Laptops Arena

With all the excellent laptops on the market you have to wonder which of them can actually slide into your budget range. With all the manufacturers competing either between them or even with their selves (just to impress the potential buyers, of course) you can easily hope to find the perfect balanced every day laptop within different available configurations (including the display size) at a good price tag. By know you probably read about the excellent Toshiba Satellite laptops already reviewed, the Satellite U500, Satellite M500 and the impressive (in any possible departments - the $1099.99 configuration) Satellite A500.

The Toshiba Satellite L500 is part of the affordable yet performance deliverer laptop with various screen sizes. It is not a direct competitor of the MacBook Pro line, but it certainly sports the same marketing campaign. If you are looking for a great laptop yet affordable you probably found it, the L500 can correspond the needs of every customer with more than ten available configurations. Even do, the L500 is offered in three different display sizes (14 inches, 16 inches, and 17.3 inches), the design is kept the same for all of them. Also, you might find some resemblance between the L500's design and the A500's design.

First of all, the design sports a pattern very similar with the one found on the A500, named Fusion Finish with Breeze Pattern in Graphite Gray. As a difference to the A500 design, the L500 lacks the stainless steel frame and hinge of the LCD cover. Also the lid seems very familiar to the lid on the A500. The Toshiba logo offered in silver bright makes a nice contrast with the Dark Grey - Light Black Pattern lid. Once you open the L500, you get to see some important differences. The L500 sports a white interior, opposed to the semi glossy black interior of the A500. By introducing the white color, Toshiba also removed all the metallic finishes found on board of the A500.

Therefore, if you know how an A500 looks like you might get the feeling that L500 is cheap. Even so, if you are not familiar with the A500 or don't really care about design details, you are probably going to enjoy L500 design since it sports excellent materials and a flawless build quality construction. On the sides and the bottom the L500 sports a black matte plastic which feels nice at touch, and feels by far cheaply. Because the overall design is borrowed from A500, the L500's display cover works just like a hinge making impossible for L500 to sustain any ports or slots on the back side. Even so, Toshiba successfully added all the necessary ports and slots on the left, right and front side of the L500. However keep in mind that the L500 is a laptop line itself.

Therefore the first available L500 (L500 / L505) sports on the front side you can find the five System Indicator Lights, the Wireless Indicator Light, the volume control scroll, and the Bridge Media Adapter Slot (compatible with Secure Digital, Multi Media Card, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick Pro memory card, and Memory Stock memory card. On the left side Toshiba only added the bare minimum, the cooling vent, the RGB monitor port, and the RJ 45 LAN port, microphone jack, headphone jack. On the right side you can find the security lock slot, the input AC power jack, two USB 2.0 ports, the modem port, and the optical drive (Super Multi DVD drive with 11 formats compatible, DVD - RAM, DVD + R double layer, DVD + R single layer, DVD + RW, DVD - RW, DVD - R double layer, DVD - R single layer, CD - ROM, CD - R, CD - RW, and the DVD - ROM). As you can notice the ports and slots available represent the minimum necessary connectivity for any modern laptop.

Toshiba is probably trying too hard to reduce the price, and for an extra $30 they should have included at least a HDMI port and one eSATA / USB combo port with sleep and charge function. The second available L500 (L510 / L515) boasts the same front side layout. However on the left side you can find beside the normal layout from the L500 / L505 the security lock slot and one eSATA / USB combo port with sleep and charge function. On the other side the Satellite L510 / L515 sports the exact same layout with the L500 / L505. The last available Satellite L500 in terms of layout is the L550 / L555. This model also sports the same front layout (System Indicator Status Lights, Wireless Indicator Light, Volume Control scroll, and Bridge Media Adapter Slot), while the left side includes beside the cooling vent, the RGB monitor port, the network port, the microphone output jack, and the headphone input jack.

