Toshiba Satellite U305 Review

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by Jerry Jackson

The Toshiba Satellite U300/U305 series is a new 13.3&quot; widescreen notebook that weighs in at just 4.6 pounds and packs solid Intel Core 2 Duo performance and big hard drives with plenty of storage space. Add to that a thin integrated DVD SuperMulti drive, webcam, and fingerprint reader and this notebook starts looking even better. Is Toshiba justified in calling the U305 &quot;the ideal concentration of performance and design?&quot; Let's take a look.

Although the U300/U305 series is available with configurable options starting at $854.10 our pre-configured U305-S5127 is priced at $1,349.99 and features the following specs:

• Windows Vista Home Premium (32-bit)
• Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T7100 (1.80GHz, 2MB L2, 800MHz FSB)
• Mobile Intel GM965 Express Chipset
• Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM (maximum capacity 4GB)
• 200GB Serial ATA hard disk drive (4200RPM)
• 8x DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
• 13.3&quot; diagonal widescreen TruBrite TFT LCD display at 1280x800 (WXGA)
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator X3100 with 8MB-251MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
• 1.3 megapixel webcam
• Bluetooth version 2.0 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)
• ExpressCard slot (ExpressCard/34 and Express Card/54)
• 5-in-1 media card reader
• RGB out
• Microphone input port
• Headphone output port
• IEEE-1394 (FireWire)
• Three USB 2.0 ports
• Fingerprint reader
• Dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear): 12.2&quot; x 8.9&quot; x 1.19&quot; /1.33&quot; without feet
• Weight: 4.6 lbs
• 75W (19V x 3.95A) 100-240V AC Adapter (5.04&quot; x 1.20&quot; x 2.01&quot; and weighs 0.77 lb)
• 9-cell (7800mAh) Lithium Ion battery (1.09 lbs)
• 1-Year Standard Limited Warranty

Build and Design

Like most notebooks with a 13.3&quot; widescreen display the U305 is on the border of the thin-and-light and ultra-portable categories. With a weight of more than four and a half pounds it isn't the lightest notebook in its class. Likewise, since the notebook is 1.2 inches thick at its thinnest point the U305 falls in the &quot;middle of the pack&quot; among recent 13.3&quot; systems. Nevertheless, Toshiba has successfully engineered a stylish and compact frame with some unique elements that make it attractive to everyone from students to business professionals.

Although the exterior is constructed of plastic it felt relatively solid. Some of the plastics in areas such as the palm rests and the LCD lid felt thin, but overall the build quality seems good. There is very little case flex and no audible creaks to the plastics.

The optical drive in particular is quite thin yet still remains very sturdy. The optical drive (manufactured by LG and similar to drives used in some Lenovo notebooks) is actually as good or better in terms of build quality than some drives we've seen in larger budget notebooks. The optical drive was relatively quiet during operation and drive noise was not an issue while viewing DVDs.

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Our review U305 came with a &quot;Onyx Blue Metallic&quot; lid which looks black unless light strikes the plastic at just the right angle. The lid's colored plastic has a glossy coat with an almost mirror like shine. It certainly looks stylish but is a magnet for fingerprints. The rest of the case plastics are made of matte black plastic or beige plastic that is painted silver.

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Screen

The LCD lid on the U305 doesn't use a latch mechanism and instead relies on resistance from the hinge ... or dual hinges in the case of the U300/U305 series.

The display panel itself is a 13.3&quot; glossy screen with WXGA resolution (1280x800). There were absolutely no problems with the screen on our review unit: the refresh rate seems excellent when videos or games with fast motion are displayed and there are no stuck pixels. As is common with glossy screens, colors and contrast are quite good and both images and video &quot;pop&quot; off the screen. Brightness is quite impressive, though not quite as bright as some of the newer screens with LED backlights. When set to maximum brightness the screen is bright enough to cause some people to squint in a dark room.

Horizontal viewing angles are better than average. Colors are good and the backlight brightness remains even across the screen while viewing at extreme horizontal angles. There is some minor color inversion when you view the screen from sharp vertical angles (such as standing above the notebook or looking up at the screen from the floor. Of course, as with any glossy screen reflection from room lights can become a problem ... depending on the room and the lights.

