Reviews:The M30 Special Edition (SE) is one stylish thin-and-light to own. Improvements over its predecessor are seen instantly in the Clear SuperView screen where users can watch movies from almost all angles. Less obvious enhancements are a better performance and battery life. A multiformat DVD burner is included and you can play movies without even starting up Windows. Overall, this is a laptop that will do the owner proud provided money is no object.
The sleek Toshiba Satellite M30 SE
Design Undeniably sleek and aesthetically pleasing, the M30 SE is not your conventional thin-and-light as it tips the scales at 2.8kg, but its stylish 360 x 270 x 35.9mm topped with a silver finish classifies the notebook as such. The 15.4-inch widescreen incorporates Toshiba's Clear SuperView technology which allowed us to watch X-Men 2 from almost any angle. Outdoors in the afternoon sun, we were able to view the screen under the shade of the trees.
The touchpad sits just below the keyboard, but no two-directional scroller can be found or pointing stick, either. On the left side of the keys are three important buttons more useful than the standard quick launch buttons. The top one is meant to start the Toshiba Express Media Player which offers instant playback of DVD/CD without starting Windows. The second is intended to view information from the composite-in (monitor-in) port while the third caters to output devices where you can toggle between views on laptops and projectors. The Function keys are very well used for several applications such as power management and putting the notebook on standby or hibernation.
The useful buttons on the left of the keyboard
Five buttons for DVD/CD playback deck the front of the notebook. These are very useful especially when you start the Toshiba Express Media Player for they allow you to skip DVD chapters or change CD tracks. With such media center abilities, a remote control would have been better for couch potatoes who want to just sit back and enjoy their movies without moving. BenQ and Asus are among the companies that offer a remote stashed in the PCMCIA slot.
Sound quality is great. Boasting a pair of Harman Kardon speakers, the audio is definitely better than the average laptop. Decent bass can be felt and even when the cover is closed the clarity of the sound emanates through two slits in the casing.
Features The Satellite is powered by the Pentium M Processor 735 1.7GHz. This Dothan notebook integrates 512MB RAM, a 60GB hard drive with shock absorber and a 64MB Nvidia GeForce FX Go 5200. Improvements over the original M30 are seen in all these aspects. The optical drive has been upgraded to include a multiformat DVD burner which supports DVD±RW and DVD-RAM. It is a non-swappable drive, but there's no real need to change the drive when all formats are supported anyway.
Marked with the Toshiba logo on the cover
Connectivity is a plus point of this Centrino notebook. A flurry of ports such as USB ports, FireWire, an S-video port, VGA-out and even a composite-in, which is an integrated audio and video input, are well-spaced around the edges. The composite-in allows users to connect their AV hardware, such as their Xbox or camcorder, to be viewed on the 15.4-inch screen. A Secure Digital (SD) card reader is thrown in, too. For networking, 802.11b/g wireless LAN, Ethernet and modem ports are inbuilt, but Bluetooth is lacking.
SpecificationsProcessor Pentium M (Dothan)
Processor speed 1.7GHz
Motherboard chipset Intel 855PM
Centrino: Yes
Memory/Storage: Amt of RAM (upgraded to) 1 GB (max 2048 MB)
Hard drive: 60 GB
Card Reader: SD, MMC
Optical drive: DVD Super Multi Drive
Connectivity: Ports 4 x USB 2.0, FireWire, composite-in (monitor-in) port, S-video out, VGA-out, Ethernet, modem, Fast Infrared (4Mbps), headphone-out, microphone-in
Bluetooth: No
Infrared: Yes
Modem Integrated: V.90 modem
Built-in devices: 1 x Type II PC Card slot; 802.11b/g wireless LAN; SD card slot
Wireless LAN: 802.11b, 802.11g
Display: Graphics hardware Nvidia GeForce FX Go5200
Amt of video RAM: 64MB
Diagonal screen size: 15.4 inch **LCD technology Clear SuperView
Screen resolution: (max) 1280 x 768 (WXGA) Multimedia
Remote: No
DVD/MP3 without bootup: No
TV tuner: No
Sound hardware: SRS WOW & TruSurround XT sound technology with Harman/Kardon speakers
Jacks mic-in, earphone-out
Software: Operating system Win XP Home
Software included: InterVideo WinDVD, InterVideo WinDVD Creator, MS Office OneNote 2003, Sonic RecordNow! 7.0, Toshiba Console Chassis
Weight w/battery: 2.8 kg
Dimensions: 360 x 270 x 35.9 mm
I've purchase this a year plus ago (not sure if i still have date of purchase receipt, will show u if i have), no scratches, 9/10 condition (of coz neber drop before lah, I'm one who really takes very gud care of my assets; furnitures, handphone, books, cds, etc.), working condition 10/10, purchased it @ $3499 (upgraded RAM to 1 GB), selling price @ $1K neg.Went to Sim Lim and afew 2nd hand laptop shops and they are selling ard $1K. u may want to check out prices before viewing mine.
**To add on, this laptop have got really fabulous speakers with integrated SRS WOW XT 3-Dimension functions.
interested pls email mi at
[email protected] or PM mi here. price negotiable. thank u.
