Is this a good deal?

I went to Toshiba's website and it wasn't listed. They had the A355-S6998E so i'm a little confused if this is even a current model or it's being clearanced out.

https://www.hhgregg.com/ProductDetail.asp?SID=n&ProductID=22738&BrandStore=All#page
$699.99

Toshiba Satellite A355-S6998
Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
2.0GHz Intel P7350 (1066MHz FSB, 3mb L2)
16" 1366x768 TruBrite display
4GB DDR2-800 RAM
320GB Hard Drive
256mb ATI Radeon Mobility HD 3470 discrete graphics
DVD-RW with Labelflash
Webcam
Intel 5100AGN wireless card
harmon/kardon speakers

 

My cousin has this laptop and she loves it. I saw and tried it out last night and it is an amazing laptop. I suggust it.

 

Thanks Ryan, is it a new model? Btw I love your avi.

 

Sorry for the late response, rodknee. I am actually not sure myself if it's the new model or the old model. I know she got it at Futureshop back in December.

Any luck with the laptop yet?

 

I got it and love everything about it except the size of the screen....arrrgh !

I can't tell you how much I now despise 16x9 format. Other than that the laptop is gorgeous and has lots of bells and whistles. I love the fact it has a built in FM Tuner, 1066 MHZ FSB, a P-Series CPU and 4GB of ram. The bloatware is really tough on judging performance of this laptop. You would need to do a clean install to get a better gauge of what it can do. The A355-6998 is more of a multimedia laptop which is fine by me because it's primary use is for the internet, TV live stream, radio and light gaming.

The laptop is very stylish without being gaudy. I plan on taking it back and either getting a 17" Toshiba 16x10 format or picking up a Toshiba 14.1" WXGA (1280x800) with a T9300 CPU, 4GB of RAM, 320GB HDD, and a ATI 3470 graphics card for the same price.

If it weren't for the shortened screen from top to bottom I would have kept it.

 

Yeah you get that. I like mine since it's 15.4''..just what I needed for the right price too..the only downside is the graphics card but hey! That just means I can have fun playing Duke Nukem again. No problem with that !

 

Well I decided to keep it even though i'm not a big fan of the new 16x9 format. In the end I gave it some thought and the pluses easily outweighed the one minus. The price was also a factor. Lot's of tech for $699.

 

This is kind of a funny situation because I'm going through pretty much the exact same dilemma haha.

I was recently looking at a Toshiba A350 which is very similar to the 355 you have and an excellent price but I was a little turned off by the 1366 x 768 Resolution. It just seems so comparitively short from length wise as opposed to width wise. However on second thought movies would look pretty good from how I envision it and web browsing/word processing won't be affected.
So I think I'm going to go ahead and get it.

Are you starting to like it and is the resolution growing on you or what?

 

Yeah i'm starting to dig it big time. It offers so much as in bang for the buck. I compared the 16" vs my 15.4" screen. You only lose roughly 1 inch in height so it's no big deal.

Check this out. The laptop includes Bluetooth, Wifi, Camera, 320GB HDD, 4GB of ram, a P7350 2.0ghz CPU with a 1066 FSB all for $699.99

The laptop runs Vista Premium 64 with no problems and is very fast. I also love the look of the Fusion Finish, it offers lot's of Bling with the shiny look and white lights including the Toshiba logo. I also love the feel of the laptop. It has a quality feel to it.

So the bottom line is i'm glad I kept it.

 

Hi Rodknee,

page is not opening, you can find good deals for satellite series through gooogle shopping...

http://www.google.com/products?q=Toshiba+Satellite+&hl=en

like this

 

Thanks Rick but I decided to keep the Toshiba I recently bought. I can't beat that price.

 

You can still configure the older model with the 16:10 screen with the faster GPU etc.. buts it's like you say.. way more expensive. I agree, the 16:9 is taking things a step backward. I saw a 20" desktop display at staples yesterday with the 16:9 with the lower resolution and it looked terrible. I just hate this trend since most web pages won't even utilize the width on 16:10. The newer 16" screens is are less productive as well.

If I may ask.. how is the heat and fan noise on your new machine? Are the speakers as good as they say? Trackpads are really nice on the Toshiba's. I like the volume wheel instead of the crappy touch sensors on the HP's. There is allot to like with these new Toshiba's.

 

I wouldn't say the 16:9 looks terrible and I know you were referring to the 20" screen. The 16" screen is the most passable out of all the other screens and that's if you select the standard resolution. Comparing it to a 15.4" screen you only lose about an 1" which is no real biggie. The higher the screen size the worst it will look. Now a 20" screen at 1900x1200 rez would look very nice but hard to see unless you have 10/10 vision.

I have the P7350 so it's geared more towards battery performance and so runs much cooler than a T series CPU. I don't find heat an issue unless the laptop is being pushed to it's max. So for the most part it runs on the cool side with the fans barely coming on.

Just like you I do like the trackpads. I'm not a fan of the volume wheel as past experience they tend to get erractic if they get dirty over time especially if you have an environment that is prone to dust.

I also love the new Fusion look along with the white lights on the laptop. This my first Toshiba and the laptop feels very sturdy and looks sweet compared to my Dell and IBM Thinkpad.

So if you decide to get a 16x9 screen with the standard resolution 1366x768, get the 16" as it'll be closer to a 15.4" display running at 1280x800 resolution and so the difference will be quite small and insignificant. Anything higher and like you said things will look much worse and will require you to go with the 1900x1200 resolution.