Toshiba Tecra M3 Review (pics, spces)

by Alex Karian, California USA

I have had my Toshiba Tecra M3 for a week now, I had originally chosen the Acer TravelMate 8104 notebook but had a rather disastrous experience within one-day of purchasing that notebook. Right out of the box, the Acer blue-screened, consistently failed to come out of hybernation, and ended the day by completely killing the touchpad.

Understandably, I returned it the next day for a full refund, and ordered the Toshiba Tecra M3 instead, not trusting the Acer brand anymore after this bad experience. The M3 arrived two weeks later configured with a Pentium M 770 (2.13 Ghz), 1 GB of DDR2 memory (more on that later), 14" SXGA+ screen, an NVIDIA GeForce Go 6600 Turbo Edition graphics card with 128 MB, a 60 GB 5400 RPM hard drive, a DVD/CD-RW combo optical drive, and an Intel 2915 802.11 a/b/g wireless chip. All Tecra M3's come standard with the same array of ports, which include two USB 2.0 ports, a parallel port, Ethernet LAN port, S-Video out port, and a FireWire (IEEE 1394) port.

In addition to the expected PCMCIA accessory slot, the Tecra M3 comes standard with a SecureDigital (SD) slot, and more importantly, the new ExpressCard slot. This makes it ready for the new generation of notebook accessory cards, which should become more available later this year.

The price tag of the Tecra M3 was $2,282 before tax on Toshiba s web site (http://www.toshibadirect.com). At the time of purchase Toshiba was running a new-product promotional pricing deal.

Toshiba Tecra M3 (view larger image)

Toshiba Tecra M3 Review Unit Specs

• Pentium M 780 (2.13 GHz)
• 14.1" screen, SXGA+ (1400 x 1050)
• Dimensions: 12.36" x 10.20" x 1.24" (W x D x H)
• Weight: 5.2 lb
• 60GB 5400RPM Hard Drive
• NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 128MB of RAM
• DVD / CD-RW optical drive
• 1GB DDR2 400MHz RAM
• 802.11 a/b/g Wi-Fi
• Ports: 1 PCMCIA slot, 1 ExpressCard Slot, 1 Secure Digital Reader, FireWire port, S-Video out, 2 USB 2.0 ports, Monitor out port, Parallel port, Ethernet, Modem, Infrared port, Microphone jack, Headphone jack

Full specs from Toshiba: http://cdgenp01.csd.toshiba.com/content/product/pdf_files/detailed_specs/tecra_M3-S212TD.pdf

Reason for Buying

My objectives when picking a notebook were: high-end performance, decent screen and powerful graphics. The graphics needs were due to the fact I wanted to run games such as Rome: Total War and Il-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles). I had to save some money when configuring the notebook, so I went for the cheaper 5400 rpm drive and a CD-RW. But there is an option of a 7200 rpm drive, as well as a DVD-RW. I did however go for the topmost circuitry, picking the fastest CPU and the top video card, the Intel Pentium M 770 Sonoma platform processor (2.13 GHz) and NVIDIA GeForce 6600 with 128MB of RAM. Other choices for the video card included 64 GB versions of the GeForce Go 6200 and 6600 Turbo Edition and various processor speeds for the Intel Pentium M.

First thing I noticed when I pulled the notebook out of the box was how light it was. My previous notebook, the Dell Latitude C610, is the same size as the M3, but is almost a pound heavier. Another thing that struck me was the excellent magnesium lid. The plastic casing is high-grade and sturdy everywhere. Overall, the notebook look has a restrained high-quality air about it. The chassis is built for durability and usability, not for eye-candy.

Toshiba Tecra M3 above view, notice the magnesium lid (view larger image)

The set-up procedure for this notebook was short and trouble-free, but it right away brought to my attention the notebook's biggest drawback. The default setting for the AC operation was at the full CPU speed and cooling mode. This caused the fan to run virtually non-stop at high-speed operation. It was as loud as any notebook fan I have ever heard before. I had to adjust the power settings to lower CPU speed and cooling to prevent the fan from running so constantly. This made the notebook quiet, but also dropped CPU to from 2.13 GHz to 1.04 GHz.