On the right side you get the optical drive (Super Multi DVD with 11 compatible formats), two 2.0 USB ports, the modem port, the input power jack, and the security lock slot). In terms of dimensions, the L500 / L505 sport a varying height from front to rear 1.4 inches to 1.51 inches, wide of 15.1 inches and deep of 10.2 inches. The L510 / L515 brings smaller dimensions to the game  with a varying height from front to rear 1.32 inches to 1.5 inches, wide of 13.4 inches, and deep of 9.13 inches. The biggest in terms of dimensions is the L550 / L555 with a varying height from front to rear 1.43 inches to 1.58 inches, wide of 16.4 inches, and deep of 10.7 inches for the 17.3 inches widescreen diagonal Satellite L500. Overall the design offered by all available models of L500 is not only stylish (for an everyday use) but also impeccable build, offering an excellent user experience.

As you may imagine a constant value for the L500's weight is impossible to offer since it has more than 10 available configurations. However the L500 weight varies depending on the configuration chosen from 5.5 lbs to 6.98 lbs (as I said these values are only approximate). Once opened the L500 you will observe the same keyboard found on the A500. This is excellent news, since the A500 boasted a full keyboard layout with good sized keys that offer excellent feedback when pressed.

This keyboard is well build and you get no flex when pressing any keys. Above the keyboard you get the two stereo speakers (unfortunately the not the same quality speakers found on A500) that offers loud rendering but lacks good bass or surrounding sounds. Centered between the two speakers are five buttons, power on and off, play and pause, mute, and the CD control button, and DVD control button. Under the keyboard you get the touch pad, which is almost invisible since the texture from the case continues over the touch pad making the usability extremely good. Also, this touch pad brings excellent multi touch experience (which will be improved thanks to the Windows 7). Under the touch pad you get two buttons which are the only slippery buttons found on the L500. However, you can handle them well if you are not in a hurry. The keyboard and touch pad add solid in the excellent quality build formula.

In the display department the L500 comes within three possible configurations, with 15.6 inches diagonal widescreen TruBrite LCD display with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels, 16 inches diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display with a 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, 14 inches diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, and 17.3 inches diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display with 1600 x 900 pixels resolution including the LED backlight technology. All the offered displays provide excellent performances, great image rendering, vibrant colors, excellent brightness in any environmental conditions, and great viewing angles.

The connectivity department is ensured by several connections (depending on the configuration chosen), Intel Wi-Fi Link 5100 AGN (802.11 a/g/n) - or Realtek 802.11 b/g/n wireless LAN, depending on the configuration Express card slot with 34 mm and Express card slot with 54 mm, Memory card reader (secure digital, multi media card, secure digital high capacity, memory stick, memory stick pro), RGB monitor output port, two 2.0 USB (or three, with two 2.0 USB, one eSATA / USB combo port with sleep and charge feature), 10 / 100 Ethernet, and modem. Toshiba offer 13 configurations for the L500, and the 14^th possible configuration is fully customizable by potential customers starting from $545 price tag. The first standard configuration for L500, L505D S5965 sports a $504.99 price tag, which is also the L500 best seller.

The L505D S5965 includes the AMD M780V Chipset, the AMD Athlon X2 Dual Core Processors QL 65 with 2.1 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache (running Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1, the 32 bit version)m 3 GB DDR2 800 MHz (expandable with a maximum value of 8 GB DDR2), 250 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, 15.6 inches TFT LCD with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, and ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics with 256 MB dedicated and 1406 MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory.

The second available configuration, L505 S5966 has a price tag of $549.99 and includes Mobile Intel GL 40 Express Chipset with Intel Pentium processor T4200 (2.0 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache 800MHz FSB) running Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1, the 32 bit version with 3GB DDR2 800 MHz, 320 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, 15.6 inches TFT LCD with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, and Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M with 128 MB dedicated and 1341 MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory. The third available configuration, L500D ST5501 includes the same Vista Home Premium operating system, with AMD M780V Chipset, AMD Turion X2 Dual Core Mobile Processor RM 74, 3 GB DDR2 800 MHz FSB memory, 320 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, and ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics with 256 MB dedicated and a 16 inches TFT LCD display sporting TruBrite technology. Both L505D S6947 and L500D ST5600 include the same AMD Turion X2 Dual Core Mobile Processor RM 74 and Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 the 32 bit version.

