M40X-RS1

I've been unable to find much of anything on this computer. According to staples it's "new", but its pretty cheap $1399 Canadian. Its one of those, "Almost too good to be true" type of deals. Anyone know anything about it?

1.5GHz Intel® Celeron M Processor 370 (400MHz FSB, L1 Cache 32KB/32KB, L2 Cache 1MB)
512MB PC2700 DDR RAM, expandable to 2GB PC2700 DDR RAM
60GB 4200RPM EIDE hard drive

Built-in DVD Super-Multi Double Layer Drive functions:
Read: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (10x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-RW (4x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+RW (4x), DVD-RAM (3x), DVD+R(DL) (2.4x)
Write: CD-R (24x). CD-RW (10x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-RW (4x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+RW (4x), DVD-RAM (3x), DVD+R(DL) (2.4x)
15.4” Wide XGA TFT Active Matrix colour LCD display with TruBrite™ Screen Technology
Intel® Extreme Graphics 2 with 128MB DDR shared video memory
V.92 56K Data/Fax Modem
10/100 integrated Ethernet LAN
Atheros Wireless LAN (802.11g)
Available Ports: 3 USB 2.0, RJ11 (modem), RJ45 (LAN), IEEE1394 (FireWire), external microphone port, headphone port, RGB, S-Video Out
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home
Software Included: WinDVD™; Sonic™ Record Now!; InterVideo® WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum; InterVideo® WinDVR® Version 5; Microsoft® Office OneNote™ 2003; Norton Antivirus™ 2005 (90 Day Subscription)
Removable, Rechargeable 8-cell Lithium Ion (Li-ion) 14.8V x 4300mAh capacity battery
Battery Life: up to 3.41 hours
Recharge Time: Up to 4 hours off / 12 hours on
Dimensions: 365mmW x 275mmD x 37.5mmH
Weight: 2.94kg (6.48lbs)
1-year Limited International Warranty.

 

I saw a toshiba M45X-S331 at best buy a little bit ago. The M45X is the american version of the M40X which is the canadian version. They have a review out on it on this site http://www.notebookreveiw.com/default.asp?newsID=2212 .

From what I have hear there is a problem with one of the Express Card Slots not working, and it looking like something that was suppose to be added but was never completed. Even the guy at best buy was like, "It says there is an express slot, but it doesn't seem to want to work right now...."
Not personally owning the notebook I have heard on more then one occasion from friends that the battery life is shorter then normal. About 1h 30min.

 

if Cookie took 2 second to actually read the post, he'd have realized that he's talking about the WRONG notebook.

I personally own a M40-YP3, and I have a friend who just bought the M40X. we both agreed that $1400 CDN was a good price for a laptop with its features.

having played around with it in person, I'll give you some highlights and impressions of the M40X:

- physically, it's almost same as the M40 or M45(US version). almost the exact same size and weight. the batteries are completely different though.

- the exterior is more rounded compared to the M40. in fact, the outside and inside apperance is quite simliar to the A70 and others.

- the speakers are located not near the LCD, but near your wrists. headphone and mic jacks are on the right side, as well as the media card reader slot. the exaust vent is on the right side as well.

- the screen is the same size and resolution as the regular M40, but the LCD of the M40X didn't appear to be as vibrant. no dead pixels on the M40X, but I don't have one on my M40 either.

- the dual layer DVD burner(I forgot to check in device manager), I'm pretty sure it's the same one as the M40. it has the exact same stats and if it's the same, it'll be a Mat****a(that's 'm a t s h i t a', as the forum won't let me say the s-word) UJ-831S. the problem with Mat****a drives are that they seem to be very picky in the brand of media you can use. The maxell 8x DVDs I bought will only burn at 2x. I've heard of other having the same problem with cheaper media, and they were successfully able to burn at 8x after buying Verbatim, TDK, Apple, and/or other high-quality DVDs. while the M40 has the drive on the right side, the M40X drive is located on the left.

- the touchpad has a lot more friction than the M40. I mainly use the touchpad with the M40 so I'm used to it, but it felt difficult to properly control the pointer with the M40X's touchpad. some might consider this an improvement because the M40 touchpad is quite sensitive. I did prefer the touchpad button of the M40X, as it appears glossy and feels metallic, perhaps aluminum.

