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 Toshiba Satellite P105-S921Strong gaming and multimedia performance for a song. Price:
$1,999
by Russ Fischer 
They say it's always the quiet ones that are the most dangerous. This very able dual-core gaming and media rig looks like a librarian of a notebook, albeit with a 17-inch widescreen display, but it boasts powerful Nvidia graphics along with a host of bells and whistles. With a price that hovers around $2,000, what's not to like?
The exterior design is all business. The cover is a simple metallic gray, the interior a modest silver and black. Only a blue light emanating from the speakers gives any hint of the machine's ambitions. Rounded edges slim down the profile, which at 15.5 x 10.8 x 1.4 inches is hardly imposing. At a relatively portable 7.8 pounds (plus a pound for the power supply), this desktop replacement is easy on the spine. Most of the P105's design elements are unassuming, but the WXGA+ 17-inch widescreen is very bright. Text, colors, and fine detail are all crisp and very easy on the eyes. The display is a bit brighter than Dell's new XPS M1710, though Dell packs in WUXGA resolution (1900 x 1200 pixels). The widescreen footprint has allowed Toshiba to squeeze in a large keyboard complete with number pad. The keys behave more like those on a desktop than on most notebooks, with a deep key plunge and solid responsiveness, which is great for gaming. However, some of the lower right corner keys (notably the arrows, right Shift and question mark) have been seriously squeezed to fit. Along with the extra keys is a multifunction touch pad. The pad's surface area is definitely on the small side (2.5 x 1.7 inches), as are the mouse buttons, but the extra functions are welcome. Users can launch applications, control the volume, and scroll from the touchpad. Programmable quick launch and media control keys are placed above the keyboard, and a fingerprint reader is on board to secure data sign in to frequently visited Web sites. Our configuration featured a 1.83-GHz Intel Core Duo T2400 processor and Nvidia's Go 7900 GS graphics card with 256MB of GDDR3 VRAM. The GPU helped the P105 dash through gaming and media apps, scoring a hefty 13,786 in 3DMark03 and 3,788 on 3DMark06, both excellent scores for a $2,000 notebook. The system turned in a solid 81 fps when playing F.E.A.R. with the settings on autodetect (at 1024 x 768), and dropped to 44 fps with detail and antialiasing maxed. Even without the Media Center Edition operating system on board, the P105 doubles as a good entertainment center, thanks to the bright display and high-quality Harman Kardon stereo speakers. Toshiba's Express Player feature enables users to fire up DVDs and CDs without launching Windows. A remote is bundled and slides into the PC Card slot. Given the P105's sheer horsepower, its below-average battery life of 1 hour and 52 minutes with Wi-Fi off is understandable. Wireless performance was steady at 17.9 Mbps for 15 feet and 14.7 Mbps for 50 feet. Bluetooth is not built into the P105. The only glaring weakness of this system is its lack of upgradeability. Want to add Bluetooth, switch from XP Professional to Media Center, or step up from the pokey 4,200-rpm 160GB hard drive to a faster model? You're out of luck. Many gamers consider a slow hard drive a serious bottleneck to performance, so this may be a deal breaker for a serious fragger. Toshiba's support doesn't match Dell's care for the top-flight XPS laptops, but with a year-long warranty with return service and toll-free phone support, buyers are reasonably protected. A three-year upgrade is available for $149. The P105 is in the same league as the entry-level configuration of the Dell XPS M1710 gaming notebook. That system comes with the same graphics, processor, and RAM, plus a higher-resolution display, faster 7,200-rpm hard drive, and Media Center. However, the Dell costs $600 more. For gamers on a budget, the Toshiba Satellite P105 makes you feel like you got a lot more than you paid for. Compare Prices | Toshiba Satellite P105-S921 Specifications
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