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Speakers

The audio performance on the U305 was average for a thin and light 13.3&quot; notebook, but it was far from impressive. Both of the small speakers located above the keyboard produce a &quot;tin can&quot; sound quality with plenty of highs but almost no mid range and absolutely no bass. On the bright side, the speakers are located in a good position to direct sound up and toward the user. Unfortunately, you will still want to use headphones or external speakers if you care about sound quality.

On that note it's worthwhile to mention that the audio out port on the U305 is located on the left side (a good location for an external speaker connection) and audio output was clean (there was no static or cracking in the sound coming from the headphone jack).

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Keyboard and Touchpad

The keyboard on the U305 is a mixed bag. On one hand the keys have a good texture with excellent cushion and travel. The keys are very silent in operation and there are dedicated page up and page down keys (nice to have on a compact keyboard). That said, there is a significant degree of keyboard flex across the board. The flex seems most severe around the J, K, U, and I keys.

While keyboard flex isn't the end of the world, we don't like to see this much flex on a notebook that costs more than $1,000.

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The touchpad was responsive and felt durable, but the recessed edges actually made the touchpad feel smaller than it already is. Unfortuantely, the touchpad buttons on the U305 are quite bad. The buttons have almost no feedback and are not responsive at all. Not only are they uncomfortable to press because of the shallow feedback but I often had to press the touchpad buttons several times before a click was registered.

On a positive note, the one-touch fingerprint reader does a wonderful job reading fingerprints without accidentally being triggered when you use the touchpad buttons.

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The U305 includes six dedicated media buttons located above the keyboard. The media buttons include an Internet button to launch the default browser and CD/DVD control buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, and Next Track). While we're glad to see these media buttons it would have been nice to have LED backlights so it would be easier to see the buttons when playing DVDs in a dark room.

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Performance and Benchmarks

Toshiba chose to offer the U300/U305 series in a range of configurations starting with the Intel Pentium Dual-core T2130 (1.86GHz) and up to the Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 (1.8GHz) processor for pre-configured systems. While the entry-level Pentium dual core system with its 1MB of L2 cache and 533MHz frontside bus still provides reasonable performance under Vista, it's good to know that the T7100 (2MB L2, 800MHz FSB) is an option for people who need faster multimedia encoding or image editing. The Intel T7700 processor (2.4GHz, 4MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB) is also an option for customized systems.

That said, the integrated graphics processor and shared RAM is a far more limiting factor in terms of overall performance with the U305. While many 13.3&quot; notebooks are now available with dedicated graphics, Toshiba selected integrated Intel X3100 graphics for this notebook. Without a powerful GPU or dedicated video RAM the U305 simply cannot run most games at higher resolutions (if at all). Although the U305 is not a &quot;gaming machine&quot; it would have been nice to see an entry-level dedicated graphics card in this system.

One thing the U305 offers plenty of is storage space. The 200GB hard drive should provide more than enough storage space for your music library, encoded videos, and your family photos. Of course, since the hard drive speed is limited to 4200RPM you may find yourself waiting for files to read from or write to the disk, but the storage space is there. If hard disk speed is important to you then you'll be happy to know Toshiba offers configurations with faster drives (with slightly less storage space).

Super Pi comparison results:

Notebook	Time
Toshiba Satellite U305 (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100)	1m 07s
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 58s
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	1m 01s
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300)	0m 59s
HP dv2500t (1.80GHz Intel 7100)	1m 09s
Lenovo ThinkPad T61 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T7300)	0m 59s
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.00GHz Core 2 Duo T7200)	1m 03s
Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 (1.73 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel T5300)	1m 24s
Toshiba Satellite A205 (1.66GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 34s
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52)	2m 05s
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T2400)	0m 59s
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core 2 Duo)	1m 02s

PCMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	PCMark05 Score
Toshiba Satellite U305 (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, Intel X3100)	2,972 PCMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS)	4,591 PCMarks
Lenovo ThinkPad X61 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	4,153 PCMarks
Lenovo 3000 V200 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, Intel X3100)	3,987 PCMarks
Lenovo T60 Widescreen (2.0GHz Intel T7200, ATI X1400 128MB)	4,189 PCMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	4,234 PCMarks
Fujitsu N6410 (1.66GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	3,487 PCMarks
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60, Nvidia Go 7800GTX)	5,597 PCMarks
Sony Vaio SZ-110B in Speed Mode (Using Nvidia GeForce Go 7400)	3,637 PCMarks
Asus V6J (1.86GHz Core Duo T2400, Nvidia Go 7400)	3,646 PCMarks

3DMark05 comparison results:

Notebook	3D Mark 05 Results
Toshiba Satellite U305 (1.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7100, Intel X3100)	876 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1330 (2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7300, NVIDIA GeForce Go 8400M GS 128MB)	3,116 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6510b (2.20GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7500, Intel X3100)	916 3DMarks
HP Compaq 6515b (1.6GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-52, ATI x1270)	871 3DMarks
HP dv6000t (2.16 GHz Intel T7400, NVIDA GeForce Go 7400)	2,013 3D Marks
Dell Inspiron e1705 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400)	1,791 3D Marks
Acer TravelMate 8204WLMi (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1600 256MB)	4,236 3DMarks
Alienware Aurora M-7700(AMD Dual Core FX-60, ATI X1600 256MB)	7,078 3D Marks
Lenovo ThinkPad T60 (2.0GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,092 3D Marks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks
Fujitsu n6410 (1.66 GHz Core Duo, ATI X1400 128MB)	2,273 3DMarks
Dell XPS M1210 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia Go 7400 256MB)	2,090 3D Marks

HDTune results:

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Heat and Noise

The U305 does an excellent job of controlling heat thanks in no small part to the massive copper heatsink visible through the air vent on the left side of the notebook. CPU temperatures peaked at no more than 55 degrees Celsius during benchmarks and hard drive temperatures averaged around 43 degrees Celsius. The palm rests never became too hot during our tests and the bottom of the notebook remained reasonably cool despite the large warning sticker on the bottom of the notebook advising you to use caution when keeping the notebook on your lap. Although the bottom did become warm during benchmarks it was never too hot to keep on the lap.

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Fan noise, on the other hand, was not something that the U305 managed well. Although the U305 remained relatively cool, the cooling fan remained on a low setting almost all the time unless the system was idle or hibernating. When the fan turns on maximum it sounds like a weak hair dryer and puts out enough hot air from the left side that you could probably dry your hair with it after a shower.

Bottom line, the U305 keeps heat under control at the expense of noise.

Input and Output Ports

We were pleased to see an impressive number of ports on this notebook despite its smaller form factor. While many notebooks in the 13.3&quot; class have only two USB ports and some have no FireWire port, Toshiba managed to include three USB ports and even squeezed in a FireWire port by moving it to the front of the notebook.

Let's take a closer look at the ports:

Left side: VGA out, two USB ports, headphone out, microphone in, and volume control wheel. (view large image)

Front side: FireWire port, 5-in-1 card reader, and wireless on/off switch. (view large image)

Right side: Optical drive, ExpressCard slot, USB port, Ethernet, modem, and security lock slot. (view large image)

Rear view: Nothing here except hinges, the battery, and the DC power jack. (view large image)

Software

Unfortunately, Toshiba includes an almost overwhelming about of bloatware on the U305. There are so many applications pre-installed on the notebook that startup took much longer than it should. Several useful applications like Internet Explorer and Adobe Acrobat Reader actually suffered through serious delays because the notebook's resources were being used by numerous applications that didn't need to be running.