So my advice for the AC operation of this notebook is to use the high-power mode for game playing and heavy processing tasks such as number crunching or video encoding. For normal day-to-day operation, such as word processing, email etc the lower power mode is much easier to live with from the comfort standpoint. The notebook is always quiet when running on battery as it throttles back and runs at only 787 MHz in this mode.

Keyboard and Touchpad

Initial impressions of the Tecra M3 keyboard were very good, and now, a week later, I like it even more! You don't get the crisp clicking sound of a ThinkPad keyboard, but the precision is every bit as good. The travel is not as long as on a ThinkPad, but somehow this also makes it easier to type for me. In my view, the keyboard is definitely better than any other notebook I have ever tried.

Toshiba Tecra M3 keyboard, speakers and touchpad (view larger image)

The pointing device for the Tecra M3 includes touchpad and pointing stick. The touchpad is unusual in that it is noticeably offset to the left. I have seen the offset in widescreen notebooks, but never in a 4:3 screen notebook. It makes sense if you're a right-handed person like myself, but it may be an inconvenience for a left-hander. I am not a big fan of the touchpad because it staggers any time the finger pressure is too high or too low. The pointing stick works fine.

Speakers

The speakers are located just above the keyboard. This means that you are expected to listen to them while working, with the notebook's lid open. One nifty feature is the volume control wheel on the case, so you can set the software volume slider to the max and change volume without ever having to use your mouse. The speakers' sound fidelity is fine, but the power output is low, and the bass is nonexistent. This can be expected of a business notebook. I would prefer using headphones as the speakers, and recommend that you do too for the best audio.

Screen

The screen for the M3 is very good, and has a wide brightness range. All Tecra M3's come only with a 14" screen, but you have a choice of the XGA and the SXGA+ resolution. I opted for the SXGA+ (1400 x 1050) because I needed to use the notebook for writing and some programming. My unit has no dead pixels. There is no extra bright feature, but the readability is definitely great due to high image crispness and a broad viewing angle (I'd estimate it to be 140 degrees).

Benchmarks

Benchmark results on the screen of the Tecra M3 (view larger image)

I ran 3 benchmark programs: SuperPI, 3DMark05 and PCMark04, all with the Tecra M3 set to full power configuration. The results for SuperPi and 3DMark05 are shown in the photo above. I should note that I ran SuperPi again later and was able to get a better result of 1 min 32 seconds (the picture shows 1 min 33 seconds, which is a superb score anyway). Graphics performance is rather disappointing; I was expecting around 2,000 3DMarks.

I could not obtain the overall PCMark04 score, because one of the tests, WMV Video Compression, required Windows Media 9, while the notebook came with Windows Media 10. I didn't want to roll back the Windows Media version, especially since the other tests in the PCMark04 suite ran fine with the results shown below:

Multithreaded Test 1 / File Compression (MB/s)3.93
Multithreaded Test 1 / File Encryption (MB/s)31.57
Multithreaded Test 2 / File Decompression (MB/s)27.86
Multithreaded Test 2 / Image Processing (MPixels/s)12.46
Multithreaded Test 3 / Virus Scanning (MB/s)2052.65
Multithreaded Test 3 / Grammar Check (KB/s)3.22
File Decryption (MB/s)63.3
Audio Conversion (KB/s)2924.57
Web Page Rendering (Pages/s)6.76
WMV Video Compression (FPS)Test failed
DivX Video Compression (FPS)60.52
Physics Calculation and 3D (FPS)203.49
Graphics Memory - 64 Lines (FPS)1192.93

PCmark04 reported that DDR2 operates at 400 MHz, not 533 MHz allowed by the Sonoma chipset. Although the performance is great, I wonder what it would be like if the memory was clocked at 533. I went for the two 512 MB sticks instead of one 1024 stick. This limits your memory upgrade options because there are only 2 memory slots, but having two stick enables the dual-channel mode, which improves performance.

