A Review of the Top of the Line Toshiba Satellite X205-SLI6 Notebook

Toshiba's X series is a series of multimedia notebooks all running the Penryn chip. These notebooks are high dollar editions to any consumer's toy collection so I've decided to get my hands on one of best X series notebooks Toshiba has to offer and give it a test drive. I've got my hands on the Toshiba Satellite X205-SLI6. I'm going to let you know what I like about it and what may come up a little short. First let me get started with some of the basics.

Hardware

Tuner: Included HD Tuner

Processor: 2.50 GHz "Penryn" Intel Core 2 Duo T9300

Storage Space: two 200 GB hard drives (yielding a total of 400GB)

RAM: 3 GB (expandable up to a 4 GB maximum)

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

Graphics Accelerator: Nvidia SLI Dual GeForce 8600M graphics card (767MB of video RAM Shared and dedicated)

Dimensions and weight: 15.7" x 11.3" x 2.05" and 9.37 pounds

Also in the box: 4 Harman Kardon speakers and a subwoofer

The screen is one of the most impressive displays I've seen from Toshiba. It runs at a resolution of 1680 x 1050 (which is a native 720p for those familiar with HD television ratings) and it also includes Toshiba's proprietary TruBrite technology. The screen is bright and glossy and doesn't wash out very easily.

From a hardware perspective the huge hard drives offering up close to a half a TB is very impressive for a notebook. The size however is a bit daunting weighing in a just shy of 10lbs. It gets great battery life however it is a little too large to take on the road all the time. It would be a great desktop replacement or backbone of an entertainment center. The great graphics card and high definition outputs really push it over the top as far as becoming a great multimedia notebook is concerned.

Connectivity

Integrated WiFi (to connect to wireless networks)

1 Ethernet port (to connect to wireless LANs)

Integrated BlueTooth (to sync with things like cells phones and mobile GPS systems)

6 2.0 USB inputs (to connect to things like digital cameras, flash drives, printers and MP3 players)

1 FireWire (this input can be used for high speed data transfer like between other PC's or a digital camcorder)

1 HDMI video output (use this video output to connect to HD televisions)

1 VGA output (this is the typical monitor connection)

1 S-Video output (a typical projector connection)

1 ExpressCard (to add additional peripherals)

1 audio jack / 1 mic input

5 in 1 memory card reader (to pull out the solid state memory card from your digital camera and directly insert it into your notebook)

56K modem port

The connectivity is as it should be in this large hardware stacked Toshiba. It has an HDMI output so you can connect to and watch movies or play games on your high definition television, as well as plenty of USB ports for periphrials. It is a great notebook for anyone that loves entertaining themselves and doesn't necessarily need to take their notebook everywhere. However weighing in with a price tag of $2300 it isn't likely we'll be seeing one of these under everyone's Christmas tree this year.