Of course, customers can always uninstall this bloatware when they start using the notebook ... it's just unfortunate that Toshiba includes this much &quot;junk&quot; on this machine. The list of pre-installed software includes (but is not limited to):

• Bluetooth Stack for Windows by Toshiba
• TOSHIBA ConfigFree
• TOSHIBA Assist
• TOSHIBA Security Assist
• TOSHIBA Disc Creator
• TOSHIBA Extended Tiles for Windows Mobility Center
• TOSHIBA Speech System
• TOSHIBA Game Console
• Microsoft Works Version 8.5
• Sun Java 2 Runtime Environment
• Adobe Acrobat Reader 8.0
• InterVideo WinDVD 8
• Google Desktop
• Google Toolbar
• Google Picasa
• Yahoo! Music Jukebox
• Ulead DVD MovieFactory 5 for TOSHIBA
• Microsoft Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial)
• McAfee Internet Security Suite (30-day trial)
• Microsoft Office Live
• Shutterfly digital photo service
• Napster music subscription service
• eMusic MP3 music subscription service
• VONGO internet video download service
• CNN Pipeline
• Skype internet communications

Battery

Our U305 came with the 9-cell extended life battery (10.8V, 7800mAh) but a standard 6-cell battery (10.8V, 5200mAh) is also available. With power management set to &quot;High Performance&quot; and screen brightness set to maximum while wirelessly browsing the web the battery lasted 3 hours and 02 minutes. With power management set to &quot;Power Saver&quot; and screen at half brightness the battery lasted 4 hours and 24 minutes while browsing the web. The battery lasted an impressive 5 hours and 41 minutes with the notebook set to &quot;Power Saver&quot; with half screen brightness and letting the system idle without any activity and without letting the screen turn off.

Clearly the U305 does a reasonably job with battery life when using the 9-cell extended life battery.

Conclusion

The Toshiba U305 is an impressive portable notebook that is handicapped by a few minor issues. The quality 13.3&quot; glossy display, thin and light lines, sizeable hard drive, good battery life and a good selection of ports help provide a solid foundation for a portable powerhouse. The Core 2 Duo processor and plenty of available RAM likewise give the system an impressive backbone for performance. However, integrated graphics, limited selection of processors, and too much bloatware prevent the U300 and U305 notebooks from offering jaw-dropping performance. The keyboard and touchpad issues also make the notebook feel less refined than it could be.

Bottom line, the Toshiba Satellite U300/U305 is an excellent notebook in the 13.3&quot; display class. Although it lacks the horsepower for serious gaming and might not have the best keyboard and touchpad it is one of the nicer budget portables of 2007.

Pros:

• Reasonably thin and light for a 13.3&quot; notebook.
• Nice screen
• Solid selection of ports
• Thin yet durable optical drive
• Plenty of storage space for media files

Cons:

• Way too much keyboard flex
• Bad touchpad buttons
• Average performance
• Plastics used in construction feel thin in some places
• Poor speakers for a compact media notebook

 

Just a minor correction, the U305 is actually available with up to a T7700 CPU, not T7100 as written.

 

Technically the U300 is configurable up to the T7700 but the U305 units are pre-configured and only go up to the T7100. I just went in and clarified that section so no one gets confused.

 

I really like the look of this laptop, its a lot cheaper than other 13.3" competitors and doesn't have any major flaws.

 

Thanks for the much needed review ! So, would you recommend this or the Dell m1330 instead? TIA

 

Thanks for an interesting review. Does the front-to-back dimension include the battery sticking out at the back? The thickness excludes the feet, but how long are they?

The test results are an interesting mixture. The PCMark05 results is in the wrong league but the 3DMark05 result is OK. Do you have the details for the PCMark05 result so we can see what is pulling it down? Is it that HDD, which is slooooow by current standards (there's something wrong with the burst rate - should be ~100MB/s).

John

 

If you need a solid notebook with better performance I'd suggest the M1330 over this system ... unless the fully loaded M1330 is outside of your budget. The U300/U305 series is still a good notebook, though.

Toshiba also offers the Tecra M8 which is essentially the same notebook as the U305 with a slightly better build for a bit more cash. I will also be reviewing the M8 soon.

 

for the price this a wonderful laptop. my dad has one, and retailers like frys always have good deals on them. i just hate that big gap b/w the lcd and the base.

 

The front-to-back dimension does not include the extended life battery sticking out. With the extended life battery the front-to-back dimension is about 9.9" total. The rubber feet on the bottom are 1/8" thick.

Yes, the slow hard drive certainly impacted the benchmarks ... and it's possible some of the bloatware lowered performance as well. I'm interested in seeing how the Toshiba Tecra M8 will perform since it has a little less bloatware.