Battery

The battery for the M3 lasts just a bit below 3.5 hours. Considering the notebook's compact dimensions and low weight, this is a good result.

Right-side view of Toshiba Tecra M3, showing PCMCIA, ExpressCard and SD Card slots (view larger image)

Conclusion

To summarize, the Tecra M3 is a very nice notebook designed for getting your work done very effectively. It doesn't have the WOW' factor some fancy consumer notebooks do, but it comes with very high-performance CPU and graphics. Its biggest drawback is fan noise when running at full throttle and being worked hard, but this can be mitigated by changing power settings using a built-in Toshiba utility. It's definitely not a good choice for a multimedia notebook, and it was never intended to be one. But I would highly recommend this book to someone who needs a heavy-duty, portable, high productivity notebook for work, and plays games in their spare time.

Pros:

• Excellent chassis
• Light weight and compact size
• Great CPU performance
• Great keyboard
• Great screen
• Good battery life at 3.5 hours
• Wireless on/off switch and volume control wheel
• ExpressCard, FireWire and SD slots

Cons:

• In full power mode the fan is very loud, and it's on most of the time
• Bottom of the case gets hot
• Touchpad too sensitive to finger pressure
• Video performance less than what you would expect from the 6600 chip
• Weak speakers, bass virtually non-existent
• 400 Mhz DDR2 (instead of 533 Mhz)
• No SATA hard drive choice
• No DVI output

Availability and Pricing

 

Thanks for the review Alex.

I was thinking about buying an M3 but I was trying to find out if the integrated mini-pci wifi card is upgradable/swapable or is it soldered to the motherboard? The reason I am asking is that I wanted to switch the intel 2200 for an Atheros card.

TIA

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by cableguy

 

Is the memory replaceable with 533Mhz DDR? If so, why is Toshiba selling it with dumbed down memory? Bottleneck?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by LaptopBoy

 

Good review!

I ordered mine on March 11, 2005. I just got it yesterday (3/24/05). After weeks of waiting, once I turn it on, there was a dead pixel on my screen!! [ !] I wasn't too happy about it. I had to called Tech. support and then sales ppl to get RMA and send back to Arizona.

He also told me that they are building another one for me, which will take another 8 - 10 business days. I appeared that the laptop was built in China (what isn't build there these day? [ ]).

I'll call them next friday (4/1/05) and ask for status.

Oh, well..it could have been worse.

 

Alex, just a quick question.
You ran 3dmark 2005, could you run 3dmark 2003 at default settings as well? Also under the -very fine print- for this system, they state that graphics performance will decrease when it is hotter than 30 deg (C). So 3dmark 2003 would likely reflect this overall I would assume. Just wondering what to expect in that sort of decrease. (also 3dmark 2003 doesn't utilize all the specific extensions 2k5 does, so the score would be more meaningful in most cases).

thanks much in advance sir.

And Wonderful review! Very detailed and informative!!
---

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by jaxx1

 

Erm, is it me or doesn't the background of the 3dmark screenshot show a Geforce Go 6200 with what looks like 64meg of ram?

 

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>Originally posted by austin

 

Much appreciated for the 3dmark 2003 results!

And once again, your review is very unbiased, which is much appreciated in a review. Many reviews found at cnet etc are obviously getting some sort of kickback from the notebook manufacturers, but your style is right down the middle, much appreciated.

About to go order one of these myself, but 2 fast q's and I'm there.

1) When on battery, how much of a performance hit does the system take? (not looking for benchmarks per-say but rather is the system definately much slower when solely on battery?). Looking for general apps such as web browsing, dvd viewing, or audio-playing, using powerpoint, or some sort of normal system use.

