Toshiba Canada eschews the lower resolution U.S. model in favour of 1600x1200 on a 15.1" screen. Is it too much?
We, like many readers of these pages, were excited by the announcement in June 2002 that Toshiba had announced a powerful new line of portable computers sporting a powerful 1.7GHz Pentium 4 processor, a built-in DVD/CD-RW combo drive, Windows XP Home Edition and an advanced NVIDIA GeForce4 440 Go Graphics Processing Unit, for a relatively attractive price of less than $3700 Cdn. However, we began to receive reports suggesting that Toshiba Canada might be offering only the highest-priced Satellite 5100 model. This unit is equipped with a higher resolution (1,600 by 1,200-pixel) screen than a less expensive model available only in the U.S. So, what if we Canadians want the model with a less eye-challenging 1400 x 1024 display and Windows XP Professional, as offered for $2379 in the U.S.? Can we get the Toshiba 5105 model we really want? And, if we buy the lower-resolution 5105 model from Toshiba U.S., will we have warranty problems in Canada?
We asked Richard Ting, Product Marketing Manager, with Toshiba of Canada Inc. He replied:
QuoteUnquote
"You can always DECREASE the resolution on the "slightly" more expensive model, to say 1024x768 (the common resolution everyone is familiar with) or even 800x600 (really big fonts for those with weaker eyesight). But you can never INCREASE the resolution on a lower model."
- Richard Ting, Product Marketing Manager, with Toshiba of Canada Inc.
Hardware Details
Yes, only the 1600x1200 model is available in Canada.
WHY? Because you can always DECREASE the resolution on the "slightly" more expensive model, to say 1024x768 (the common resolution everyone is familiar with) or even 800x600 (really big fonts for those with weaker eyesight) . But you can never INCREASE the resolution on a lower model to 1600x1200!!! So for "slightly" more, you get any resolution you want, from 800x600 all the way up to 1600x1200!!!
Also, a not many year ago, all systems were standardized on 800x600 screens. Then it went up to 1024x768. Now it is going up again. Each time there is a change from what it was, there is bound to be an adjustment period. But as mentioned earlier, higher resolution can always drop down, but if you purchase a lower resolution unit and later 1600x1200 becomes the standard, you cannot increase the resolution but will have to purchase a new machine.
We do not carry 2, 3, or 4 models for the 5100 simply because we've had overwhelming request for the higher resolution system Satellite 5100-046 and mainly because of the ability to drop resolution using simply Windows settings. As a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation in Japan and not USA, we select specs more popular for the unique Canadian market. Of course, you could purchase the US model and we will certainly honor the guidelines set by the international warranty.
I also would like to point out that the screen on the 5100 is not only famous for its resolution, but for the SuperFine Screen technology that is common to the newer, very expensive high-end television sets. The contrast, for example, is 400:1 rather than 250:1. brightness, viewing angle, and refresh rates are also vastly improved, so I would hope that this unique feature on the 5100 will be attractive to you over other brands which do not have this screen technology. Lastly, the Canadian 5100 is available at major electronics retailers, so that you could physically go and have a look at it, and determine if the resolution flexibility and ease of purchase suits your preference.
Our Tests
PC Buyer's Guide subsequently obtained a Canadian 1,600 by 1,200-pixel Satellite 5100-043. The price, with an extended warranty from a local retailer and tax, worked out to C$4500. So, what do you get for this not inconsequential pile of cash? For starters, you get one of the best looking PC portables on the market. This thing is definitely "ooh, ah" material. Unlike most portables, it sports a shiny purple case-top and a silvery front panel, presenting a first impression that reminds one of a gleaming automobile. It comes with a nice-looking black billfold-style carrying case and an array of CDs and manuals. The power adapter is about average in size; the Toshiba's keyboard is a little above average in feel.
We booted it up and the preinstalled Windows XP (Home Edition) walked us through the "out of box experience," prompting us for location, keyboard preferences and user names. Interestingly, the Toshiba-supplied Windows XP release apparently does not require Product Activation, as do retail versions. We suspect it may instead be "BIOS-locked" to work only on this particular model -- Microsoft's other way of reducing illegal copying of its software.
Within seconds of arriving at the XP desktop, it was obvious: the performance is nothing short of excellent. The "SuperFine" screen is aptly named in both senses of the term. Upon seeing the incredibly tiny arrow pointer and miniscule text in windows and icons on the desktop, we had a momentary fear that the 1600x1200 resolution might be too much of a good thing.
