The good: Webcam with face-recognition technology; HDMI-CEC output; powerful graphics performance; Sleep-and-Charge USB ports; strong multimedia suite with FM tuner.

The bad: No subwoofer; expensive; high-maintenance glossy keyboard; large and heavy for a midsized portable; no TV tuner; no Blu-ray option; stiff touchpad buttons.

The bottom line: The Satellite A300 backs up its high price tag with a strong multimedia suite. Unfortunately, this machine is found lacking when it comes to HD movies as it does not have a Blu-ray drive.

Read full review of the Toshiba Satellite A300 »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Jun 30, 2008

The Satellite A series has been one of the more popular models from the Toshiba. When the previous Satellite A200 was bundled with an HD-DVD drive, it was one of the cheapest machines with a next-gen optical drive.

The A300 was born in different times. With the demise of the HD-DVD format, Toshiba found itself at a crossroad. Should it accept total surrender and take up the Blu-ray format, or ignore it entirely and hope consumers would be satisfied with a conventional DVD drive? Unfortunately, it opted for the latter and the Satellite A300 is stuck at the tail end of the standard-definition era. Despite its strong feature set, at S$2,899 (US$2,100.72) we found it expensive compared with other midsized entertainment models such as the S$2,699 (US$1,955.80), Blu-ray-equipped HP Pavilion dv6700, IdeaPad Y510 and Acer Aspire 6920G--the latter two sporting built-in subwoofers which the A300 lacks. The Dell Studio 1535 raises the mark even further, being possibly the first 15.4-inch laptop to sport a full-HD panel.

Design

The Satellite A300 and M300 were the first models to be coated with Toshiba's Fusion Finish technology which, to the untrained eye, looks very much like a glossy coat combined with a horizontal line design. Fancy name notwithstanding, we like the new look and the finish does impart a degree of resistance to deep scratches (though with repeated commute the coat does get minor surface tarnishes). Unfortunately, the gloss philosophy has also been applied to the keyboard. As the surface which has the most contact with fingers, either you live with fingerprints on the keypad, or have to constantly wipe it down after use. This was the same issue we had with the Satellite M300 as well as the IdeaPad U110. Otherwise, the keyboard has full-sized keys and is comfortable to use for extended periods.

At 2.78kg with a footprint of 362 x 267 x 38.5mm, no one is going to accuse the Satellite A300 of being petite. However, it is not so heavy that carrying it for short periods will give one hernia. The ports are mainly located on the sides which provide easy access without having to reach behind the screen. Like a proper entertainment machine, the Satellite A300 has touch-sensitive multimedia buttons, though volume is adjusted via a control wheel. Next to it is a wireless switch which toggles power to the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios.

One issue we had was with the touchpad buttons. Granted its curved design makes it look aesthetically pleasing, but during usage it was so stiff we felt we had to use twice the force compared with other models. Perhaps the buttons will loosen with age, but all we can say is--use a mouse instead.

Features

Besides the competent multimedia functions of the A300, there are several key features which are rarely seen in other midsized laptops. For one, the Webcam doubles as a facial recognition device for Windows logins, much like the one on the IdeaPad Y510. The Sleep-and-Charge USB port is another great concept that provides juice to multimedia players and mobile phones even when the laptop is switched off. The Regza Link port (a.k.a. HDMI-CEC) is more than just a high-definition output. It allows a compatible Toshiba Rezga LCD TV's remote control to manipulate the laptop and simplifies movie viewing, though a mini remote control which stores in the ExpressCard slot is also available if your LCD TV has the more common HDMI connector.

The 1,280 x 800-pixel 15.4-inch display has a brightness of 200nits, which is average for a laptop this class. It would have been nice to see a full-HD panel option on the A300, but with the lack of a Blu-ray drive option, this might turn out to be an unnecessary expense. The graphics engine is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 which comes with 256MB of discrete video memory, though it can grab another 768MB from the system RAM during periods of high rendering loads. External displays can be linked via the HDMI-CEC, S-video or VGA ports.

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Toshiba Satellite A300 (Core 2 Duo T9300 Processor 2.5GHz, 2GB RAM)

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