2) Regarding battery again, in winXp is there an option to disable "Powermizer" ? this would be: right click on the desktop->properties -> Settings tab -> Advanced -> PowerMizer Tab. (just wondering if they left it enabled on these systems or if they've completely hidden the powermizer option).

3) Did any sort of Operating System come with the system? I know it comes pre-loaded with WinXp Pro Sp2, but is there any OS cd included or any Cds included for that matter?

Once again thanks much for your time, and kudos for the great review!

 

jaxx1:

Sorry, I couldn't reply earlier, as I was busy.
My answers follow:

<blockquote id='quote'> quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>1) When on battery, how much of a performance hit does the system take? (not looking for benchmarks per-say but rather is the system definately much slower when solely on battery?). Looking for general apps such as web browsing, dvd viewing, or audio-playing, using powerpoint, or some sort of normal system use.<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

For these tasks the notebook remains perfectly usable. The default frequency when running on battery is 800mhz, but it's more than enough.

<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>2) Regarding battery again, in winXp is there an option to disable "Powermizer" ? this would be: right click on the desktop->properties -> Settings tab -> Advanced -> PowerMizer Tab. (just wondering if they left it enabled on these systems or if they've completely hidden the powermizer option).<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

There is no powermizer tab there.

<blockquote id='quote'>quote:<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'>3) Did any sort of Operating System come with the system? I know it comes pre-loaded with WinXp Pro Sp2, but is there any OS cd included or any Cds included for that matter?<hr height='1' noshade id='quote'></font id='quote'></blockquote id='quote'>

No CD's came with the system. I know, this is a bummer..

 

Just got my Tecra M3 with slightly lower specs from the unit reviewed above:

Intel® Pentium® M Processor 760 [2.00GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 533MHz FSB]
Microsoft® Windows XP Professional (SP2)
nVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 6600 TE 128M w/dedicated 128MB SDRAM512MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz SDRAM (512MBx1)
14.1" SXGA+ display (1400x1050)
80GB HDD (5400rpm)
DVD/CD-RW Multifunction drive

I chose the M3 because I’m a gamer who travels for a living. As much as I would love an Inspiron XPS Gen 2 with a 6800 Ultra the physical size and 10+ lb travel weight make that a practical impossibility. Frankly the Toshiba is larger than I would have liked, but nothing I found is a better compromise from a mobile gamers perspective.

I’ve come up with a few more numbers:
GPU speed as reported by PowerStrip 3.59 (with laptop running on AC):
Engine Clock: 225 MHz
Memory Clock: 400 MHz

Note the engine clock speed. The reports I’ve seen show that Geforce Go 6600 clock should range from 300-450 MHz. Powerstrip shows the Toshiba TE version as 25% slower than the lowest speed. Apparently the initials “TE” stand for “underclocked” in Japanese.

The benchmarks below seem pretty good to me for a mid sized laptop. Unfortunately all 3d graphics on my box are accompanied by MASSIVE VISUAL ARTIFACTS (2D is fine). It is a sparkle effect covering the entire screen where the “sparkles” are rectangular blocks that are a similar to the background color. Toshiba tech support refused to discuss the issue since none of the software that they ship on the laptop utilizes 3d and they only support the machine as shipped. When I pointed out that there would be no reason at all to have a Geforce Go 6600 unless you needed 3d they barely batted an eye, quickly coming up with a number of lame excuses. End result: no help. (In case you are wondering; at no time did I attempt to overclock the gpu. I only installed PowerStrip to view the clockspeeds. The unexplained “TE” had made me suspicious.)

More numbers:

3DMark 2001 SE: 12,362
3DMark 03: 3,729
3DMark 05: 1423

Quake 3 - 1.32, High Quality @ 1024/768: 261 fps

Doom 3 - 1.1, High Quality @ 1024/768: 38 fps
Doom 3 - 1.1, Medium Quality @ 1024/768: 40 fps

I tried the new drivers on Toshiba’s website with no effect. The Tecra gets returned today. Rats!

