Toshiba Satellite E205 Specifications:
* 14-inch WXGA (1366x678) LED Backlit (Glossy finish)
* Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
* Processor: Intel Core i5-430M (2.26GHz, 3MB Cache)
* 4GB DDR3 RAM (2GB + 2GB)
* 500GB Hitachi HDD (5400rpm)
* Slot loading DVD+/-RW
* Intel 6200 802.11AGN, Intel Wireless Display
* Mobile Intel HD Graphics
* Netgear Push 2 TV Adapter
* 5800mAh 6-cell, 75W 19V AC adapter
* Dimensions: 13.7" x 9.57" x 1.22" without feet
* Weight: 5lbs 2.4oz
* Retail Price: $899
* Warranty: 2 Year
Design and build
Toshiba Satellite E205 is probably the first consumer notebook 14 "which manages to keep a curvy, contemporary design, while maintaining a thin appearance. Each edge is rounded to the E205, including the exhaust of the CPU, which I think is pretty cool.
The only part that seems to rub me the wrong way, the hump of the battery, which is exaggerated in size because it includes display hinges and ports on the back. color palette is beautiful with a blue diamond pattern on the screen covers the changes to a black diamond pattern on the inside with blue metallic trim. Even the touchpad gets special treatment with its recessed design that starts from the same model as the palmrest and presented with a matte finish.
The build quality is above average for laptops, while the slim design has some weaknesses with the strength of the image on the screen and cover. The top of the screen down with moderate pressure, but still protected the distortion of the screen unless you know very difficult.
The bezel around the screen inside the laptop appears to be distorted, but was found in the distorted mirror finish is reflective look. The rest of the keyboard and palm has shown that soft flex under high pressure. Compared to Best Buy laptops we reviewed last exclusive, the Satellite E105-E205 is a great improvement in the quality and design.
Screen and speakers
Toshiba Satellite E205 is built around a 14-inch screen - instead of 13.3 "as Best Buy, research has shown that most customers still prefer this size, it offers a WXGA 1366x768 resolution which can display 720P HD video. The rate of the display on average compared to similar, with some slight backlight bleeding visible on all screens black and limited viewing angles.
To watch movies, view photos or surf Internet, we found the saturation and contrast to be more than enough thanks to the glossy surface. At maximum brightness, we had no problem seeing the screen in a well lit desk. vertical angles were average with the color begins to distort from 15 to 20 degrees tilted backwards.
The horizontal viewing angle was good, about 60 degrees before the glossy screen reflections defeated. One of the most interesting features of the Toshiba Satellite E205 is the Intel Wireless Display, or Wi-Di. This technology allows users to stream HD content on HDTV receiver is connected. The receiver, made by Netgear HDMI connection and video and audio streams from your laptop.
What distinguishes this technology, as well as all the others that we have used so far is that it decreases in performance depending on the source of the vision. USB 2.0 and Wireless USB docking station that supports a DVI-out are located in 2D limited bandwidth.
Intel Wireless Display flowed the other hand, the entire 3D-accelerated video, such as games and movies without any degradation of quality. Another big advantage of Wi-interface in front of the USB wireless reception. We walked around our office, without ever interrupting the connection.
The Intel Wi-Di technology some limitations at this time. Wi-Di currently only supports 1280x720 video streaming and has restrictions on how the wireless display is set. You are basically limited to showing only cloned, which is probably a good thing with the amount of displacement of the interface of a.
The tests found that the output video and audio via Wi-Sun published a second or two behind what is being shown locally on the laptop. This does not mean the video or audio is not synchronized, it's just Wi-Di receiver uses a large buffer.
To view HD video from your computer or the transmission of PowerPoint presentations will not be a problem, but forget to use for games. Even trying to perform basic tasks like surfing the Web via Wi-Di was intolerable unless you look at the screen of the notebook.
The speakers on the E205 is the variety the Tower fire which is usually okay if you do not plan to listen to streaming audio or video, but leaves much to be desired, if you want to enjoy a movie. When they are down firing another problem is they sound muted when the laptop is directly on your lap or on a surface very smooth.
To enjoy music and video while you're on the road, helmet really the preferred alternative. If you plan to watch a movie in your home Wi-Di-Interface Intel or direct connection via HDMI would be the best bet.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the Satellite E205 is spacious and very comfortable to type on. He writes roll is shorter than the average laptop keyboard, instead feel like a Chiclet keyboard layout without the key island. The shortest thrown writing seems easier and seems to speed up my normal typing speed.
While the keyboard layout itself was fine, I found the proximity of the touch-sensitive buttons to be a problem. My little finger regular press a button and trigger one of the related functions. Depending on the size of your hands you might not have this problem. A smart move by the keyboard E205 is that it is fully backlit so you can write without additional lighting in the room.
The E205 includes a large multi-touch touchpad allows Synaptics. We found the touchpad to be a breeze to use in our tests with a receptive surface without noticeable delay. The light matte surface texture was easy to slide your finger across the wet and had no hard boundaries around the touch zone.
The only criticism I could give you is on the stiff touchpad buttons, which was difficult to push the edge of the thumb. Although the buttons are wrapped around the front edge of the palmrest, to activate a button on the front requires a ridiculous amount of power.
Ports and Features
Port selection was average of two USB ports, a port combo USB / eSATA, VGA, HDMI, audio jack, and LAN. The E205 also provided an optical drive slot-loading, recessed and SDHC card reader. The biggest feature by far, however Intel Wireless Display.
Until they went out and closed the metal door, the signal strength dropped enough to kill the connection. For a medium sized house, you should have no problem using the LCD technology, Intel Wireless if you try to use it in the trunk of a car inside the garage.
Performance and benchmarks
System performance was very good, although the integrated graphics. Newer HD Mobile Intel Graphics are like a field in the light of the game, or play back HD video. We had no trouble playing a 720p or 1080p movies on this laptop through the HDMI connection or Wi-interface to see them on your HDTV.
Intel Core i5 430M was not difficult to deal with our battery system tasks such as typing documents, surfing the Internet, watch 1080p HD Flash from YouTube, or just compressed movies on iTunes. The target market of media-oriented consumer, the Toshiba Satellite E205 is more than capable, as long as you're not going to play many of the newer games.
Heat and Noise
Toshiba Satellite E205 laptop is very quiet while running in balanced mode. In our tests, the fan rarely came on if the laptop was not under a heavy load. The upper part of the laptop was all her hard drive and although it was quiet.
If you put the laptop to use a SSD, you'd probably forgotten that he was still on. With cooling as lax for E205 does run a little on the warm side, which can be a problem for some users. In our battery test, where the system is just surfing the net, not under a heavy load, we measured a maximum temperature of 96 degrees Fahrenheit at the bottom of the cabinet.
Battery life
For a new generation of laptops with integrated graphics, I must say that I was not particularly impressed by the energy E205 running on battery. While operating near idle for E205 used between 11-13 watts. In our test, with screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 is attached to the balanced profile Toshiba Satellite E205 stayed for 4 hours and 45 minutes.
Conclusion
Toshiba Satellite E205 is one of the best portable consumer 14-inch we reviewed in a moment. It offers excellent modern design, great color palette, and useful features. Wireless technology has come a long way in recent years with the USB wireless most frequently mentioned. Unlike USB wireless Intel Wireless Display works fine.
We had no problem with a single button and automatically connects with a nearby Wi-Di-receiver. When connected to the interface 1280x720 resolution streaming video without problems audio / video synchronization and manipulate 3D accelerated and HD video. Wi-Di is a feature I really want to participate in more than laptops, and I am pleased to see Toshiba to market with the E205.
