Toshiba Satellite L305D-5934 review: Toshiba Satellite L305D-5934
Toshiba Satellite L305D-5934
Editors' note: This review is part of our Winter 2009 Retail Roundup, covering specific configurations of popular laptops that can be found in retail stores.
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
For less than $530, the Toshiba Satellite L305D-5934 is a decent-looking laptop with all the necessary ports and connections for average day-to-day use, and just enough performance to do what a lot of people do with their computers: surf the Web, send and receive e-mail, and run some productivity apps, all while streaming video, playing a DVD, or listening to music. If you can afford a little more, we recommend the $599 HP G60-235DX for better performance, a bigger hard drive, and more battery life, plus a 16:9 display and separate number pad.
Price as reviewed | $529.99 |
Processor | 2.0GHz AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core RM-70 |
Memory | 3GB, 667MHz DDR2 |
Hard drive | 250GB 5,400rpm |
Chipset | AMD RS780M |
Graphics | 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3100 (integrated) |
Operating System | Windows Vista Premium SP1 64-bit |
Dimensions (WD) | 14.3 inches wide by 10.6 inches deep |
Height | 1.5 inches high |
Screen size (diagonal) | 15.4 inches |
System weight / Weight with AC adapter | 6.0/6.9 pounds |
Category | Mainstream |
There's no mistaking this laptop as anything other than a Toshiba, due to the inch-high silver branding on the lid. The top is a shiny, pearlescent, dark blue that, while attractive, retains your fingerprints with every touch. The same goes for the glossy, black keyboard and wrist rest. The notebook has a comfortable, matte-black keyboard with bright white markings, which makes them visible in low light.
Over the keyboard is a row of multimedia controls, including programmable mute and CD/DVD buttons. (Out of the box they're set for mute and launching Windows Media Player.) Below the keyboard is a standard, two-button trackpad. However, the only thing delineating it as a trackpad is that the case's texture turns from smooth to slightly rough. It's not a problem per se, but if you're used to having a bit of an edge to run your finger around, this might take a little while to get used to. Also worth noting is the welcome inclusion of a physical volume dial on the case's front lip.
The 15.4-inch wide-screen LCD display offers a 1,280x800 native resolution, which is standard for a screen this size. It's a bit big for regular travel (we like to stick to 14 inches and below for that), but text and icons are highly readable and movies look very good.
Above the screen is a serviceable 1.3-megapixel Web cam and there is included software for using it. In fact, Toshiba includes a lot of software--most of it trialware--which will either make you happy, because it's less work for you, or cranky, because you have to uninstall so much of it to reclaim hard-drive space. One thing we do like is Toshiba's drop-down menu for the Function keys and other hardware- and software-management tools.
Toshiba Satellite L305D-5934 | Average for category [mainstream] | |
Video | VGA-out | VGA-out, S-video |
Audio | Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks | Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks |
Data | 3 USB 2.0, multi-format media-card reader | 4 USB 2.0, SD card reader |
Expansion | ExpressCard/54 | ExpressCard/54 |
Networking | modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g Wi-Fi | modem, Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional WWAN |
Optical drive | DVD burner | DVD burner |