Some quick questions about the satellite u300 and tecra M8

Hello there.

I am considering buying either of these laptop. My main use for a laptop would be for general university stuff, web browsing, youtubing, MSN, yahoo, some photoshopping, multimedia, and torrents. Also my computer usage style involves a fair bit of multitasking

I've read the reviews for both these notebooks on this website and i had some quick questions about the u300 and M8.

Does the flex of the u300's keyboard get annoying?
Is the sound quality of the u300 speakers tolerable?
Is the noise the M8 generates tolerable?
Which one operates faster for my multi-tasking style?

So after that what do you think is better suited for me?

Thanks!

 

Are there any other downsides to these laptops that the review on this website didn't find?

P.P.S i also posted this on the help me find a laptop forum but i thought that the Toshiba forum might be a better suited in answering my questions because hopefully some of you here actually own it. Thanks!

 

I'm also a university student and own the U305 for about 3-4 months. So far, I have no major complaints about it. It is a solid performer, well built, and attractive in design. My usage style is VERY similar to yours and I am sure that this notebook will satisfy most, if not all of your needs.

There is keyboard flex, but it really doesn't bother me and I type notes for hours on end. Personally, I find it better than stiff keys that sound like a typewriter when someone is banging on it in the middle of lecture. It's all preference in the end.

The speakers are very good IMO for a notebook. Of course it doesn't lack the punch of a good 2.1 system, but it is very clear and not tinny like most last gen notebooks. With the right equalizer settings you can achieve some really nice results. And of course, the headphone port is an audiophiles best friend ^^

From what I gather, the M8 is basically a U300 clone but more business oriented giving you a better keyboard, Fingerprint reader, A flat finish lid and an option for XP pro. It's a great notebook for professional work and probably worth it's heftier price tag to some people, but for your case and purpose, the U300 is is a much better option considering that it's a few hundred cheaper for nearly the same model.

The noise complaint for the U305/M8 is all on part to the fact that the system comes with a HUGE amount of bloatware that bogs the system down. When I first started the system up, it took nearly 2 minutes just to get to the login screen. There were around 87 processes running in the background, eating up all the resources and CPU, thus causing the fan to blow on high to cool it down (Any notebook fan blowing on high is obviously going to sound loud)

However, once all the bloatware was uninstalled and Vista optimized up to my spec, the U305 is a very fast and quiet machine. Battery life significantly improved (4-5 hours on Word, no wifi, low brightness) startup time was around 25 seconds flat. It became a beast in multitasking (make sure to get 2GB of ram!) I just can stress how important it is to optimize it before using the notebook.

For resources on how to optimize Vista you can go here

 

Thanks Cloud Nine! this laptop is sounding better and better

Although I have recently come across the portege M600, and it sounds pretty good as well. So now its a toss up between those two

Thanks again cloud nine!