The U300 is nice!

I love this little laptop. Only thing that happened today was that the comp made me do a system restore due to the computer shutting down improperly! I thought I did but either way i was half sleep.

Every now and then when i'm about to click a link in IE the browser gets minimized. Which i can't stand!

I have erased some programs but I'm afraid to remove more from fear that i might get the same problem as above.

 

Where have you been? Its been out last month.

Go to your local store to see and feel and touch it.

 

- Too busy staring at the Mac.
- Stores have just started offering lower prices for the U300 this week.

 

Yah, just about every store has it now. BB and CC have it in already few weeks ago.

The keyboard are a little mushy.

 

So I've been looking at the Sony Vaio SZ6 series, and the Dell 1330 (like everyone else), and was at Best Buy today to check out their SZ's. I thought the SZ seemed a little cheap and flimsy (granted it was a floor model), but did stumble upon the u300 which caught my eye... not so much the laptop, but the price! It seems to me like this little 13.3 inch laptop has a LOT of great features and stats for a bargain price.

How can these be so cheap?


I'd probably pull the trigger on the U305-S5127 on Amazon.com for 1,299 (1,199 after rebates), but I'm skeptical of the rediculously slow 4200rpm hard drive. It seems like it would take ages for Vista to load with those speeds. Though it IS a 200 gig hard drive. I just wish you could swap that out for their 160 gig 5400rmp hard drive. The 7100 Santa Rosa is pretty nice with that set-up. I just need to do some travel photography and video stuff so I don't need THAT great of a set-up. Gaming is for desktops.

Speaking of swapping hard drives... how hard is that? Let's say I get this laptop now with the uber-slow hard drive and eventually want to upgrade to a really fast laptop hard drive in a few months. Is there any way to swap out laptop hard drives? And if so how much of a pain in the butt would that be? I'd imagine you'd have to back up everything on another drive and then swap the drives and reinstall windows? Or am I missing something? I try to avoid more techinal stuff like that whenever possible.

Otherwise, what on earth is wrong with this deal?

Amazon Toshiba Link

And where are the reviews for this little beast?

Thanks by the way, you guys are great

 

I have the u300 listed at 899 at BB, and the only thing im not liking too much is the mushy keyboard, but if i can find a way to get the keyboard out and tinker, i have a fix that should take care of it, so if anyone can send me instructions on how to remove the kb i would be very happy.

as would all other u300 owners.

 

Went to Circuity City today and checked out the U305 while I was at it. I am pretty disappointed, but then again, at that price, I shouldn't have been expecting much. Its still quite a bargain.

Keyboard was too flexy for my liking and it can only get worse with age. Also, the screen was not as bright and crisp as the U205's (12in) model.

 

How are there still no reviews on this laptop?

I also went to Best Buy today to check it out again and the ONLY thing that nags on me is the cheap feeling keyboard. Are there any keyboards for a 13 inch that aren't chinsey feeling? It seems like that is a very common complaint for this genre of laptop.

 

Review is not as critical as you can see it at the store.

Yah, the keyboard feels cheesy. One way I test is lift one of the keys and you can see its kinda loose.

Screen is alright to me.

One thing I didnt like is the warm palmrest. I think all small laptop less than 14.1" have this problem.

 

In the past I would have said, get a grip if 0.5-1 lb is a big deal.....but trust me, the extra weight makes the notebook feel way bigger and heavier, even if it is just 0.5 lb - 1lb.

This is especially noticeable if you carry it a few times a week in your bag.

 

What is the size of the standard battery on this thing?
56 wH? Or do they achieve the low weight by only adding on a 4 cell battery?
What's the battery life?

 

If I'm not mistaken, it has a 6 cell battery and I heard reports of 2.5-3hrs depending on usage and settings (correct me if I'm wrong.) Toshiba also offers a 9 cell battery for it too on their website.

 

I'm sorry to say, but what are you guys talking about? I just went to give the U300 (Santa Rosa model) a look and its keyboard was superb. Definitely something I'd be confortable typing with the whole day. For $1399 Canadian it's a steal. Since I came to the realization that I don't game on the PC anymore, I'm seriously considering selling my brand new Acer Aspire 5720 and paying a little more for this.

Say, what's the main difference between the Satellite and Satellite Pro models? Color scheme? The only thing that sets the Satellite Pro apart is the black keyboard and matte silver lid - correct?

 

Is it true that the highest end model of the U305 has an extended battery already installed?

What do you think that adds to the weight of the laptop?

 

Compared to the other laptops on display, the U305 had the most keyboard flex. Actually, I take that back, this U205 there had slightly even more flex, It'll feel fine now....but over the long run, the flex may just get worse. Price is tempting though.

 

The price is definitely tempting...

