Need Info On Toshiba and Batteries

I love the feel of Toshiba laptops...they just feel solid as hell. But as I am a law student, I sometimes sit in class for 3-5 hours @ a time and do not have access to an outlet...now I know that almost no battery lasts for 5 hours, but it needs to last more than 3 and most Toshibas I read about crap out well under 3. I'm pretty good with those power settings and can squeeze alot out of it, but I don't want to make the investment unless I am sure it's gonna make all the grades. I have heard that in Canada you can buy larger size batteries for Toshibas. Is this true? if it is, I would get a QOsimo 17 inch and buy an extended life battery as it would fill my gaming needs and design needs with that big gorgeous screen.

 

Qosmio is one brick though, if you're carrying it around, it'll show its weight on your shoulders

I can only tell you about my M40, which you could get about 5 hours of light work with its 250 CAN$ extended battery.

Toshiba Satellite M40 - Pentium-M Sonoma 1.6ghz - 512mb DDR333 - 60gb 4200rpm - GeForce 6600 128mb - 15.4" BrightView WXGA TFT LCD

 

How come here in the states, that model of Toshiba doesn't have a dedicated graphics chip? I can lug the weight around..that's not an issue...but I want a decent gaming rig that also has the staying power of a true centrino laptop.

Basically, I need it to do everything that my home computer does

 

I just got the Qosmio F15 from Comp USA.
It's supposed to have 128 dedicated Nvidia, 512 ram, Pentium M 1.8, 15.4 XGA Truview screen, and 8xDVD-+RW, CD-RW. I plan to get 2 512 Ram. Is that going to make a big difference?

It's alright. Works for what I want to do. I haven't gotten into the world of gaming. What do you all reccommend? Can this Computer do a good job when it comes to games? Thanks for the help.

Oh, if you try to watch TV on it for like 3hrs (haven't watched a DVD on it for that long yet) it likes to freeze and refuse to shut down. Also frequently, it likes to change the time by 3 hours or so, minutes and AM/PM seem to be unaffected. Thanks

- Cool

 

Hybrid9TN: I'm not sure about all Toshiba models, but if you want long lasting performing desktop replacement, I wouldn't go with Toshiba.

If I wanted to have a great powerful desktop replacement that's worth it, I'd go with the Dell Inspiron 9300. I've heard good things about this beast. Its battery life with the extended battery life (which you can buy right from the start for just a little more than the standard one), you can get a good 5 hours (from what I've read), and that's not a small feat for a 17" widescreen screen. It only weighs 8 pounds, which is a lot for a 15" notebook, but really light for a 17" beast. You can shop a little and get it while a good deal is one, there are coupons. You could equip it with a GeForce 6800 for ultra graphics performance ETc.. The list goes on. With Toshiba, you're stuck with what they offer.

Anyway, it's just my advice If I wanted to buy a big DTR, I would've gone with the Insipron 9300. It wasn't out when I bought my M40 either ,so perhaps I would'Ve chosen it instead

Toshiba Satellite M40 - Pentium-M Sonoma 1.6ghz - 512mb DDR333 - 60gb 4200rpm - GeForce 6600 128mb - 15.4" BrightView WXGA TFT LCD

 

My only concern with the Dell is that I have heard many people complain about the LCD sparkle and so forth. I don't want to get one and have to deal with sending it back cause of that...also, I'm huge on Keyboards cause I type alot and it has to be comfortable. I just like being able to test out the machine before I invest in it. And, to be even a little picky, that Dell just looks plain ugly in my opinion..but then again, I always thought my old IBM Thinkpad A30 from years ago was sexy as hell...so go figure

I still love the look of that 17 inch Qosimo....I could definitely see myself carrying that thing around like we just got married or something

 

One thing you should consider is N-charge. They sell it at Future Shop and Best Buy in Canada.

It claims to give you an extra five hours. What you do is hook it up to your laptop when you start using it and it works like an outlet. I have seen it at the store and it is very small and weighs about a pound. So you would use it until it ran out, then you would use the 2-3 hours of your laptop battery.

 

Ok Hybrid, your points are all valid, it was just a suggestion I would also hesitate because the Dell can only be ordered.

About N-Charge, that seems neat! I'll look into that It would surely be handy if it's around 1 pound, I could bring this thing instead of the charger and the overall travel weight wouldn't be very different!

Toshiba Satellite M40 - Pentium-M Sonoma 1.6ghz - 512mb DDR333 - 60gb 4200rpm - GeForce 6600 128mb - 15.4" BrightView WXGA TFT LCD

 

http://www.notebookreview.com/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=15317
Please visit this link and help me choose my Toshiba notebook