Satellite P105 (with nVidia GeForce 7900) -- DISCONTINUED!

Well, I got a quote a week ago from Toshiba Direct for the new Satellite P105 with the nVidia GeForce 7900 -- I was really excited when I found this laptop. But today I tried to go back and retrieve my quote and was unable to do so. I called Toshiba and asked about my quote, giving the quote reference # and all and the conversation went like this:

Lady: "Wow... no wonder you can't retrieve the quote. They discontinued and pulled the system yesterday."
Me: *shocked* "What?!"
Lady: "Yeah, we're waiting to see if they will replace it with a newer gaming model, but no one knows why it was pulled."
Me: "How long was this on the market?"
Lady: "Just 5 weeks"
Me: "Ouch. Well, that's disappointing. I was ready to buy it but I guess I will obviously have to wait. Do you think there will be a replacement soon?"
Lady: "Like I said, we're hoping but right now no one knows. I would check back at the end of the month."
Me: "Is there anything comparable to this system?"
Lady: "Unfortunately, no. This one had the high end nVidia card which a lot of people liked, but there must have been problems with it for this particular line of the system to be pulled so quick."

--
So, FYI guys... unless this lady lied to me, don't count on buying the Satellite P105 (with the nVidia GeForce 7900 card) anytime soon. I'm sure local places like Best Buy will still have it on the shelf, but be wary if it's been discontinued after 5 weeks on the market.

-Kelly

 

Odd - its still available on their US site....

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-30597

 

Hmm, I see that now... that's really strange. I should've taken a screen shot because yesterday it absolutely would NOT let me configure the P105-S921. It just had a link to "How to Buy." And like I said, I spoke with a lady from Toshiba Direct and she told me that particular system was pulled on Monday. Is it possible there was a "glitch" and this is the new re-manufacture with the glitch fixed?

[edit: On their config page, it lists the following for RAM options:

Kingston 512MB DDR2 SODIMM [$99.00]
Kingston 1GB DDR2 SODIMM [$200.00]
Toshiba 512MB PC2-4200 DDR2-533MHz Notebook Memory Kit [$85.50]
Toshiba 1GB PC2-4200 DDR2-533MHz Notebook Memory Kit [$167.40]

--do you know if that's in addition to what it already has? or if that's the max it will take? I remember the one I configured said it supported up to 4GB RAM. I'm just trying to figure out what (if anything) was changed.

[end of edit]

I'm getting ready to go to college and my dad is willing to pay for a laptop. I had the Toshiba Satellite P105-S921 in mind until yesterday when I was "told" it was discontinued. My dad is looking at getting a Dell Inspiron E1705. Now, I'm not a fan of Dell. I've experienced bad news in the past with them and I was hoping to have an alternative "name brand" (my dad insists on buying something "well-known" so even though Asus and Sager are reputable (and ODM for many places), that's probably outta the question.

Any suggestions? Sorry if this is going off-topic.

Thanks,
Kelly

 

They may have been confused and they were just out of them at the Toshiba direct store. It is up on the site now as can be ordered again.

 

I've been using this laptop extensively and I haven't noticed any glitch at all. My only complain is that it eats up the battery in 2 hours.

 

Doesn't sound good at all!
Anyone heard anything new?
Is it still "discontinued", or what's the deal?

 

I think it was just a rumor, they are back in stock at cosco, tigerdirect, amazon, best buy and sears.Although circuit city has dropped them for some reason.My brother works at circuit city in customer support, he is going to find out why they don't carry it anymore.

 

It's a 17" notebook, so it going to eat its battery much faster than a 15.4" notebook. 2 Hours is actually OK for a 17" notebook.

 

Ok, thanks for the info.
Hope you're right!

 

Yeah, that's the stated life on the manual. Even if it is up to spec it doesn't mean I should conform to it right?

conformism--;

 

uh it got upgraded p100 st9212 faster hard rive and blooth tooth now.

 

well it's not 100% an upgrade , the memory is now 1gig of 533mhz memory instead of 667 which sucks if you just want to buy it and get stuck with older memory

 

Ok I am confused, toshiba told me the p105-s921 has been discontinued.Has it been discontinued or is it just being upgraded.Anyone have some inside information?

 

well in any case if u want to buy it you can at many of these stores
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?h...921&btnG=Search&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wf
that other model has a 5400 rpm hd and bluetooth but 533mhz memory instead of 667 , so decide what's more important to you , you can always upgrade the memory or the harddrive alternativly

 

I bet they are flushing inventory and are going to re-release the P105s in mid-to-end of July with the Core 2 Duo.