 

This review seems closer to what is seen in other tech magazines and sites than the intense in-depth we are used to seeing at NBR - is this because it is written by the site itself rather than user submitted? I hope this isn't a permanent change. The review covered all the bases, but something just seemed missing, I can't quite put my finger on it.

My main point of contention is regarding integrated vs discrete graphics. I don't see why putting discrete graphics (low end) into this form-factor and budget is automatically a good thing... it will suck up more power at idle, but still have insufficient power to run anything decent. Integrated graphics are adequate for the vast majority of non-gaming users, and I think a lot of people get caught up in "discrete graphics snobbery". Having the OPTION of an nVidia or ATI card would be nice, but I don't think it should be the default choice you seem to suggest.

 

How did the Intel Turbo Memory effect performance and/or did your model have the 1GB which comes on the S5127 model?

I am choosing between this and the HP TX1220us, which is a Turion based system, as you know. Which is better? Which will give the better overall exp? I will only be using this for business meaning no games and such although I do use Photoshop frequently. I will be mainly using it for web administration and updates. How do the two compare in performance and other features? I have done a lot of my own research but I have yet to find any performance results for the Turion X2 TL-64 vs the Core 2 Duo 1.5-1.8Ghz? Which notebook will have the longer battery life? The TX1220us has the best notebook setup in terms of touch pad and click buttons and the keyboard is also great, is the U305 similar?

Thanks,

FifthE1ement

 

Jerry - were you actually able to get the BT radio to run? I wasn't able to...although the U305 includes drivers, I guess bluetooth isn't there at all...??

 

Awesome! Finally a good U305 review. I'm also very curious about the M8.

This seems like a great laptop for the price but really I'd probably pay an extra 50 bucks to speed that hard drive up a couple notches, and another 100 bucks to knock a pound off of the total weight.

I also wish that the graphics performance was just a bit better. It looks as though the 1330 or SZ6XX series would beat this handily as far as speed is concerned.

 

NBR still accepts user reviews. We do however also do reviews when a company requests we do them. Those reviews (like this one) are done by the admins and moderators.

 

Yep, I know that... but this review seemed less in-depth than previous ones, though that is no sleight - just my perspective versus previous reviews.

 

So that's 4.6 (base weight) + 1.09 (battery) + 0.77 (adapter) for a total travel weight of 6.5 lbs? Or is the 4.6 lbs including the battery?

 

You bring up a good point, but what areas do you think may have not been covered? Suggestions for review additions are always welcome and as long as it isn't an outlandish request I don't see why we couldn't be able to include them in future reviews.

 

I think the user means performance results, missing features, Windows Vista Hardware ratings, etc...

Could you please answer my question above?

Thanks,

FifthE1ement

 

The "Turbo Memory" sounds nice, but it boils down to good marketing of a not-so-great feature. We honestly don't see any difference in performance between similarly configured systems that do and do not have Intel Turbo Memory.

The tx1000 series is really an entertainment notebook/tablet hybrid ... and it has a 12.1" screen rather than a 13.3" screen. So, if size is an issue the HP would come out on top. In terms of "which will give the better overall experience" that depends on what you're after. The U300/U305 gives you faster Intel processors, more hard drive space, and a slightly larger screen. The tx1000 gives you tablet functionality (if you get a configuration with the touchscreen) and a slightly smaller and more durable notebook body. From a consumer standpoint I'll also say the HP Quickplay application is much more slick and user friendly than the bloatware on the Toshiba.

The AMD mobile processors are slower than Intel processors when doing things like encoding media (music and video) and complex processes like editing images in Photoshop. In "real world use" most people think the AMD systems perform about the same as Intel systems, so if you don't need the absolute fastest system available you can save some cash and go with an AMD system.

In terms of battery life, both the U300/U305 and tx1000 series will perform well with the extended life batteries if you want to be away from a wall outlet for more than 3 hours.

Good question. The U305 was showing up on a list of BT devices in our office but I didn't actually do any BT testing with the system. Toshiba lists BT 2.0+EDR on the specks, so it should be there if you have the same configuration as our test unit.

Luke, you are welcome to express your opinions and I certainly hope no one gives you trouble just because you don't like one of our in-house reviews.

