A Product Review of the 13.3" Toshiba Satellite U405-S2820 Ultra-Mobile Notebook

Ultra-mobile notebooks have always been the most popular notebooks on the market and sometimes the most expensive too. The Toshiba Satellite U405-S2820 is a 13.3" notebook that is very compact and comes in at a great price under $1000. They've been flying off the shelves lately and they will continue to through the new school year as parents pick these up for their new college students. Because of this I've decided to take one of these little guys for a spin and let you know what kind of consumer will get the most out of their purchase.

Hardware

Imaging: Bezel Integrated webcam

Processor: 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T5550

Storage Space: 250 GB HD

RAM: 2GB (Expandable up to a 4GB maximum)

Optical Drive: CD R/RW with integrated dual-layer +/- DVD R/RW burner

Graphics Accelerator: Intel GMA x3100 graphics card (shares up to 358MB of RAM as video memory)

Dimensions and weight: 12.4" x 9.0" x 1.4" and weighs 4.85 lbs

Operating System: Microsoft Windows Vista

Surprisingly one of the best features of this little compact notebook is its screen. It operates at a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels (which is a native 720p for those familiar with high definition). It also provides Toshiba's proprietary TruBrite technology and a glossy finish. The notebook is also surprisingly powerful for such a small laptop. Too often these mini-laptops sacrifice ability for size but with 2GB of RAM, a large hard drive, and a more than adequate 1.8GHz Intel it is actually slightly better than your average sized notebook. Also, To top it all off the battery life is great.

Connectivity

Integrated WiFi (to connect to wireless networks)

1 Ethernet port (to connect to wireless networks)

3 2.0 USB ports (a standard connection to be used with the likes of MP3 players, cameras and printers)

1 FireWire (or IEEE 1394 which is a port designed for high speed data transfer between other PCs and especially digital camcorders)

1 ExpressCard slot (to add a peripheral like a BlueTooth adapter)

1 VGA output (a standard monitor connection)

1 standard audio out / 1 mic in

1 digital audio out

1 56K modem port (for dialup connections)

5 in 1 memory card port (this is so you can insert your solid state memory from your digital cameras etc)

The connectivity is pretty good, although mine didn't have integrated Bluetooth which is certainly a sticking point with me. The good news is that there are plenty of USB ports as well as an expresscard slot so there are a couple of options to add a Bluetooth adapter. At about $900 it is a great deal especially for such a small notebook. It is a great option for anyone that travels with business, or students that need to have mobility. About the only thing it won't do is heavy entertainment, so it won't do well in a living room or with a hardcore gamer. The average computer user will love it though, so if you have the dough I would certainly pick one of these up.