 

Well according to Nvidia, TE stands for "Toshiba Edition" LOL.

that said, before you return the system, do you think yuo could re-run those benchmarks on BATTERY power?

Put in an order for a tecra but this is bothering me...

Also, under advanced display properties, do you know of any particular way to adjust "POWERMIZER"?

prime_number reported it was not listed...Is that also the case for you? (check under nvidia properties under advanced display settings).

Thanks for your input/info!

 

So I have had the Tecra M3 for several weeks now.. here are some follow up comments...

The mouse button. Still not very good. It's part design/part manufacturing quality here.

The plastic "ridge" on the button that is horzontially placed on the button causes "pain" in the middle of your thumb! Think about it. The only design reason I can think of is that Toshiba wanted to provide feedback that your thumb is on the button and that your thumb won't "fall off".....

Then you have to consider that the button has VERY POOR feedback. Both with sound and the tactcile feddback that a proper button will give to your finger. So if your thumb is not on the ridge, 1/2 the time the button does not press. And the right-click button is worse! How can Toshiba allow a laptop out the door with two totally different buttons?

A Microsoft rep was visiting recently with his Tecra M2. His button was marginally better.

So, in all maybe it's just bad luck that I got a poorly made set of buttons.

Bluetooth.....NIGHTMARE. I have had Bluetoon on my laptops and PCs since 2002. Logitech, D-Link, Belkin, Dell laptop, Sony laptop, Apple, Sony Ericcson phone, Nokia phone, Motorola phone, various headsets Jabara, Nextlink, and Targus..etc. Toshibas proprietary Blutooth software is HORRIBLE! Really bad. Like 1/2 of the products dont show the full BT profiles. 1/2 wont even pair properly. I was able to pair and occassioanlly use a MACALLY mouse.

Intel 2200 B/G. I just got rid of all my 2.4 Ghz cordless phones in favor of Panasonic 5.8 Ghz. AND I STILL have to "repair" my Internet connection 1/2 the time. What gives. The reason I got the M3 is that it was a full Sonoma/Cenrtino solution, with full "PCI Express & Express Card" laptop. But Centrino is TOTALLY unreliable. Maybe it's that silly "Connection" manager thing that Toshiba has.

Again, the silly key placment of the "Delete, End, Insert, Windows" buttons is silly.

I love my RainDesign "ilap". It allows me to remain plugged into AC and stay cool. Too bad that the profile for AC keeps processor at 100%... which keeps that fan on 3/4 of the time. My friend thought it started to rain when he heard the fan on from across the room - it's loud.

But I did spend $2,300 with a 3 year System Guard... so I try to put up with these things.... I really dont think that there is a better laptop out there at this very moment...

 

I was thinking of buying either the Asus Z71V, Tecra M4 or M3 (anyone know anything about these other notebooks)? On the M3 I noticed Toshiba charges an arm & a leg for their memory when you configure the notebook but you can order extra Kingston 1G DDR2 SODIMM (400 or 533?)on the second configuration page for $258 (or get it somewhere else). Does anyone know if you can order this notebook from Toshiba with 256MB and then upgrade both modules?

 

jaxx1:

Too late; I’ve already returned it. I didn’t look at any of the POWEREMIZER stuff.

Overall quality seemed good, but I do agree with chapter that the keyboard layout needs work. I use the windows key all the time and having it in the upper right corner makes all shortcuts two handed affairs.

I ordered a replacement but now Toshiba refuses to ship to my UPS Store mailbox (despite having just shipped the previous one there without incident). When I pointed out that the reason I was buying a laptop is that I travel and need someone to receive my mail they… Oh, who cares. Sigh.

 

to jaxx1:

I've received my Tecra M3 (Pentium M 760, 80 Gb HDD 5400 rpm Hitachi, 128 Mb GeForce 6600, 2x512 Mb DDR II @ 533Mhz, 1400x1050 SXGA screen) few days ago.

