The Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX has some pretty cool moves when it comes to touch screen features and we know its performance is impressive when you look under the hood. But let’s be honest – is it the kind of notebook you’d be proud to show off to your pals and will it fall apart if you bump it lightly? Our Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX design and build review has the inside story.
Read the rest of our Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review:
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: overall verdict
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: multi-touch screen
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: speed and performance
Here’s the test – close your eyes, lift this baby out of its box and what are the two things that strike you immediately? Well the most immediate is the weight and then the feel of the lid. Then you open your eyes and you see how substantially the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX goes against the current fads.
On the weight side, this is clearly no Keira Knightley (i.e. ultra-thin and fragile) as it hits the scales at a manly 2.2 kg. While its width (317 mm) and depth (230 MM) are fairly conventional, the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX measures 29.5 mm at the front and a chunky 38.2 at the rear. This is a workhorse rather than a gadfly netbook and so Toshiba have stuffed it full of goodies including a DVD Super Multi drive, a 5-in-1 card reader, an ExpressCard and three USB 2.0’s (one of which is in combo with an eSATA for fast transfers).
So, yeah, it’s not a crisp thin MSI X-Slim or Sony VAIO X which will barely make a ripple in your rucksack but on the other hand the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX is not likely to shatter at the first bump in the road. It’s reassuringly solid and durable and is hardly likely to give you a hernia.
Which brings us back to that lid. Well what a shocker – first, it’s not ‘urban’ silver or ‘Mac’ white like so many imitations on the market but smooth chocolate in colour. Second, the texture feels dimpled like an executive briefcase. In other words, from the off you know the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX is supposed to convey its business brains.
Then you lift that lid and you’re still feeling good because you’re staring at a full size matt black keyboard that keeps that no-nonsense theme going. Switch on the power and you get dazzled as the EasyControl buttons above the keyboard, the top strip of the touchpad and the power indicators at the front edge of the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX ignite in backlit brilliance. If that wasn’t cool enough, a chic chrome band runs round the outside of the base and pools into the broad mouse buttons. Yep, this is stylish.
As you’d expect, not everything is perfect. The keys are way too glossy and could have benefited from some backlight of their own. The dingy 1280 x 800 13.3” TFT screen is an obvious disappointment, especially for that go-ahead business tycoon who wants his presentations pin-sharp and bright. But the Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX does boast an HDD 3D Impact Sensor which automatically protects the hard drive heads against sudden impacts, another reason to prefer it over some of its more waif-like rivals.
Read the rest of our Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review:
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: overall verdict
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: multi-touch screen
Toshiba Satellite U500-1EX review: speed and performance
