Toshiba Satellite M65-S809

The Toshiba M65-S809 offers big screen performance at a price that's right. This affordable desktop replacement delivers a big 17-inch display and all of the features you need to get things done, plus extras like dual layer DVD writing and a quick-launch media application for when your work is done.

The most noteworthy feature of the M65-S809's outer shell is the appealing Sunlight copper-colored lid that curves down towards the front. It's an impressive look. The same curved shape is maintained on the inside for consistency. At slightly over seven pounds and 15.5 x 11 x 1.5 inches, the M65-S809 is manageable, but won't be a constant travel companion.

The M65-S809's width allows plenty of space for a full-sized keyboard, which looks great, but feels a little too springy. Some of the keys are a bit cramped, as well, which is a drawback to the otherwise positive inclusion of a separate numeric keypad. The silver touchpad is a decent size, but the mouse buttons are another story. They're part of a black plastic strip that runs the length of the keyboard. As a result, it's hard to feel where the buttons end, and clicking is a bit more trouble than it should be. Toshiba gets points for a creative-looking design here, but usability shouldn't suffer for a cool look.

This Satellite comes with some high-end features you normally don't see at this price. A double layer DVD burner is complemented by a FireWire port, 100GB hard drive, and InterVideo's WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum software to form a great video-editing system. Above the keyboard is a set of controls for the Toshiba Express Media Player software. You can play DVDs and CDs without having to boot into Windows. The interface in this mode leaves a little to be desired, but we like the volume control knob on the front of the system.

The centerpiece of the M65-S809 is the 17-inch diagonal TruBrite display. DVDs look superb on it, but the amount of reflection it produces can sometimes be distracting. Also, the viewing angles to the left and right are fairly tight. Adding to the entertainment experience is a nice set of Harmon Kardon speakers, which give nice bass and put most other, tinny laptop speakers to shame.

The Satellite M65-S809 notched a MobileMark performance score of 203, which is higher than we usually see from this class of system. Programs loaded and responded without hiccups or bumps, and disc burning was easy using Sonic's RecordNow! software. A battery runtime of over four hours with wireless off is impressive; this  dropped by only 12 minutes with the Wi-Fi radio switched on. One weak spot is the use of integrated graphics, but that helps keeps the price reasonable.

Our lab returned a wireless strength result of 13.8 Mbps at 5 feet and 12.6 Mbps at 50 feet from our access point. We've seen stronger wireless performance on comparable systems at close range, but the consistency of strength at longer distances is encouraging. Toshiba includes its ConfigFree utility to make establishing Wi-Fi connections painless, along with a modest assortment of other software, such as Microsoft Works 8.0, Sonic Solutions RecordNow! Basic (for burning CDs), and a 30-day trial of McAfee VirusScan.

The Toshiba M65-S809 is an attractive big-screen system that includes a few dazzling features, from its sleek copper lid to bootless playback of movies and music and surprisingly loud speakers. A small handful of flaws keep this desktop replacement from being a Best Buy winner, but the friendly price tag may be reason enough to sweep those few flaws under the rug.