Toshiba X205-1440 x 900 resolution on a 17" screen? Wtf are they thinking?

I was looking for a notebook similar to the Dell Inspiron 1720 that I ordered on July 4th because Dell apparently can't handle shipping out as many notebooks as they have orders for, and I need mine before school starts (the 20th). I was really excited to see a great deal on a x205 for Toshiba with a free router and printer and $100 discount, and 8700m gt, HD-DVD drive, and I read that is has an 1440 x 900 pixel (WXGA+) resolution. What in the hell were they thinking? I've mostly seen that resolution on 14" notebooks...does anyone have any experience with this and is it really as bad as it sounds?

 

I think that would be the same as 1280 x 800 on a 15.4" screen

 

I used to always buy the Dell's with the 1920x1200 resolution, but this time I just bought the Toshiba Satellite X-200, which is the Canadian version of the X205.

The 1440x900 resolution is fine from my experience so far. The display looks great and you can actually read what is up there without having to bump up dpi settings and zoom in web pages. I also figured that I never run any real serious games at max resolution anyway since it reduces the framerates too much, so why have a display with such a high res. anyway?

My opinion is that for gaming... 1440x900 is better unless you are a complete videophile who is always striving for the highest, biggest, baddest everything and you don't mind playing games with 30fps. Other than that, maybe playing hddvd's would look better on a native 1920x1200 display, but I don't plan on doing that on my computer anyway.

Just my opinion.

 

I type this on my 1440x900 display on my x205-s9349... the IT department I work for has a deal with Dell, so I have seen most of their (non-shiny-new) lines of Latitude, Inspiron, and XPS series. (no Vostros yet)

This display is not the best I have ever seen, (big fan of the G2S screen at native, but I can't stand the speakers) but it is indeed quite nice.
Colors are beautiful and bright and nothing I have noticed is washed or strange looking or grainy and action in games is very VERY nice to behold.
Movies look (and sound) wonderful with just the laptop and no other hardware.

1440x900 native is a blessing in games when paired with the 7100 and the 8700GT because you can expect to run at native resolution with smooth-as-glass gameplay in most release games at medium to high settings.

Honestly, given the other stats of the laptop, the 1440 x 900 display is a blessing in disguise as it matches the capablilities of the rest of the laptop at a price range that is hard to ignore.

I would not hesitate to recommend this laptop for its consistently good features. It does not have the absolute best of any one component (well except possibly speakers), but it is one of the best packages for the price IMHO.

The best part is, you can go and play with it at local stores to make sure this laptop is for you. (You don't have to buy it there, but its nice to have hands-on with a laptop before you buy.)

For me, it "just felt right". I wasn't even in the market for a 17" laptop and just playing with this Toshiba for 20 minutes and compariing it to the marginally cheaper (15"!) ASUS G1S made my decision easy.

The only downsides at this moment are DX10 performance (convinced it's a fixable driver issue as DX9 performance is very nice) and the insane amount of bloatware.(blew it away and reloaded Vista Ultimate + stock drivers/utils) I could do without the "battle ready" sticker on the palmrest as well, but all-in-all those are minor issues in comparison to the complete package the x205-s9349 presents.

 

The X205-S9359 has a 1680x1050 panel. Hard to find a good deal on it though.

 

Yes the X205-S9359 has a resolution of 1680x1050 and the speakers are just absolutely out of this world!!! I also like the keyboard. It's a joy to type on. Haven't played any games on it but soon will.

I will say that taking that sticker on the palm rest off is a major beeyotch!!!

 

You have X205, and you haven't played games on it.
Nice... =) That laptop is made for games =)

 

Keep in mind anyone who wants to play games on it has to get rid of the bloatware first.

Either you blank it and start over or send hours uninstalling...

Either way it takes awhile.

I didn't get to game on it the first evening I had it until the last 10 minutes beofre it was time for bed.

 

consider this: my 19" external lcd runs at 1440 x 900. I know that externals and lcd's on laptops are different, but i have no complaints.

 

Hard to find a good deal? Costco.com is selling both models for $150 under retail and you get a free year extension to the standard manufacturers warranty.

 

Yeah, it's hard though when you have a NB with the King in it. But I did play CC3 on it on Ultra High with all the bloatware still on it and the X205 was like, "OJ, are you kidding! Give me more! CC3 on Ultra High is nothing. Here is your game on Ultra High settings OJ." It was not as good as my Dell XPS but the XPS is King so what r you going to do. But the X205 does make the XPS go run and hide when it comes to playing music. The XPS just doesn't have the speakers to compete.

Next will be Doom 3 and FEAR so stay tuned for more on the XPS vs. X205. I think the XPS will win. What do you think?

Oh yeah, all respect due to Chaz 'cause I typing on the X205 right now and it's a joy. I'll let you know more later.