Foreword:

Toshiba’s latest $799 offering exclusively from Best Buy is a 14.1” notebook that sports a fresh new look for a Toshiba. The Satellite E105, from a long lineage of great value for money laptops from Toshiba, is a thinner and snazzier notebook that has a Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, integrated Intel graphics, an FM tuner and backlit keyboard.

The E105 has squared off edges and a thinner design than the older rounded and slightly thicker laptops from Toshiba, and remind one of Apple’s MacBooks. However, with a long battery life a lengthy warranty, decent performance and great price make this an ideal all-round laptop for anyone. Its silver/pewter color that is blended in the “Fusion” pattern of stripes and curves on the lid, keyboard deck, screen bezel and touchpad is pleasing to look at and use.

+Ves:

• The large matte-finish Synaptics touchpad was a delightful input device to use on this laptop. The finger glided through it with enough friction to assure accuracy while not compromising on a smooth experience. The wide mouse-keys also had a fingerprint scanner beside them which is very useful for security.
• The keyboard is backlit and has a matte paint texture that ensures that the keyboard does not get greasy. The feedback is a shallow audible click that is pleasing on the fingers, however your mileage may vary. The keyboard has a touch-sensitive multimedia strip that is both very useful and slightly annoying (when it gets activated by the slightest touch).
• The 14.1” glossy widescreen has excellent contrast and is viewable in daylight (except under very strong light) because of its decent brightness. The colors are vivid and pleasing to the eye.
• The FM radio jack is a surprising addition to this laptop. Very few laptops have an FM jack, to which an antenna can be attached (provided by Toshiba). The reception is reasonable enough and can be a great way to pass the time when you do not want to listen to internet radio.

-Ves:

• The keyboard’s design could be improved. The multimedia touch-sensitive keys take up quite a bit of vertical space, and the keys are smaller because of that. The multimedia strip could be put horizontally for proper use.
• Video playback is average because color banding is a frequent issue. A full WXGA panel could have been better for watching full 720p HD movies (considering the inclusion of dedicated multimedia keys).
• Audio quality is very poor ironically in this laptop. The music is faint and muffled while movies are unintelligible even at the highest volume settings in an ambient environment. Headphones are an absolute necessity for this laptop.

Final Word:

With a larger HDD (500GB as compared to the 320GB that the S1402 sported), Core 2 Duo P7350 clocked at 2.0GHz, the S1602 takes the cake with a new weapon – recession pricing. At $799 this laptop is a steal when you compare it to the other mainstream laptops found in the market because of its solid construction, good processing power, comfy keyboard and touchpad and the surprise FM radio jack with the only drawbacks being solid multimedia playback.