Question:
(Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
Hey all,
I need a new laptop for general computing, but also audio. My budget is around 1000 US. I want an 80g HD, 512 RAM, and a DVD burner. I would like a 15" screen, I'll be using it primarily at home, and I would like to buy it within a month. I don't care much about anything else.
I won't be playing games. I will, however, be using audio programs such as Reason and Cool Edit.
I've found that the Toshiba Satellite A100 series seem to be recommended. I'm working in Taiwan right now and I can buy an A100 Centrino 1.87ghz (and everything I mentioned above) for about a thousand bucks.
Does anyone see any thing wrong with this laptop, or any good reason to cough up a considerably higher amount of cash for the Duo Core?
I'm up for hearing suggestions about an alternative laptop if possible. A Dell Inspiron series would be fine if I could get it here. Not sure.
Thanks,
Dave
Answer:
Re: (Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
Centrino is a branding that indicates the laptop in question contains an Intel processor, wireless, and chipset. It isn't a reference to the processor itself.
I don't think a Core Duo is necessary for what you're doing. That laptop would contain a Pentium M, and I think it will serve you well.
Answer:
Re: (Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
not necessarily a Pentium M. The Toshiba A100-Sk4 comes with a Core Solo 1350 (1.86GHz Centrino), 1GB RAM, 80GB HDD. My father recently purchased one in canada for $699.99 CND. So far there's nothing wrong with the laptop. As long as you're not planning to play games, or multitask heavily (like having a virus scan and photoshop running at the same time), the laptop should serve its purpose well.
Answer:
Re: (Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
Thanks for the replies folks!
But I thought the idea behind the Centrino was that it was the name which indicated a Pentium M, an 866 chipset, and a wifi card? Doesn't Centrino mean Pentium M?
Cheers,
Dave
Answer:
Re: (Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
But I thought the idea behind the Centrino was that it was the name which indicated a Pentium M, an 866 chipset, and a wifi card? Doesn't Centrino mean Pentium M?
It does, but Intel updates its Centrino platform; the old Centrino notebooks used the i915 series (or 855 if you want to go back that far) chipset, Intel wireless (2100/2200/2915), and of course the Pentium M processor.
The latest Centrino platform uses the Intel 945 series chipset, 3945ABG wireless chip, and an Intel Core Solo/Core Duo/Core 2 Duo processor.
I think you can get a nicer notebook than a Toshiba A100 for your budget; in my opinion, they are not very well built and the keyboard is subpar. The HP dv5000t is worth a look.
Answer:
Re: (Taiwan) Toshiba w/Centrino chip good?
Noting mssg from Chaz, the Tosh A100-SK4 is NOT a Centrino even tho many sellers (Best Buy, Future Shop etal) are calling it one. It doesn't have the Intel ABG card. Toshiba web sites are cagy in their wording but haven't found any calling the SK-4 a Centrino.