So far, I'm very happy with it! It is really fast (I use a lot of Matlab graphics and I can appreciate the powerful NVidia GPU) and the overall quality to me is very good (the screen has no dead pixels and very good brightness, the keyboard feedback is excellent and the hard drive is fast, even I think to replace it as 100Gb@7200rpm units become available).

I didn't like the way the software was installed, so I got a fresh installation by using a WinXP cd (not provided by Toshiba), but I found very useful the utility provided by them to install the device drivers and other programs (e.g. the powersaver).

With the system configured in this way, I've looked for the PowerMizer tab: it is not exactly a "tab" but it is one of the menus of the advanced NVidia display settings. Anyway, it's there and you can play with it [ ]

It's the second unit I have, the first one has been replaced because of an electrical problem that prevented the system to turn on with the battery inserted (anyway, it did have too no dead pixels and Hitachi HDD). As I returned it to Toshiba (I've purchased the laptop on their website because I wanted a customized machine), the M3 went on sale. I've called them and they, very kindly, credited me the difference (about 200$) the same day I've received the second unit. [ ][ ][ ]

In the next days I plan to install Linux Fedora 3 (or 4) and I plan to post few comments on how it works.

 

I received my Tecra M3 about a week ago.

did the memory by ordering 2 x 1 gb Kingston 533 DDR2 {PC 4200, I believe} for 2 x $258 or $ 516.........AND got 2 x 256 mb memory in the computer.....saved $ 700 ! and now have 2 x 256 to give away or sell.......it is difficult to understand why /how Toshiba would do that ... but IBM does the same or similar ... their sales guy told me to get 1 gb onboard and order the extra 1 gb as an 'accessory'....but the same config in an IBM T43 was $ 1,000 more

the remainder of my config = a/b/g/, 128 video ram, 1400 x 1xxx screen, bluetooth, 760 processor {2.00 ghz}, 60 gb 7,200 rpm HDD, empty tray for an extra HDD, DVD + / - burner ...+ DVd - ram....., plus the port replicator version 3 -- which is very handy for me as I often need to grab the notebook and run off to a meeting or some volunteer work I do at the local library running a computer lab

only one drawback to buying the extra r.a.m. as an accessory -- one has to install it at home, or get someone to do that -- my 3 yr. old Tecra had the typical r.a.m. cover on the bottom of the notebook -- the Tecra M3 has the r.a.m. UNDER THE KEYBOARD -- however the manual has instructons to walk you through the process -- not really difficult -- but best if done by someone who has had a pc or notebook at least semi apart before

odd that only the +/- dvd one layer burner is available, and not a dual layer which some other Toshibas have ... but I will likely never miss that.

by the way... one has to get to Toshiba tech sppt level 2, to get a recovery dvd ... Toshiba uses a hidden partition {which can be unhidden via Partition Magic} -- no B.F.D., since they did send the recovery DVD on request and some *****ing. -- also used Partition magic to add a 'FILES' partition to the HDD, so if I lose the 'C' drive, I should be able to keep all of my doc.'s, pix, and software library intact

added a 100 gb, 5400, 16 mb buffer notebook hard drive in an external enclosure -- attaches via USB 2 -- cost of that was $204 delivered {2nd day} + approx $ 20 delivered for the enclosure -- I can also use that drive in the HDD tray which will slide into the DVD drive bay -- the extra HDD tray was $42 from Toshiba with the Notebook...

my prior Tecra has not choked in the 36 months I have had it, and the M3 looks to be going the same route -- no problems, nice machine, and glad I bought it -- so far, and I have no reason to expect that to change

 

Can anyone tell me what the average temperature of their M3 is? Like what it tells you in mobile meter.
Also, i don't know why some people tell me the built quality is good. I haven't bought one yet, thinking of doing so, but the display unit at the store was pretty creaky. I could flex and fold a corner on the display to worrying degrees with little force. Tell me it's just the display unit and that your M3 at home is actually built like a tank.