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Toshiba Satellite R25-S3503 - 14.1 - Core Duo T2050 - Win XP Tablet PC 2005 - 1 GB RAM - 100 GB HDD review: Toshiba Satellite R25-S3503 - 14.1 - Core Duo T2050 - Win XP Tablet PC 2005 - 1 GB RAM - 100 GB HDD

The bulky Satellite R25 offers a beautiful display and plenty of features at a low price, but if you don't need the tablet functionality, there are better wide-screen notebooks on the market.

Andrew Gruen
Andrew Gruen
is an intern who reviews products for CNET.com and CNET News.com.
Michelle Thatcher Former Senior Associate Editor, Laptops
Tech expert Michelle Thatcher grew up surrounded by gadgets and sustained by Tex-Mex cuisine. Life in two major cities--first Chicago, then San Francisco--broadened her culinary horizons beyond meat and cheese, and she's since enjoyed nearly a decade of wining, dining, and cooking up and down the California coast. Though her gadget lust remains, the practicalities of her small kitchen dictate that single-function geegaws never stay around for long.
Andrew Gruen
Michelle Thatcher
5 min read
The Toshiba Satellite R25 convertible tablet has a few things going for it: it's relatively inexpensive; it has a beautiful, 14.1-inch wide-screen display; and its long list of features includes a built-in dual-layer DVD burner. Unfortunately those advantages come at the cost of portability; the 7-pound Satellite R25 is far too heavy for mobile handheld use. If you're looking for a notebook to use primarily at your desk but still want the tablet option to take handwritten notes, consider the Satellite R25. Otherwise, look to a traditional notebook such as the Dell Latitude D520.

The Satellite R25 takes its styling cues from Toshiba's business-oriented Tecra line. Like the Tecra M6, the Satellite R25 has a silver lid and keyboard deck with black plastic on the bottom of the case. Measuring 13.7 inches wide, 10.2 inches deep, and 1.6 inches thick, the Satellite R25 is wider and slightly thicker than its predecessor, the Satellite R15. It's also less than a half-inch wider than the Dell Latitude D520 and the Gateway CX200X convertible tablet. The Satellite R25's 7-pound weight is downright heavy for a notebook and heavier than the Gateway CX200X, the Dell Latitude D520, and the Satellite R15. With its AC adapter, the convertible Satellite R25 hits the road at a whopping 7.9 pounds--clearly, this large tablet isn't designed for frequent travel.

5.0

Toshiba Satellite R25-S3503 - 14.1 - Core Duo T2050 - Win XP Tablet PC 2005 - 1 GB RAM - 100 GB HDD

The Good

Wide screen; sharp display resolution; tablet functionality.

The Bad

Too heavy for regular mobile use; screen wobbles easily; small touch pad; mediocre performance.

The Bottom Line

The bulky Satellite R25 offers a beautiful display and plenty of features at a low price, but if you don't need the tablet functionality, there are better wide-screen notebooks on the market.

While the Satellite R15 had a standard-aspect XGA display, the Satellite R25 has a 14.1-inch, wide-screen display. The screen's impressive 1,440x900 native resolution makes it possible to watch 1080p HD content without shrinking the video. This resolution also provides a vast document work space that can show 22 columns and 42 rows in a standard spreadsheet and can display a word processing document at 165 percent without need for horizontal scrolling.

Dazzlingly high display resolution aside, the multimedia experience on the Satellite R25 is average. The notebook's speakers sound good at low volumes, but when we tried to pump out Gnarls Barkley's Crazy at top volumes, it sounded a bit like a cover by the Chipmunks. There is, however, a full complement of multimedia keys to the left of the keyboard, as well as a hardware volume dial next to the headphone and microphone jacks on the notebook's front lip.

The Satellite R25 shares features found on most other convertible notebooks. The display is mounted on a single, centrally located hinge that rotates 180 degrees, meaning the notebook can close with the LCD panel facing in or out. When you face the display outward and close the lid, the display switches to portrait mode for easier writing. Writing with the Satellite R25's stylus is rather comfortable, though the display's smooth surface keeps it from feeling like a pen on paper. When converting the R25 to tablet mode, we had a hard time removing the stylus from its storage slot--annoying, but probably a good way to keep from losing it. Three quick-launch keys, a rotate-screen key, and a mini-joystick button help you navigate menus while using the tablet; a fingerprint reader at the bottom of the display bezel lets you log on to your network with the swipe of a finger.