The L505D S6947 also includes 3 GB DDR2 800 MHz , 320 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, 16 inches TFT LCD with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution, ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics with 256 MB dedicated and 1406 dynamically allocated shared graphics memory, and a 4000 mAh six cell Lithium Ion battery. This forth configuration is available for $599.99 price tag. The fifth configuration, L500D ST5600 also includes 2 GB DDR2 800 MHz, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570, a 16 inches TruBrite TFT LCD display, and a 250 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute. The L500D ST5600 has a listing price of $629.

The L555D S7910 offered for $649.99 sports an AMD Turion X2 Dual Core Mobile Processor RM 74 with 2.2 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, with AMD M780V Chipset running Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1, the 32 bit version, 4 GB DDR 2 800 MHz, 250 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics with dynamically allocated shared graphics memory, and a 17.3 inches TryBrite TFT LCD display with 1600 x 900 pixels resolution, including the LED backlight technology. The L515 S4925 is much too expensive at $649.99 price tag for what it has to offer, Intel Pentium processor T4300 2.10 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB, with Mobile Intel GL 40 Express Chipset running the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium, 4 GB DDR2 800 MHz, 320 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M with 128 MB dedicated, and the 14 inches TruBrite TFT LCD display with 1366 x 768 pixels resolution with LED backlight.

A better purchase than L515 S4925 is L505 S6946 for $659.99 sporting Intel Core 2 Duo processor T6400 with 2.0 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache 800 MHz FSB, the Mobile Intel GM 45 Express Chipset with 3 GB DDR2 800 MHz, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD with 128 MB dedicated memory, and the 16 inches diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display. The next configuration is available for $669.99, L555D S7912 and sports beside the 64 bit version of Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1, the AMD Turion X2 Dual Core Mobile Processor RM 74 with AMD M780V Chipset, 4 GB DDR2 800 MHz, 250 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, an excellent 12 cell Lithium Ion battery with 9000 mAh, ATI Radeon 3100 Graphics and 17.3 inches TruBrite TFT LCD display with a High Definition + resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels, also sporting the LED backlight technology. The next three configurations are all offered at the same price tag, $699.99.

The first one, L550 ST5701 includes the Intel Core 2 Duo processot T6500 with 2.10 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz FSB, with Mobile Intel GM 45 Express Chipset, 3 GB DDR2 800 MHz, 320 GB hard drive 5400 rotations per minute, Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD with 128 MB dedicated, and the 17.3 inches TFT LCD with HD+ resolution 1600 x 900 pixels including LED backlight. The L505 S6959 sports the 64 bit version (not the 32 bit version like L550 ST5701) Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1, the same chipset, hard drive, and processor like L550 ST5701. But it sports a bigger RAM memory, 4 GB DDR2 800 Mhz, and the 16 inches TFT LCD display with 1366 x 768 pixels, HD resolution, and the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500 MHD with 128 MB. The last configuration at $699.99 price tag, sports the same configuration like the L550 ST5701 with a 6 cell 400 mAh Lithium Ion battery that should provide about 4 hours of autonomy.

And we are at the final available configuration for the L500, L550 ST5702 offered for $799 price tag. As you can see the most expensive standard configuration available is by far as expensive as the entry level MacBook ($999). The L550 ST5702 includes the Intel Core 2 Duo processor P7350 with 2.0 GHz, 3 MB L2 cache, 1066 MHz FSB, with Mobile Intel GM 45 Express Chipset running the Windows Vista Home Premium Service Pack 1 (the 64 bit version), 4 GB DDR2 800 MHz, 320 GB hard drive with 5400 rotations per minute, ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4570 with 512 MB DDR3 discrete graphics (also available are 1262 MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory using the ATI Hyper Memory technology), and the excellent 17.3 inches TruBrite TFT LCD with HD+ resolution of 1600 x 900 pixels with LED backlight.

With all the possible available configurations for the Satellite L500 anyone can find what it is looking for without any doubt. By also adding its own branded Toshiba software, 3^rd party application software, and some free trial software, Toshiba successfully created an excellent product for less money. If you are interested in any L500 configuration then you should now that the only possible drawback is the rather small autonomy value for the 3700 mAh and 4000 mAh Lithium Ion battery models. However, if you are interested in high autonomy you must configure or chose a configuration that includes the 9000 mAh 12 cell Lithium Ion battery. Overall, Satellite L500 is a solid investment for at least five years.