some not.
- Fan noise - on my configuration, the fan runs A LOT and is pretty NOISY. After uninstalling a lot of bloatware, reducing background processes, and messing with the power configurations, etc. I have minimized the fan a bit, but it still cycles on and off every few minutes even when the laptop is completely idle. Tech support seemed unwilling / unable to help figure this out and suggested I take my brand new laptop to a service center (which I did) and they had no breakthrough advice.

I can't speak to gaming performance, but as configured, I ran a PC mark05 test and it came in around 5,700. I haven't noticed the heat being a problem (i.e., PC getting hot to touch) but as I noted, the fan runs a lot - seemingly unnecessarily. Also, I've had a few Vista problems where it will freeze and even control-alt-delete will not get me unstuck.

Other than that, it seems pretty great so far.

 

Thanks a lot. That was pretty informative.

 

Glad I could help. Let me know if you have any other specific questions. Sorry - since I'm not a gamer I can't give you any opinions on that.

 

arcticflare,

If it isn't too much of a bother...

Could you post the part numbers for the drive bay cover and bracket?
I bought one without the 2nd HDD and cannot get any decent answers from Toshiba or Nationalparts.com for an upgrade kit.

Thanks,

Joe

 

The bracket is Part # A000035520 (piece 69 on drawing)
The correct cover is Part # A000035520 (piece 52 on drawing)

They are available at Toshiba's part distributor
"National Parts".