 

**** I'm glad I bought mine from costco.

 

Haha, well - I think this is pure speculation; I think it's just backordered. If Toshiba did pull this trick and will release a Core Duo 2, with, say, a 512MB 7900GS...well, eh.

 

I believe they have discontinued it (P105-S921). The Toshiba rep I spoke with on the phone as well as the CDW rep I spoke with said that it is no longer shipping. The Toshiba rep said you may be able to find it at retail stores that still have them in stock. I didn't get any verification on why they are not selling them any longer after only being on the market for 90 days.

Though the Toshiba rep said that the P100-ST9212 is a comparable item. It comes with faster HD (5400rpm vs. 4200rpm), smaller HD (100GB vs. 160GB), slower RAM (533Mhz vs. 667Mhz), and bluetooth. These are limited quantities as well.

 

Wow I kind of feel screwed really, paying 2k+ for a cumputer only to find it has been yanked off the shelves 1 day later after only 90 days since its release.Thank god for costcos 6 month return policy.I can confirm that it has been dicontinued, I talked to 4 toshiba reps they all said the same thing, plugs been pulled on it.

 

Wait a bit... I went ahead and ordered the P100-ST9212 even though it is probably discontinued. I'd return it only if you were wanting to wait for the Core 2 Duo in mid-to-late July.

I think that is what they are doing. They didn't give you a reason did they?

A good machine is a good machine. Considering this is almost on par with a $3400 machine from Dell (XPS), I'd say it is still a good deal.

 

Eh, that's a bit of an overstatement. The $3400 XPS comes with a 2.16GHz Core Duo, 7900 GTX (which is about 15-20% better than the GS and has an extra 256MB), and 100GB 7200 RPM drive standard.

 

The key is that I said almost. For me $1,400 is a huge premium to pay for an incrementally better machine. The P105-S921 will play all current games rather well. Sure I won't see the extra frame-rates, but will I really be able to tell?

 

You can get XPSM1710 with 7900GTX for $2250
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=53902
I think M1710 is a way better deal.

 

That is a good deal. I stand corrected...

 

Looks like we have a partial answer to our
question...

http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/cmod.to?seg=HHO&coid=-30605

They just added 3 new models to the P100 line of Toshiba Satellites

P100-ST9212 (256MB GeForce 7900GS, 1GB 533Mhz RAM, 100 GB 5400RPM, 17" XGA+ 1440x900) - $1899 *Existed prior to 6/20

P100-ST9012 (512MB GeForce 7900GTX, 1GB 533Mhz RAM, 80GB 5400RPM, 17" XGA+ 1440x900) - $1999

P100-ST9412 (512MB GeForce 7900GTX, 1GB 667Mhz RAM, 100GB 7200RPM, 17" XGA+ 1680x1050) - $2499

P100-ST9612 (512MB GeForce 7900GTX, 2GB 667Mhz RAM, 100GB 7200RPM, 17" XGA+ 1680x1050) - $2899

I think they were just changing up the product line to address the slow hard drive and low resolution critics.

 

**** a 7900GTX at 1999$ retail (which we all know will turn to 1899$ at least at other shops ) that's so cheap

 

P100-ST9012 (512MB GeForce 7900GTX, 1GB 533Mhz RAM, 80GB 5400RPM, 17" XGA+ 1440x900) - $1999

If they release this in Canada I swear to God I'd wet my pants.

 

Although I don't find it justifiable to spend that much money on a notebook, you would be able to tell. The GTX version is 15%-20% faster than the GS, as I already stated. I also have to add that the XPS would perform much better than the P105 in stock format (the P100 only has a 4200RPM drive - quite skimpy for a gaming notebook) Now, I'm not trying to bash Toshiba here (I used to own a Satellite myself), but the P105's competition lies with the E1705 with the Nvidia GS card, not the XPS.

 

After having compared an xps side by side with a P105 I would have to say the p105 blows away the xps.The screen is so much more lifelike and much brighter than the dull and lifeless dell screen.The speakers on the p105 blow away the xps speakers as well.The display and sound are the most important parts of any gaming notebook by far.The only advantage the dell has is a faster hard rive which is easy to fix and 15-20% faster video.Not to mention the p105 and it's replacements can be had for far cheaper than dell.Costco has the p105 for $1800.