Though the ability to quickly convert to tablet mode is undoubtedly cool, it detracts from the primary notebook experience--the display on the Satellite R25, attached to the base by a single center hinge, wobbles at the lightest touch. The rest of the Satellite R25's notebook features are average. Its keyboard is only slightly narrower than full size, and as on many other Toshiba notebooks, common keys are placed in strange locations. The Windows button, for example, is on the upper right. The Satellite R25's touch pad and mouse buttons are slightly small, and the pad lacks a dedicated scroll zone.

Unlike more lightweight tablets, the Satellite R25 has a plethora of ports, including FireWire, S-Video, VGA, and four USB 2.0 ports; headphone and microphone jacks; a slot for PC Cards (but not the latest ExpressCards); and a 5-in-1 memory card reader that supports Secure Digital, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, MultiMediaCard, and xD Picture Card. It comes with an Ethernet jack, 802.11a/b/g wireless, and a 56Kbps modem, but neither Bluetooth nor WWAN. The Satellite R25 also includes a sweet integrated dual-layer DVD burner.

Aside from Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Toshiba bundles with its Satellite R25 Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, which is particularly useful for organizing handwritten notes, and the Microsoft Works 8.5 mini productivity suite, plus apps for viewing and burning discs.

Our Satellite R25-S3503 review unit included some decent components for its relatively low $1,300 price. Those included a 1.6GHz Intel Core Duo T2050 processor, 1GB of average 533MHz RAM, a midrange 80GB hard drive spinning at 5,400rpm, and integrated Intel graphics that share up to 128MB of system memory. Those didn't quite add up to stellar performance on CNET Labs' mobile benchmarks. The Satellite R25 performed better than its predecessor, which ran on a single-core 1.6GHz Pentium M processor, but the R25 was unable to keep up with the more recent Dell Latitude D520, nor could it match the performance of its tablet competitor, the Gateway CX200X. While the Satellite R25's performance while running on battery should be adequate for basic productivity tasks, such as checking e-mail, taking notes, and working on documents, there are better-performing laptops and tablets available on the market today. In our battery-drain tests, the Satellite R25 held out for 3 hours, 28 minutes--slightly above average for a laptop of its size but not as long as the Latitude D520's 4 hour, 51 minute battery life.

The Toshiba Satellite R25 comes with an industry-standard one-year parts-and-labor warranty with return-to-depot service. During the warranty period, support is accessible through a 24/7 toll-free phone line; extending coverage to three years costs $149, and upgrades to onsite service are available. Online support is always free; Toshiba's support site includes a thorough knowledge database, but we wish it also offered the opportunity to chat in real-time with a support rep.

Mobile application performance
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
BAPCo MobileMark 2005 performance rating  

Battery life
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
BAPCo MobileMark 2005 battery life in minutes  

Find out more about how we test Windows notebooks.

System configurations:
Dell Latitude D520
Windows XP Pro; 1.66GHz Intel Core Duo T2300; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; Mobile i945GM Express 256MB; Fujitsu MHV2040BH 40GB 5,400rpm
Gateway CX200X
Windows XP Tablet 2005; 2.13GHz Intel Pentium M 770; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; ATI Mobility Radeon X600 SE 128MB; Fujitsu MHT2080BH 80GB 4,200rpm
Toshiba Satellite R15-S822
Windows XP Pro; 1.6GHz Intel Pentium M 725; 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM 333MHz; Intel 82852/82855 GM/GME 64MB; Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 60GN 60GB 5,400rpm
Toshiba Satellite R25-S3503
Windows XP Tablet 2005; Intel Core Duo T2050 1.6GHz; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM PC4300 533MHz; Intel Mobile 945GM 128MB; Toshiba MK1032GSX 80GB 5,400rpm

5.0

Toshiba Satellite R25-S3503 - 14.1 - Core Duo T2050 - Win XP Tablet PC 2005 - 1 GB RAM - 100 GB HDD

Score Breakdown

Design 5Features 6Performance 4Battery 5Support 5