Laptops Arena

It is strange to watch nowadays manufacturers how they merge different range to create new ones. It is not bad at all, but it does send a strange vibe. Doing so, manufacturers are trying to expand their sales beyond any limits. However, diversity is good especially for the final clients. Having a wide portfolio is mandatory for any manufacturer.

Toshiba is one of the many manufacturers that are still merging lines and creating new ones. Just take a look at the Satellite Pro line. It is basically a fusion between the business laptop line, Tecra and the everyday laptop line, Satellite. Satellite Pro delivers all the business essentials in a everyday laptop package. If you are looking for a laptop for your business home, or home office, then Satellite Pro may be the line you should look in to it.


The first laptop is this family is Satellite Pro S300M. The S300M really brings just the necessary features like Easy Guard security, USB sleep and charge and also average performances. The Satellite Pro offers a sleek and lightweight design. Basically, S300M looks too much like a Tecra laptop. The titanium silver LCD cover improves the S300M design, delivering a stylish yet notable feature, keeping the fingerprints and minor scratches away. The titanium silver LCD cover has a centered silvery Toshiba logo which accentuates the nice design. If you are familiar with the Tecra A10 then you are familiar with S300M. They basically look the same, and definitely sports the same great build quality. The S300M provides a solid feedback for any of the users.

The same titanium silver is found on the upper cover of the surrounding keyboard case. The rest of the S300M features a matte black plastic, on the back, on the sides, all around the display, and even the keyboard keys. All the ports and slots are integrated in the same way like in the Tecra A10. On the front side you get, beside the seven status LEDs, the microphone input port, the headphone output port, and the lock switch. You can find on the back side of the Satellite Pro S300M some ports and inputs, because the LCD cover doesn't function like a hinge, making the design rather conservative.

Therefore, on the back side S300M sports the input AV charge, the RGB monitor port, and the modem slot. On the left side you get the serial port, the cooling fan, the volume scroll control, one eSATA / USB combo port with Sleep and Charge,  the Bridge Media Adapter (compatible with xD Card, Multi Media Card, SDHC, Memory Stick and Memory Stick Pro, and Secure Digital), and the PCMCIA Type II Card Slot.

On the right side, Toshiba included three 2.0 USB ports, the Ethernet RJ 45 port, the Super Multi DVD (+ / - R double layer) drive supporting almost 11 formats (such as CD - ROM 24x, DVD - ROM 8x, DVD - R single layer 8x, DVD - R double layer 6x, CD - RW 10x, CD - R 24x, DVD - RW 6x, DVD + R single layer 8x, DVD + R double layer 6x, DVD + RW 6x, and DVD - RAM 5x). Once opened the S300M features the same keyboard as Tecra A10.

Unfortunately, the keyboard is still a small one, lacking the numerical keys to the right of the keyboard. Even so, you get enough space between the keys and even nice sized keys which offer good feedback when pressed. You can't exactly find something bad about the keyboard, especially because it feels and looks durable. Under the keyboard you get the almost centered touch pad. This touch pad is rather good, works nicely because it doesn't sport a slippery surface, making the usability more adequate. Under the touch pad you can find two buttons and the fingerprint reader. Both Toshiba assist button (that launches the Toshiba assist control panel) and the Windows Mobility Center button are easy to use and provide sufficient feedback.

The fingerprint reader is one of the security elements Toshiba added in the S300M. Beside this second security element (first one being the password protection), Toshiba also included in the S300M a shock absorbing design (HDD shock absorber), hard disk drive protection, a spill resistant keyboard, Toshiba Software RAID, Infineon TPM Software Professional Package, Toshiba Secure Digital Token Utility and other Easy Guard elements.

This Toshiba laptop sports a varying height from front to rear, 1.43 inches and 1.51 inches, wide of 13.3 inches, deep of 9.6 inches, the Satellite Pro S300M weights about 5.38 lbs depending on the configuration chosen. These values include the S300M in the business laptop range. Toshiba included in the S300M a 14.1 inches diagonal widescreen TFT LCD display with a WXGA resolution (1280 x 800 pixels). This display features the True Brite technology, offering sufficient brightness indoors and outdoors.

The viewing angles are average. You don't necessary have to sit in front of the S300M to see what's displaying. Therefore, the 14.1 inches display should be sufficient for an average user. If your work depends on your laptop entirely, then you should look for a different laptop model. The connectivity is ensured by the RGB monitor output port, modem, three 2.0 USB ports, one eSATA / USB combo port with sleep and charge, Intel 82567V Gigabit Network Connection, Bluetooth version 2.1 with enhanced data rate also known as EDR, and integrated Wi-Fi compliant wireless (Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100 AGN with 802.11 a/g/n profile).

Beside the built in microphone with web camera, the S300M features built in stereo speakers with sound volume control dial. However, don't expect for an ultimate audio experience, because the speakers are somewhat small and offer a plain sound. In terms of hardware, the Satellite Pro S300M with the EZ 2421 code provides great features for this price range. As any other Toshiba model, the S300M sports a Mobile Intel GM 45 Express Chipset. Also, Toshiba included the Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5870 with 2.0 GHz 2 MB L2 with 800 MHz FSB. You get a 3 GB PC2 6400 DDR2 SD RAM (configured as 2GB unit plus 1GB unit).

The maximum amount of random access memory supported by S300M is 4GB. The hard disk drive provides a good memory value of 250 GB with 5400 rotations per minute. Beside all this features, Toshiba also added a Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD with 128 MB to 1340 MB dynamically shared graphics memory. Satellite Pro S300M is shipped with Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (the 32 bit version).

Therefore, this might be the last opportunity for you to buy a laptop with the XP pre-installed. Other software included is the Toshiba Config Free, Sun Java Runtime Environment, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, Google Picasa, and some free trial versions, like Microsoft Office Professional 2007 (60 day trial edition) and Norton Internet Security 2008. Another reason for why this laptop should be used indoors is the 5100 mAh Lithium Ion battery with a six cell battery that offers about 3 hours and 19 minutes of autonomy. Overall, the Satellite Pro S300M is one solid laptop. It balances correctly what it has to offer with the asking price (form $799). The only shortage is the old school looking business design and the short battery life.