Resources for the Washington DC area

Toshiba Satellite A85-S107 Notebook Computer

If you want a good solid notebook computer without spending a lot, this would be a good choice. Toshiba has been very strong in the notebook market since the mid 1990's.

You won't be missing much that people want in a computer. You can play DVD's and burn CD's. It's got a 15" XGA "Tru Brite" screen, which is quite good for a laptop at this price. Capabilities for connecting to wireless networks is built in. A nice touchpad pointing device is used. "Up/down" arrow keys are positioned in the place normally found on desktop keyboards, which is helpful for scrolling up and down web pages.

The Celeron M 360J 1.4 GHZ should be fine for most common uses. 256 MB of RAM and a 40 GB Hard drive should also be fine for most people. Maximum RAM is 1.25 GB.

The computer runs very cool, which is a nice plus. Sometimes state of the art computers running at the fastest possible CPU speeds can be annoyingly warm.

The unit is about 6.6 pounds.

You can customize Toshiba Satellite computers online and order just the way you want if you like.

Accessories available through Toshiba include a clear plastic keyboard protector, extra batteries, extra RAM, and Bluetooth capability.

List price: about $800. You may find substantial rebates available if you check around.

July 2005