 

I won it, 33 per cent faster hard drive , and ran us easier to upgrade which I am maxing out with 2 gig soon. I know max is 4 gig, but...... You know when you are worried over a lil bit, you have some slight issues. This system kicks butt, seriously fast.....and loaded with everything. I have tested it, slammed it with everything I could find....and handled it all. Seriously see if you can ind a gaming laptop that can match these scores with as close to these specs......for 1899.00. (So the ram upgarded is 150. with free shipping. ) I know you cant, and don't try pulling out Ibuypower or cyberpower for they are sham artists, I know I tried dealing with them.

 

they are seriously taking names now. Wow look at the list of new laptops.....wow....now I am ticked I just got my p100 st9212 lol Now I am going to cry.....OH well........Toshiba is getting serious now.

 

seriously the top of the line one compares to the dell 1710......big time, and with the price differential.....uh, toshiba wins. LOL and my 9212 is great just imagine.

 

Another consideration for the 17" $2k+ gaming market is the Sager NP5760.
Our review is here.

 

I really love the specs on the new sager5760. I'm really tempted to pull trigger on this notebook but one thing that that makes me reluctant is the "outdated" look. Is it just me or does it actually look a bit outdated? Especially, the green and orange analog displays.

 

How is that cheap. you go for the basics and it is 2k..........I wish it was as loaded as you get this toshiba stuff right now. If you rpride it out for the stuff you get, well your at the 2.5 k range or more. Stop posting if you work for them. At least Dell (alienware) isnt, or Falcon etc......
2109 for a 40 gig hard drive and a t2300 processor...which is a step down from the processor in the entry level toshiba, ouchies.
2400 core duo, 100 gig 5400 rpm, go7900 gs, bluetooh, all/any wireless you will ever need.........etc

 

Sounds interesting, although I have to say I'm still pretty tempted by the P105 (it seems like the Sager ends up in the $2500 range once you actually boost the processor, hard drive and RAM..... I can't imagine someone getting a laptop like that and being satisfied with 512 megs of RAM, 40 gig HD and a 1.66 GHz Core Duo).

I would guess at that point the major advantage between the Sager and the P105 would be a 7900GTX instead of a 7900GS, but I think I might just as well stick with the 7900GS anyway because of the form factor and weight differences (9.3 pounds or whatever for the Sager and 7.1 pounds for the P105).

Anyone have any idea when places like CompUSA will actually get the P105 in stock? They still just list it as "Coming Soon", from what I can tell.

-Zadillo

 

im really glad i caught this thread. i work at compusa and was considering the p105-S9722 for a long time. when i checked our inventory we only have 2 in stock as opposed to 11 last week and are discontinued. if its such a hot notebook right now, why is it discontinued? im heading to a different store across twon to pick it up later this week. im really hoping that this discontinue thing is a mistake, because im kind of disappointed.

 

The P105 series has been through a ton of iterations, and the individual models don't seem to last very long.

I would guess that the most likely reason for the current P105-S9722 to be discontinued would be because a new iteration is coming out with Windows Vista (they have discontinued previous models for very minor things like RAM and HD upgrades, and somewhat small upgrades like the move from Core Duo to Core 2 Duo).

It isn't being discontinued because of unpopularity.

 

yo i could see that. that laptop had major heat issues. i tried it out in the store i thought my hand was actually going to burn off.

 

Well, that's kind of natural, especially in the case of the P105, which has a smaller chassis relative to something like, say, the Dell E1705.

It wasn't discontinued to make way for a completely new model (at least I doubt it). It's much more likely just a minor upgrade to account for P105 models with Vista (as I mentioned above, Toshiba has replaced previous P105's for just about any spec changes, such as increased HD, RAM, processor, etc.).

 

so would it be a complete mistake to go a purchase one of these tomorrow when comusa opens? or should i wait...ive been waiting months to find a good bargain and price...and i found out two days before a commitment that it was discontinued.

 

If you can find a good price, it probably wouldn't be a huge mistake, especially if you need a laptop ASAP.

I would guess that the upcoming revision of the P105 series will be a minor one, and I'd expect almost identical specs, with the only difference being Windows Vista preinstalled. Even if you buy a P105 now you can get the Windows Vista Express Upgrade coupon, so it isn't going to be a huge deal, really.

The only reason I'd say to wait at this point would be if you didn't need something immediately, and could wait until the Spring, when Santa Rosa platform notebooks will come out. I'd expect that to coincide with a Santa Rosa based P105 update that could have more significant upgrades across the board (ability to address more memory, faster FSB to allow it to gain full advantage of the Core 2 Duo processors, improved wireless networking, possibly hybrid HD's, etc.).

But again, that's only if you don't need something immediately. If you do need a gaming laptop soon, the P105-S9722, especially at a nicely discounted price, would still be a very good choice.