Hmm, I think I need to head down to Best Buy for the 23rd time and check out the keyboard flex yet again.

 

Yep! This was copied and pasted from toshiba's website

Satellite U305-S5127 -> Li-Ion (7800mAh)

Satellite U305-S5107 -> Li-Ion (5200mAh)


Anyhow, you guys should consider purchasing the u305 from costco.com - I mean you DO get the purchase security of having 3 entire months to fiddle with it to see if there's anything wrong


- Jordan

 

Oh wow I didn't know Costco was selling them. I was even there today.

 

Oh Costco Online (costco.com) seems to sell everything from Coffins to Pamper -> LoL (no, seriously).

But yea, not everything they have online are in their warehouses; plus, you *don't* have to be a member to purchase from costco.com - which is kinda nice I think

- Jordan

 

Does 305 have more flex than 300? i cant test it since i live in Canada and cant see 305 only 300. But i am, thinking of ordering it to US and coming to pick it up...

Thanks


Edit: Just called to toshiba canada and they said that U300-NS5 is not Santa Rosa??

 

Just picked up an open box U305-S5107 from Circuit City - it hadn't been beat on all that much (pulled off the stickers, wiped the whole thing down and it looks brand new). Did a restore and uninstalled all the frickin' bloatware (it was loaded with it). It is a great little machine, not as refined in design or materials as the Sony SZ series, and a bit heavier than a 13.3" should be imho.

Toshiba is a bit optimistic on weight - on a mail scale it is 4.75lbs w/ the standard 6 cell battery, and the AC adapter is .75lbs, so 5.5lb travel weight.

was able to apply a AAA 10% off coupon on top of the $799 open-box price for a pre-tax of $719, pretty stoked.

 

I just picked up one of these at Staples in Canada. They are currently on sale for $799.99, plus I got $55 off in online coupons and got a Canon MP160 all-in-one for practically free after instant and mail-in rebates.

This is one sweet machine: excellent contrasty and vibrant screen in a very small form factor.

 

Strange.

I have the U300-NS5; the only thing that couldn't be Santa Rosa is the processor, since it's running at a FSB of 667mhz. But since it's based on the G965 chipset I was pretty sure that it's Santa Rosa.

Any other things, Toshiba put the Santa Rosa sticked on the laptop... they should decide if it's Santa Rosa, yes or no.

 

yes it was cleared, T5450 is the low end for Santa rosa with 667 FSB.. well i am getting mine from Costco in US my mom will bring it here... hope its nice

 

Why are you buying it in the U.S.? You live in Canada?

 

yep in Toronto, but since i want the T7100 CPU i am ask my mom to get it from there

 

Good Decision - You also get the 'extended' battery with the S5127 vs. the regular batteries that come with the other models; it's suppose to also come with bluetooth which is just the cherry on the top

Oh, and a better Videocard (X3100 vs. 950)


- Jordan

 

ok!

The Canadian U300-N5

Has C2Duo 1.67ghz, 2GB RAM, 160GB Hard Disk(5400rpm), X3100 and G965 chipset.

They are selling them 1099$(CDN) at The Source by CC.(200$ instant rebates)

 

The Source's return policy is kind of 'shady' - don't you think?

All in all, I'm purchasing piece of mind from costco.com - I've purchased 2 laptops in the past, one came with a busted dvd drive; got it from staples, so it was only 14 days to return and I was over that time since I misplaced my confidence in HP's technical support which lied to me and kept me stringing along for 3 months in regards to just sending me a replacement dvd drive.

The second laptop I bought was a Toshiba Portege M300 which kept making beeping sounds and lagging a minute behind when I 'attempt' to type at 15-20 words per minute during lectures - found this out after a month or so after purchasing it, spent almost $3000 on it after taxes + extended warranty.


Moral of the story is, manufacturers don't really care about warranties cause they have your cash already; so all a knowledgeable consumer can do is purchase from somewhere reputable with a good return policy.


Overall, I couldn't afford to buy another $1000-$1500 'Dud' again; I'm a student and it's really taxing my resources.

 

hhhmm...I wouldn't be entirely sure it's the X3100 graphics card - seeing that it's The Source's website you're getting the info from. Then again, Toshiba Canada's website is no better as it vaguely writes GM965 as the graphics card - the GM965 is the chipset and not the name of the specific graphics chip included with it.

The best thing one could do is to go check out a NS5 and look inside windows to see which card it is.


- Jordan

 

Oh Hey, you might want to consider getting a faster hard drive for the S5127, the one that comes with it is a 4200RPM and those are somewhat painstakingly slowwww...

