Toshiba A45-S121 Review

Toshiba Satellite A45-S121 Notebook PC delivers CD burning, DVD playing, reasonable 3-D performance, a very affordable price point and enough muscle for day-to-day personal and light business tasks. Power users should definitely look toward one of Toshiba’s more upscale machines, but budget-minded shoppers may just find the economical Satellite A45-S121 more than meets their requirements.

Driven by a cost-effective 2.8 GHz Intel Celeron processor and a nominal 256 MB RAM, the Satellite A45-S121 isn’t designed for complex multitasking or demanding state-of-the-art applications. However, it will easily handle general chores such as word processing, personal finances, electronic communications and Internet browsing. Surprisingly, Toshiba has equipped this comparatively inexpensive system with a 32 MB Intel 852GME graphics controller. Though not ideal for high-end 3-D games, this chipset will allow you to efficiently play older and less demanding games and perform some 3-D graphics work. This level of 3-D capability is uncommon in this price range.

Measuring 13.2 by 11.7 by 1.9 inches and weighing in at 7.7 pounds, the Satellite A45-S121 is of average size — less bulky than a “desktop replacement” unit but nearly double the weight of some of today’s lightweight tablets and ultra-compact notebooks. Inside, Toshiba has included a 40 GB hard disk, a full-size 85-key keyboard with 12 hotkeys, a midsize 15-inch XGA TFT active-matrix display capable of 1024 by 768 resolution, and a convenient DVD/CD-RW drive through which you can burn and listen to audio CDs, archive files, and enjoy the latest Hollywood blockbusters. If you wish to burn DVDs, you’ll either need to upgrade or utilize an external DVD writer. As to be expected in this price range, connectivity options are only fair. The system features a traditional 56K modem port for dial-up communication and an RJ-45 LAN port for high-speed networking, but does not include wireless facilities or an IEEE 1394 FireWire port (normally used for fast downloads from digital camcorders). Furthermore, Toshiba has fitted the unit with four traditional USB ports rather than the new USB 2.0 standard, thus limiting data streaming speed from external devices such as digital cameras and the like.

The bundled software package features Microsoft’s Windows XP Home Edition operating system, Microsoft’s Works productivity suite, and Intuit’s Quicken New User Edition 2004 financial center. In ideal conditions, battery life is estimated at an impressive 2.9 hours.

Toshiba A45-S121 Specifications

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