- the keys seemed a little firmer than the M40. when typing, the M40 has a higher pitched, almost rattling sound(especially with the backspace key). typing on the M40X, it's easy to tell that the key have a more solid, deeper click.

- I didn't get a chance to properly test the battery life. it seems to have a bit better battery life then the M40(probably due to the vid card), but they're very close.

- the M40X power button glows blue like the M40, but the system LEDs are green/amber. the M40 has all blue LEDs. the M40X also has the media short-cut buttons located under the power button, left side of the keyboard. the M40X has one less button; the one that opens a new default web browser window. I also tried to go into the 'express DVD' mode by pressing the DVD button, but it booted the system instead. for those who don't know, the M40 has a feature where you push and hold the DVD short-cut button while the laptop is off to watch a DVD in express mode, which is like those portable DVD players.

- it's worth mentioning that the built-in wifi of the M40X only supports G bands. the M40 supports A and G.

here are the main hardware differences between the M40-YP3 and M40X-RS1. (I'm not including the JM3 for comparison because I've never used one)

M40X = X
M40-YP3 = Y

X - 1.5GHz Intel Celeron M (1MB L2 cache)
Y - 1.86GHz Intel Centrino M (2MB L2 cache)

X - 60GB 4200RPM HDD
Y - 80GB 5400RPM HDD

X - Intel Extreme Graphics 2 (usually 10MB shared, upto 128MB)
Y - nVidia GeForce FX Go 6600 (128MB dedicated video memory)

X - stereo speakers(unknown brand, Realtek ALC250 decoder)
Y - stereo speakers(harman/kardon, Realtek AD1981 B decoder)

those are the main reasons behind the around $900 or so price difference between the M40X and M40-YP3. I believe the JM3 is also a very good deal. as for me, being the bit-torrent lover that I am, coughed up extra mainly for the bigger, faster hard drive.

The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that is has never tried to contact us.

 

Thanks alot for your response and all that information. There is alot to consider isn't there?

What programs did you try with the M40X and did you find them sluggish at all?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by Libby

 

I just bought a Toshiba Satellite M40X-RS1 Intel Celeron M 370 1.5GHz at Staples for $1,299.99 on June 22, 2005

When I played music from CD, the whole laptop vibrates.

I have heard a lot of horror stories about Toshiba Notebooks having the static shock, heat and noise problems. Worse, their customer service has been known really bad. The length of getting the laptop repaired is unreasonably long...

The salesman assured us that the problems have been fixed by using a Celeron M and the Staples Protective Plan is better, blah, blah,...

I have 14 days to try. Would anyone of you tell me if the problems have been rectified?

 

Chrise,

The vibrations your getting is related to the rotating CD. It's possible the disc is slightly off balanced which would cause this problem. There's no real way to resolve the problem is the disc is warped. It's also possible the drive motor is below par, this might also add to the vibrations. If this is the case, getting a replacement drive might fix it, but n guarantees this is the cause.

The issues with the static shock is related mainly to the A70 notebooks. Poor grounding of the top cover causes this issue. Toshiba is aware of this, but they're not advertising this fact. They will just replace the top cover under warranty if a customer calls in to complain about it.

The heat issues are again mainly related to the Satellite M30 & M40 series notebooks. Users have reported that their palmrest just left of the glidepad heats up a lot, but other users have not come across this problem. I believe it's a problem with airflow under the unit, there's not enough. Some have reported that raising the back end of the notebook by an inch helps a lot. Others have even bought laptop coolers (a tray your notebook sits on that has fans on it blowing on the bottom of the notebook). They say this helps quite a bit.

Regarding their customer service, well, it's still pretty bad, but that's similar to other brands in the market. Currently, most companies have dropped in their overall quality in build and support, probably to save money. Sending a unit to Toshiba directly for repair will probably have longer repair times, but if you drop it off to a Toshiba authorized repair facility, you might be able to get it back within a 3-5 business days.

Personally, I got myself an HP notebook to replace my aging Toshiba (4+ years old). Their build quality for the nx8220 I bought is great, much better than Toshiba (IMO).

-Vb-