Newegg.com has 2 cheap Hitachi 7200 RPM Sata hard drives that would work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...984 1035507776 1035907918&bop=And&Order=PRICE


Or if you prefer getting it here in Canada, you could always order one from ncix.com:

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=55540832470&vpn=0A25026 SATA&manufacture=HITACHI


Essentially, for the 80GB, it works out to be around the same price purchasing it either here or in the US from newegg.com


- Jordan

 

Yay! My U305-S5127 Arrived!! :

The box is a lot smaller than I envisioned, but I guess they're just cutting down on packaging materials

Haven't opened it up yet; gonna wait till I get home next week to start playing around with it - plus, it doesn't make any sense until I slipstream Windows XP SP2 into my original Windows XP cd; not to mention prep all the needed drivers and toshiba utilities to control things like power savings, hard drive protection, etc.

Overall, I only had to pay $110 for GST; shipping was by UPS Worldwide Express for $140 (which included customs clearance & insurance for the laptop & only took 1 day to arrive).

Will keep you guys updated after I backup the original hard drive in there, swap it with a 7200rpm hitachi and install windows xp on it

- Jordan

 

K, so Curiosity Killed the Camel - mostly cause it was taking too long - LoL

Anyhow, I couldn't wait - I just had to open it up and take a look see.

My First Impression after sitting down and taking a good look at it was -> Shiney

The second thing that impressed me was how well it was packaged (i.e. there was a thin soft cloth material sitting between the keyboard and the screen to prevent abrasions during transit I take it - nice touch

Keyboard doesn't really have any noticeable flex to me (as I'm use to my Portege M300), but yea, the key sizes on the keyboard are a lot bigger in comparison to my M300 - which I think might be nice.

Then there was the Windows BloatISTA CD/DVD Disks -> *hurls*

The other thing I noticed is that the cord going into the power adapter is 2 pronged - so people who're getting Surge Protectors for their laptops might want to watch out for this.

Personally, I'm going with APC for my power protection needs as usual; in this case:

http://www.apc.com/resource/include/techspec_index.cfm?base_sku=PNOTEPROC8

For those of you in Canada, you can get it here:
http://www.compusmart.com/Product/Default.aspx?SupplierPartNo=641029


Overall it seems like a nice laptop, though it feels almost like double the weight of my protege m300 (3.4LBs I think) when I lift it.

One of the minor complaints I have was that the stickers and it being somewhat difficult to remove without easily getting off the sticky residue.

But yea, due to personal pride, I had to etch off the Windows BloatISTA sticker - I just couldn't have it there advertising myself as another sheep who'll take anything up the arse from major corporations.

The extended battery sticks out approximately 3/4 inches from the laptop back, but it seems to have higher feet to lift the laptop off the table - probably providing better airflow; overall I don't think this will affect anything, and the better airflow is a welcome addition in my book.

Lastly, one thing that bothered me was how flimsy the locking mechanism to keep the laptop battery in place is - i.e. it's similar to the one under my portege m300, however in comparison to it, the u300's seems somewhat frail-ish or cheap; overall I'm sure it'll do the job (hold the battery), but it'd be nice if the mechanism didn't seem so flimsy/cheap in comparison to the portege m300, which just concerns me a bit.


Hope this helps

- Jordan

 

Hey Jordy, Thanks.... btw you bought it in USA and shipped to Canada? Where did you buy it??

Thanks for HDD info, but wouldnt it take more battery?

 

LoL - I told you in 'your' other thread silly -> costco.com

Costco.com is (Costco in the US), bought it using gift cards I bought here at the local Costco Canada warehouse, used it online and placed my order; sent it to a friend and had them ship it off to me using UPS WorldWide Express (1 Day, Custom's Clearance, & Insurance) for $140.

Had to pay $110 for GST - but that was sorta expected, not like you can get away with taxes or anything

Overall, don't forget what I said before about their return policy - which is the main reason why I went through all the trouble to purchase it from costco (3 - 6 months computer return policy).

In regards to the hard drive - nope, if you look at the specs for the Hitachi 5400rpm & 7200rpm they're identical. Toshiba uses Hitachi hard drives in their laptops, so I suspect that's what is currently in the u300's.

- Jordan

 

ok thanks man, i forgot about my other thread.

and thanks allot for HDD info i'll probably go with NCIX since i bought tons from them

 

np.

Question for all the u300/u305 owners:

Has ANYONE tried peeling off the section of the intel centrino duo sticker that states 'peel off here'?

When I tried to do so multiple times, the chassis structure in that section kept sinking downwards as though as if it were going to collapse from have zero structural support in that area...(i.e. since the expresscard slot & dvd drive are directly under that area).

Overall, it's a bad sticker placement, but that structural weakness in that particular area has me worried somewhat..

- Jordan

 

Hey, i usually use Googun its like a liquid and lets you peel of anything, i peeled of the old stickers that werent even possible to remove....

