Toshiba Satellite P105-S6084

Toshiba's Satellite P105-S6084 not only lives up to its billing as a feature-packed desktop replacement notebook—complete with TV tuner and remote—it does so with style. As long as you can do without playing the latest games, this system is a one-stop media shop.
 
Sporting a Mist Gray lid and a black-and-silver interior, the Satellite's 1.4-inch–thick frame weighs in at 7.8 pounds, a manageable weight for a big-screen desktop replacement system. The full-sized keyboard is very responsive, and there's plenty of wrist room beneath it. The touchpad controller is also responsive, albeit a tad undersized.

Embedded in the front bezel is a pair of Harman Kardon speakers, which are powered by Intel's High Definition audio controller with SRS stereo and TruSurround XT for enhanced sound quality. The speakers can handle a hefty dose of volume without distorting and do a good job of simulating the surround sound listening experience. Above the keyboard are two quick-launch buttons, a power switch, and four DVD/CD control keys that also activate Toshiba's Express Media Player utility, allowing you to play DVDs and CDs without starting up Windows. Security comes by way of a biometric fingerprint reader embedded on the right wrist rest.
 
When you power up, the first thing to catch your eye is the beautiful 17-inch WXGA+ widescreen display with a TruBrite high-gloss coating. DVD movies look spectacular on this panel, with bright, vivid colors and an excellent viewing angle.
 
The Satellite's 1.6-GHz Intel Core Duo T2300E processor and 2GB of DDR2 memory turned in an impressive score of 236 on our MobileMark 2005 benchmark tests, but its battery life of 2 hours and 33 minutes (with Wi-Fi off) was just average for a desktop replacement system.
 
To keep costs down, video is powered by Intel's integrated GMA 950 graphics controller, which shares up to 128MB of system memory. Serious gamers and video aficionados will find this solution lacking for their purposes, but the Satellite is certainly capable of handling most business applications and home multimedia tasks. If you're willing to fork over $1,999, Toshiba offers the P105-S6022 with the much more powerful GeForce Go 7900 GS graphics card.
 
There are four USB ports spread out on the sides and rear of the machine, a SuperMulti DVD drive on the right, and a FireWire port and PC Card and ExpressCard slots on the left. Around back are Ethernet and modem ports, a power connector, a VGA output, and an S-Video out port. The lack of additional integrated multimedia ports, such as composite or component video out connections, is disappointing, but we like the 5-in-1 media card reader and three audio jacks, which are located on the front bezel next to the Wi-Fi on/off switch.
 
The bundled external TV tuner is a USB device and includes three A/V inputs, S-Video in, and coaxial TV inputs. The USB and A/V cables are included, as is a USB Windows XP Media Center Edition infrared remote and receiver, which not only let you access photos, music, and videos without leaving your chair, but also let you schedule and record your favorite TV shows. The tuner worked quite well in our tests, delivering a clean picture and processing channel changes rapidly.
 
In addition to Windows Media Center Edition, the system ships with InterVideo's WinDVD Creator 2 Platinum and WinDVD5, Sonic's RecordNow! Basic and PrimeTime, and Microsoft Office OneNote and Works. Toshiba protects the Satellite with a one-year warranty covering parts, labor, and the battery.
  
It's not the fastest desktop replacement notebook on the block, but the Toshiba Satellite P105-S6084 is a versatile portable media center that won't break the bank.