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General discussion

Which would you choose? Toshiba M35X-S329 or Gateway4540GZ

Jan 24, 2005 6:29AM PST

I am purchasing a Laptop this week... I'd like to stay under about $1300. Office Depot has the Toshiba M35X-S329 for $999... and Best Buy has the Gateway 4540GZ for $1250. They both have the Pentium M processor (Toshiba is 1.6 ghz, & Gateway is 1.5 ghz) both have Centrino... both 512 mb ram (Toshiba has 512 mb DDR SDRAM) (not sure about the Gateway). Monitor on Toshiba 15.4 WXGA widescreen, and Monitor on Gateway 15" Ultrabrite TFT.

I've read that Toshibas overheat, and I've read that Gateways are not sturdy, and freeze up with intensive graphics.

Which is the better machine? Is there another one that I should be considering??

Thanks!
Cherie

... and on another note... I have a Sony Cybershot camera... are there adapters to be able to plug in the memory stick and upload the pictures to the laptop? If so, do you know about how much it costs?

Discussion is locked

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... about the RAM...
Jan 24, 2005 7:45AM PST

I looked up the ram... the Toshiba has 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM, and the Gateway has 512MB PC2700 DDR... the Gateway doesn't say "SDRAM".

Any help is appreciated!

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Flash card readers at retail --get USB 2.0
Jan 24, 2005 12:03PM PST

You can buy a USB 2.0 flash card reader -- make sure you get one that has memory stick as one of the types-- that will read all types of media -- often these are on sale for under $20 and sometimes even under $10 at retail (Fry's Electronics, Circuit City, Best Buy, Compusa, etc)

Make sure you get a USB 2.0 model not one that only runs on USB 1.1 as that is much much slower in transfer speed.

The one I have is about the size of a deck of cards and will run all media types (for different camerea brands --some have SD, some compact flash, some XD media and Sony products are all memory stick).

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What is your opinion on Toshiba vs. Gateway?
Jan 24, 2005 12:12PM PST

Thanks for your reply on the flash card reader... I noticed that the two notebooks that I'm looking at both come with a 5-in-1 media adapter... could that be what I need? (I guess you can tell that this will be my first notebook purchase!)...

Also, which would you consider a better purchase, the Toshiba M35X-S329, or the Gateway 4540GZ?

Thanks!
Cherie

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Gateway likely lower $ at retail (best buy)
Jan 25, 2005 12:10PM PST

Cherie:

yes, if there is a built in 5 in 1 reader that likely includes Sony memory stick as one of the 5) -- usually the one left out is Compact flash which is larger but you likely can use SD, Memory stick, etc.

Gateways are very price competitive at Best buy at retail if you want to go that way.

The Toshiba M35 is nice and I almost bought one back when it had dedicated video memory (M35X models now don't have dedicated video memory -- shared only).

The thing to consider here is if you buy either one of these you are missing out on the new Sonoma specifications -- see the Dell 6000 at their website which is brand new.

You are likely to get a better price for what you want on the Gateway right now...........

If you want #1 service and #1 reliability that is Apple -- there is no one PC manufacturer that has it all - in fact Sony (among the highest priced) is dead last in major company US service.

At least Apple backs up its premium prices with something and the new Apple Mini desktop at $499 (no monitor, mouse or keyboard to keep price down) may well finally drive up their market share -- try to even find one of these right now in the marketplace.

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Thanks!
Jan 27, 2005 9:56AM PST

Thanks Ken... your information was very helpful. I'm new to all of this, and I am very thankful for this website... it has helped a lot!

Cherie