which notebook?
hi,
need some guidance. Daughter's going to college and is buying an entry level notebook, narrowed down to two- 1) toshiba a85- s107 and 2) compac presario m2105 us.
compac-
With a 15" display, wireless capabilities and combo drive, the Compaq Presario M2105US notebook gives you the tools to work and play effectively, at home or on the road, at a very affordable price.
It starts with an AMD Sempron processor 2800+ with PowerNow™ technology and operating at 1.6GHz, with a 256KB L2 cache and frontside bus speed of up to 1600MHz. Add to that 256MB PC2700 DDR memory (upgradeable to 1.0GB) and a 40GB 4200-rpm hard drive. A DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive lets you play DVDs and burn and play CDs and DVDs. The 15" BrightView™ LCD screen with XGA (1024 x 768) native resolution combines with ATI Radeon XPress 200M IGP graphics and up to 128MB of shared memory for great images, while Altec Lansing audio is available through stereo speakers or a headphone jack.
A full range of networking comes standard. Connect wirelessly at mobile hotspots at speeds up to 54Mbps with the 802.11b/g WLAN with 125HSM/SpeedBooster™ and BroadRange™ support. Easily connect to high-speed cable or DSL Internet service or office LAN with the 10/100 wired Ethernet connection. A 56K V.92 modem provides dial-up access. And you can connect to printers, PDAs, MP3 players, digital cameras and other peripherals through 2 USB 2.0 ports.
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 comes preinstalled. Other included software: Microsoft Works, Microsoft Money, Microsoft MSN Encarta Plus, Adobe Photoshop Album, Muvee autoProducer DVD Edition with Burning, Sonic Digital Media Studio, InterVideo WinDVD Player, Microsoft Windows Movie Maker, Microsoft Windows Media Player, Microsoft Zones.com, Apple iTunes, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Recovery DVD and Norton Internet Security 2005 (with 60 days of free updates).
The Presario M2105US is backed by the manufacturer's 1-year limited warranty with toll-free hardware support.
Item # 938024
Manufacturer #
processor type AMD Sempron 2800+
processor speed 1.6 GHz
brand name Compaq
manufacturer Compaq
model name Presario M2105US
Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
hard drive capacity 40 GB
memory 256 MB
memory speed PC2700
memory type DDR SDRAM
maximum memory upgrade 1.0 GB
included integrated drives DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo
diagonal screen size 15 inches
notebook computer weight 6.5 lb
screen type BrightView TFT active matrix LCD
operating system Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
screen resolution 1024 x 768
software included yes
warranty 1-year limited
number of USB 2.0 ports 2
number of USB 1.1 ports 0
modem standard 56K V.92
average battery life 2 hours
audio hardware Altec Lansing
frontside bus 1600 MHz
integrated speaker yes
integrated memory card reader no
mouse pointer type touchpad
number of VGA video ports 1
video hardware ATI Radeon Xpress 200M IGP
video memory 128MB shared
thickness 1 25/32 inches
width 13 5/32 inches
depth 10 4/5 inches
Ethernet port yes
number of parallel ports 0
number of PS/2 ports 0
number of S-video out ports 1
number of serial ports 0
infrared port no
computer battery type lithium-ion
number of FireWire ports 0
toshiba -
The Satellite A85-S107 brings you solid mobility features at an entry-level price. With built-in WiFi, USB ports for your MP3 player or digital camera, a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive and a mobile processor optimized for longer battery life, this notebook is designed for on-the-go convenience.
The Satellite A85-S107 features:
15"-diagonal XGA (1024 x 768) TruBrite™ TFT screen
Intel Celeron M Processor 360J operating at 1.40GHz
1MB L2 cache
400MHz frontside bus
256MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM, upgradeable to 1280MB
40GB 5400-rpm EIDE hard drive
DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive (8x/24x24x24x maximum speeds)
Atheros® 802.11b/g wireless LAN
10/100 Ethernet port
56K V.92 modem
3 USB 2.0 ports
ATI Mobility™ Radeon® 9000 IGP graphics with 64MB shared memory, user adjustable to 128MB
Realtek ALC250 16-bit stereo sound with built-in stereo speakers
Dimensions: 1 7/16"H x 13 3/10"W x 11"D
Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition comes preinstalled. Other software included:
Microsoft Works™
Microsoft Office™ OneNote™
Software Decoder: Intervideo (WinDVD™ 5)
Sonic® Solutions Drive Letter Access (DLA)
Sonic® Solutions RecordNow! Basic
McAfee® VirusScan™ (30-day trial)
Adobe® Acrobat®
Arcsoft® Showbiz™
Computer Associates eTrust EZ Firewall™
Windows Media Player 10 with Napster plug-in
Intuit® Quicken® 2005
Toshiba ConfigFree™
Toshiba Custom Utilities
Toshiba Notebook Maximizer
The Satellite A85-S107 is backed by the manufacturer's 1-year limited warranty.
Item # 807896
Manufacturer #
processor type Intel Celeron M 360J
processor speed 1.40 GHz
brand name Toshiba
manufacturer Toshiba
model name Satellite A85-S107
Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
hard drive capacity 40 GB
memory 256 MB
memory speed PC2700
memory type DDR SDRAM
maximum memory upgrade 1280 MB
included integrated drives DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo
diagonal screen size 15 inches
notebook computer weight 6.5 lb
screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
operating system Windows XP Home Edition
screen resolution 1024 x 768
software included yes
warranty 1-year
number of USB 2.0 ports 3
number of USB 1.1 ports 0
modem standard 56K V.92
average battery life 1.5 hours
audio hardware Realtec ALC250
frontside bus 400 MHz
integrated speaker yes
integrated memory card reader no
mouse pointer type touchpad
number of VGA video ports 1
video hardware ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 IGP
video memory 64-128 MB
thickness 1 7/16 inches
width 13 3/10" inches
depth 11 inches
Ethernet port yes
number of parallel ports 0
number of PS/2 ports 0
number of S-video out ports 1
number of serial ports 0
infrared port no
computer battery type lithium-ion
number of FireWire ports 0
features are pretty close, both have their proprietary "enhance" technology -
processors about the same , mobile technology, etc., bright screen technology, wifi the same
how important is the "front bus" difference and...
cannot figure out which video card is better.
test drove both units thinking that the toshiba would be the better unit but gut feeling says that the compac is.
any help out there?
thanks,
jake
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