We have a very large queue of review units that we have to handle in house and we have to balance in-depth coverage with "accessible" coverage for non-enthusiasts who don't even understand benchmarks. Although we certainly think every single review unit deserves a good review, there's also a need to focus on notebooks and accessories that our forum members have requested or expressed the most interest in getting reviewed.

In any case, we strive to develop original content/reviews that are superior to what other sites have to offer. If this review doesn't meet your standards, hopefully others will.

 

Too bad Toshiba puts Express Card slot directly above optical drive, as some express card with external ports will impede optical drive from opening or closing.

 

Thanks for the reply Jerry.
It is important to note that NBR's "poor" reviews are still much better than any review I see, so it isn't a problem.
Cutting out a lot of the technical bits is surely a help to the "average Joe" who may read. Being a business, you need those eyeballs on advertisements, click-throughs, referrals etc I imagine. I don't see that compromising your opinions, so it is all good.

How about having two versions of a review, "quick-vu" - short and to the point, and then "tech-vu" which would add more technical detail.

Obviously quite difficult with the volume of reviews here recently - the site seems to have exploded in the past 2-3 months!

 

I agree, I bought this a week ago for business use, I would not want to pay any extra for discrete graphics built-in. In fact I bought the lower end U305-S5097 model, which meets my needs for a lower cost ($800), although I decided to to bump the 1GB to 2GB. Plus it has the faster 5400RPM 160GB drive. But my thanks to the reviewer, it was a well-done review.

 

Good review! My co-worker is thinking of buying either the U305 or the Tecra M8 since she's doing more out-of-town traveling with her new assignment. I'll forward this to her.

I'm just puzzled why Toshiba doesn't implement Intel's lower-wattage L7500 processor in their 13.3 and smaller laptops. The whole concept of thin/slim notebooks is portability & maximum battery life: the L7500 chip seems to suck half the juice, without sacrificing that much in performance. In fact Lenovo's X61s performs better on the PCMark benchmarks than the U305.

 

K, I have a bone to pick here - there's an intel centrino duo sticker with a 'peel off here' portion -> When I tried to peel it off repeatedly the chassy of the laptop in that section kept sinking down as if it were going to collapse from having no support - i.e. the expresscard slot and dvd drive were directly under that sticker.

Did the reviewer or Anyone notice this yet? It worries me as my Portege m300 never displayed any weakness in the chassis as this does


- Jordan

 

The LV chips are much more expensive, so it would probably push the U300 out of its price range.

Another factor limiting the use of LV processors is that they are not sold in socket configurations, they come soldered to the motherboard only, so many manufacturers don't use them.

 

Do not believe the 4Gb's RAM Maximum, it may not be tested and true!

I would never ever buy a laptop from Toshiba again. They are great little powerhouses that get the job done, that is for sure. But Toshiba as a company just wants to be "seen" as a great company and not actually hold up the service end of the purchasing agreement.

Take a very close look at all of the specs that are listed before you buy. I bought one of their u305 13.3″ laptops 4 1/2 months ago. The specifications on their website very clearly and proudly state that the laptop is capable of utilizing 4Gb’s of RAM. It is not! And it is not because of the chipset or board being used (others use the same and are capable of 4Gb's). It is because they could not program the bios properly to handle it.

Toshiba has since my purchase changed the manual and the online specifications for this laptop line to an upper limit of 2Gb’s RAM. After many hours on the phone with their “customer service” handlers, I am at a loss for what to do. It is at the point now that I am considering suing them. They have made absolutely no effort to rectify the situation.

It is apparently my burden to bear that the laptops specifications changed. They are not willing to allow me to return it and pay the difference for another model. They will not compensate me in any way for their mistake. I now have 2 2Gb sticks of top end OCZ sitting at home gathering dust. I cannot return them because it is past the 14 day limit. Although to OCZ’s customer service I send thanks! They are willing to send me out new (in exchange) ones if the future laptop I do buy needs differently spec’d RAM.

Stay away from Toshiba as a laptop manufacturer, they do not hold up their end of the purchase agreement and feel perfectly okay doing so.