Anyways do you think 4 MB cache (T7300) will be a huge difference between 2 MB (T7100) ????

Thanks

 

Thanks for the tip, but I slowly took those pesky stickers off already - though at least I know I shouldn't grab and hold the laptop soley in that area in the future.

In terms of the cache, the only programs that could make full use of that would be virtualisation programs like vmware workstation, etc.. Apart from that it would be negligable. Overall, I think the only thing that'll really matter for everyday use and beyond is the mhz or ghz - and in this case it's not that much more for the bigger price tag you'll undoubtedly pay.

You should note though, if you bought a custom u300/u305 from toshiba.com - it'd only be 14 days to return it -> much less than toshiba.ca's 30 day policy; which just highlights that companies can get away with almost anything in the US.

Overall, I think the safest bet would be purchasing from Costco.com
But if money isn't an option, I would go straight ahead and order the Toshiba Tecra M8 (Windows XP ver.) directly from toshiba.com

If you didn't already know, the Tecra M8 is pretty much the same laptop, with a somewhat sturdier keyboard (though I think it's probably negligable) and a more subtle paint job - i.e. silver and black instead.


- Jordan

 

For those of you who are a little concerned about the structural integrity of the laptop chassis around the expresscard/dvd drive area, you might want to take a look at either getting a expresscard dummy card - which Toshiba so cheaply *Does Not provide* Or a 54(mm) Expresscard card..

I've noticed and read that HP packages such things (dummy expresscard cards) in their laptops, so that's a source of one or you can always do something like get one of these:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/store/product/product_detail/EL623AA

Personally, since I don't have the option of getting a dummy filler card, the easiest option for me is probably to prop up that area with that HP remote for $25 canadian.

Feel free to chip in on this issue

- Jordan

 

Does anybody have an issue with the screen? When I move my head up and down the screen (not too much), from a top view it is extremely bright like as if the whole screen was experiencing light leakage, but from below, it looks really dark. Not sure if my screen has massive light leakage in general or if the screen is not as good.

Also does your disc drive make a high pitch screech like noise when it first starts reading a disc then goes to normal?

 

Shirke,
I also picked up a U300-NS1 (same CPU as yours, please see my post on:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=2439835&postcount=9)
and I also did feel excessive heat coming off around the vent area.

However, my biggest issue was the constant FAN ON/OFF issue, even during idling with it going HI-MED-LOW ( opposed to increasing in fan speed as needed)
Are you finding a similar issue on yours? You're mentioning it is really quiet, but I'm kind of wondering since that wasn't my experience.
Also, how is the bottom? Is it fairly hot? Have you run "fanspeed" ( http://www.almico.com/sfdownload.php) utility to dump temp. related data?

 

anyone know what happened to U305 in COstco... u305 S5127???? its gone???

 

LoL - You really take too long rubosh, I figure you would've gotten yours already

But yea, costco.com usually removes things from their website that aren't in stock - then after they get some in, it magically pops up back; same thing happened with the U200, so just keep checking back bi-weekly or so.

- Jordan

 

i didnt buy it yet cause i was in Frosh Week and my mom is going there on like 17th so i have to wait for her to get there so she can bring it back lol..

 

Ahh well, ya snooze ya loose - LoL, j/k

I'm sure they'll have it back in stock soon - worse case, you get to save some dosh and spend it on yourself

- Jordan

P.S. If you're buying a laptop from Costco.com, make sure to use the 'express shipping' on checkout - it'll reach in literally like 2 business days after ordering

 

bought one of these for my sister. 700 dolars usd at best buy. so far so good.

i'm surprised by all the disks that came with the lappy. my sony made me burn mine using the provided recovery menu and download the drivers from their site

 

ROFL! Same here with my almost $3000 Toshiba Portege M300 - I had to burn the stupid dvds myself. But I'm wondering since I got 'this' u305 from the US - if they get the honour of having pre-boxed restore disks

- Jordan

 

wow. 3k and no complimentary cd's..... i've read that some toshiba models you have to burn the disks. particularily models that have a recovery partition.

for all the current series of sony laptops you have to burn your own disks. the manuals are only in pdf format. noobs oftentimes are left clueless because of these "innovations."

getting back on topic i've recently got some probs with the laptop. i got a couple (4 to be exact) of BSOD relating to CI.dll when booting the laptop. i'm pretty sure it's a vista related problem. tried finding a fix for this issue but there are none. i also had to download the atheros wireless driver as it was not installed (right out of the box)

 

Woot, just got mine lol after a month of talking and finding the damn thing... its looks pretty awesome and it has the recovery DVD.
Just one question, when you use the recovery DVD to do complete reinstall does the junk come there as well.... its just too much bloatware!!
Thanks