Toshiba Satellite Pro M50 001001 Review

Despite its extremely affordable price and logical design, the fact that the M50 fails to stand out in terms of performance or features, in addition to its miserly battery life, makes it impossible for us to recommend the notebook over competing offerings.

Specifications

Processor
Type : Intel® Celeron® M processor 360
Clock speed : 1.4 GHz
Front Side Bus : 400 MHz
2nd level cache : 1 MB

Operating System
Windows® XP Home Edition

System Memory
Standard : 256 MB
Maximum expandability : 2,048 MB
Technology : DDR2 RAM (533MHz)

Hard Disk
Capacity : 40 GB

CD-RW/DVD-ROM drive
Maximum speed : Read: 24x CD-ROM, 8x DVD-ROM/ Write: 24x CD-R, 4x CD-RW, 10x HS CD-RW, 24x US CD-RW

Display
Size : 14.0 "
Type : Toshiba WXGA TFT display

Graphics Adaptor
Manufacturer : ATI
Type : ATI Radeon® Xpress 200M
Memory : up to 128 MB

Internal Video Modes
Resolution : 1,280 x 768
Maximum number of colours : 16.7 million

Max External Video Modes
Max Resolution : 2,048 x 1,536
Max Colours : 16.7 Million
Max Refresh Rate : 100 Hz
Non-interlaced resolution with max refresh rate : 1,600 x 1,200

BIOS
ACPI : Yes
System Management BIOS : 2.34

Battery
Technology : lithium-ion
Maximum life : up to 2:08 (Mobile Mark™) hours

AC Adaptor
Input voltage : autosensing AC adapter (100/240 V) for worldwide usage

Interfaces
1 x headphone
1 x DC-in
1 x external monitor
1 x RJ-11
1 x RJ-45
1 x TV-out (s-video)
1 x microphone-in

Expansion
2 x memory slots (1 to configure)
Type : PC Card slot for 1x Type II card

Wireless Communication
Compliancy : Wi-Fi®
Network Support : 802.11b/g integrated
Wireless Technology : Wireless LAN

Wired communication
Topology : international V.90 modem, V.92 ready
Speed : 56 Kbps data (V.90) and 14.4 Kbps fax
Topology : Ethernet LAN
Speed : 10/100 Base-TX

Sound System Supported
Audio format : 16-bit stereo
Supported sound standards : MIDI support
Speakers : built-in stereo speakers

Keyboard
Keys : 86
Windows keys : 2
Hot Keys : 2

Physical Dimensions
W x D x H : 343 x 242 x 29 (front) / 38 (back) mm
Weight : From 2.26Kgs

Pointing Device
Type : Touch Pad
Interface : PS/2

Warranty
1-year international warranty. Upgrade your standard warranty with Toshiba warranty extension, uplift and all-risks insurance packs.

Bundled Hardware
AC adaptor

Bundled Software
Toshiba utilities and drivers
On-line user's manual
ConfigFree™
Microsoft® Office OneNote ™ 2003
Sonic¿ Record Now!
InterVideo® WinDVD Creator (2Platinum)
Norton Internet Security™ 2005 (90-Day Free Trial Version)
WinDVD

Security Features
Main hard disk (by screw)
Main memory (by screw)
Supervisor password
Slot for Kensington Cable Lock
User password
Main battery pack (by sliding latch)

Special Features
SM BIOS compliant

Review

The good:
Highly affordable
Attractive chassis design
Fairly light at 2.4kg
Convenient multimedia buttons
Instant-on media playback function
Impressive Harman Kardon speakers
The bad:
Extremely poor battery life
Paltry 256MB of memory
Comparatively small hard drive
No Firewire port
No memory card reader

Source:
http://www.cnet.com.au