Jake Z

 

Just picked up a U305-S2808...no BT on mine. Quite a light system but the keyboard has too much flex and not enought depth. Too much bloatware and biggest gripe is that it is noisy! The fan is always on!

Can anyone help please with the graphics settings. If I try to make video images full screen on youtube, cnn, etc...the display goed blank and I can only hear sound. If I change the video resolution to 16 bit it does work BUT is there anyway to keep the setting to 32bit and get the screen to display the video??? thanks

 

Well... Seems like a slightly smoother edged rendition of the design my old v505dc1p sony had. Only without the port ****, and a very nice selection of memory stick reading ability(Well, compared to just memorystick and memorystick pro...).

Same issues too otherwise... And really, it doesn't look all that different. ^.^'


That said. For its time my V505 had a little more video umph with its dedicated lowend(9200m 32mb... Not so glorious now. Or ever really, but quite a beast for a 12in well over 3 years ago.) But thats about it. Which most users shouldn't care about. (What can I say, I'm crazy.) Would be good to put a faster hdd in it tho. The toshiba 4200rpm that was in my v505 was great... This one doesnt seem to quite push that extra mile tho. Funny...

Atleast toshibas using their own hard drives tho for once. Owned a Sat 1695cdt before my sony. Blasted hd was an iritating pos... And not by toshiba... Its just loigical really in a toshiba laptop... not that big of a fan. Tho telling me its about to wear out was pretty nifty on my v505...

 

I just bought an u305 a few days ago and I gotta tell you that the performance is awesome, im a college student and my major is networking engineering, so i develop java programs in this laptop and it has good performance, the toshiba assist software is cool and makes networking easier, the only problem that it could have is that the fan works a little rough sometimes, but it never gets overheated, the new models of this laptops already include a 5400 rpm 200gb hard drive. The batery life is a little bit better because of the integrated graphics, and the processor does a good job with all the tasks, its a very good laptop.

 

I purchased one a few weeks ago also, so far I am happy with it. I expected to spend some time removing unwanted/needed software, it is an industry standard now it seems to fill you up with "try it before you buy it" programs.

I agree the keyboard feels a bit cheap and has some flex but it works pretty well. I am a college student and I use the laptop to take notes, almost verbatum so the keyboard is holding up pretty well for my huge thick fingers.

No overheating or noise issues with mine, I have used the laptop more the last couple of weeks than most people use thier desktops in a month.

I have not tried the bluetooth but I would like to pick up a headset to use with it. My wife and I plan on keeping in touch this summer while I am away in Germany taking classes. The 4.6lb and small size was really the selling point for me.

My wifes HP laptop has a better webcam than does this unit but that is ok, I really dont want people looking at me anyway There are lighting issues to deal with. Her webcam has excellent backlighting, if you do not have enough light with the U305 you get a black screen that no amount of settings changes can cure.

I actually do play games, usually on my Q6600, GT8800, 4 gig, watercooled desktop. While this laptop would not handle Crysis it does an excellent job with Sins of a Solar Empire. As for apps, I use Office 2007 Ultimate and it doesnt seem to slow down a bit with Word and Excel open at the same time.
This is of course after removing most of the "bloatware".

I have the standard battery, it will usually last about 3 hours on "power saver" mode, fortunatly most of my classes are in the same room and I have a power outlet nearby.

I do seem to have one issue that is driving me a bit nutty. When I am at a public WifI hotspot, the laptop will connect and show that I am connected to the internet but it will not let me surf (open web pages) at all. I have tried turning the Wireless radio off and on, uninstalling the TcIP protocols (via command Prompt), changing various wireless settings, etc etc. Just about anything I can find on the Internet. Nothing seems to help. Once in a while it will connect and surf with no problems. I really need to figure out this one before I leave for Germany in June. I have updated, reinstalled and rolled back drivers.

Other than the issue with WiFi hotspots, I am very very happy with this machine. Technically this is not my first experience with the U305, I purchased one last fall for my Mother in law, she travels often for business and wanted a lighter, smaller laptop. She has had no problems (that were not caused by her) with the unit at all. This influenced my decision to buy one.

Thank you for the review, it was very helpful.