Fortunately, by going into the Advanced dialog of the Display controls and setting the default dots-per-inch setting to 120 dpi, text became large enough to see comfortably. We were also pleased with the quality of the anti-aliased screen display when we changed resolution to lower values (e.g., 1280 x 960 or 1024 x 768); however, these options do make the screen a little blurry. In short, running a laptop designed to operate at 1600x1200 at a resolution different than its default will not produce the optimal image crispness and clarity, unless running on an external monitor.
There's a fairly obvious decrease in visual "crispness" on the TFT (thin film transistor) display when operated at lower resolutions, due to the antialiasing functionality built into the graphics controller. We do not recommend running a TFT screen on a regular and continued basis at a resolution different than that at which the screen is intended to operate by default. The 120 DPI "Advanced" setting provided the best compromise: a super-crisp display, and easy to read text.
We set about exploring the various options. Toshiba supplies its own "chrome style" Media Player in addition to the XP-standard Windows Media Player; both use the same codecs for video and audio playback. Toshiba supplies WinDVD as the DVD playback engine for the unit's DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive. When we hooked the 5100's TV out jack (via a third-party S-Video-to-composite adapter and cable, not supplied) to a TV and pressed the Fn F5 key combo designed to switch video outputs, our DVD continued to play on the portable's built-in TFT screen, despite the fact that the player "frame" was visible on the TV. Fortunately, it turned out that this problem went away as soon as we switched of the "mirrored video" mode, so that the video was displayed only on the TV. The DVD then began to play on the big screen of our home entertainment system as expected. Apparently, this is some lame-o attempt by the movie industry to prevent the playback of movies when copy protection hardware is not present. Whatever.
As it turns out, this Fn F5 key combo is quite flexible. You can set the output device to be the LCD and/or a CRT or a TV. (Extended desktop is not an option.)
The 5100-043 comes with an infrared remote control. With it, you can control the playback of movies or audio CDs from across the room. This control doesn't work when the unit is operating on battery power or sleeping.
And speaking of audio, the sound on this thing is awesome -- absolutely the best we've ever heard on a portable. There's a tiny volume dial near the combo drive -- a fact apparently absent from the poorly laid-out manual, which suggests that the only way to change the volume is to use the remote, which of course doesn't work at all if you are running on batteries.
We're not crazy about the style of the hard plastic port covers on the 5100 -- such items tend to break off and get lost eventually, but they help to make the unit's sides look as sleek and stylish as its top. There are three USB ports; an external floppy drive (included) connects to any one and works immediately, with no reboot or driver installation necessary.
If you are planning to purchase a mouse or external keyboard to augment this portable, be aware: the Satellite 5100 does not have the PS/2 ports generally considered the (old?) standard way to connect such items. Instead, you'll have to use a USB keyboard and/or a USB mouse. This forward-thinking design extends to the inclusion of SmartMedia and SecureDigital slots and onboard FireWire and S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface) ports, too.
Being Windows XP, the plug-and-play prowess of the Satellite is like a dream come true to those familiar only with older, clumsier versions of Windows (or the Mac, for that matter.) Want to add an Orinoco Wi-Fi card? Just plug it in to one of the unit's two PC Card slots and a few seconds later, you're wirelessly surfing the Internet. Want to hook up to an Ethernet network? Just plug a cable into the Satellite's built-in 10baseT port, and the Network Wizard automatically runs. Presumably, the unit's built-in modem, which we have not yet tested, would work with similar ease. Getting connected to the Internet is truly a zero-configuration experience.
The 5100's internal DVD-ROM/CD-RW "combo" drive includes a somewhat more advanced CD-burning program than that provided by default with Windows XP. We haven't yet tested all of its features, but most people, we suspect, will be able to use and understand its basic functions within seconds of looking at the screen. On the right side of the Windows XP Desktop, small boxes allow you to create audio or data discs with a click of the mouse.
Toshiba supplies its own battery management utility for controlling the "SpeedStep" power management functions of Intel's Pentium 4-M processor. Even with this supposedly power-efficient processor, battery life isn't all that great -- you can expect about 1 hour and 37 minutes of useful life. There is a Windows-based tool for setting the boot device and other options normally found in the BIOS.
There's not too much else on the hard drive, in the way of bundled extras, leaving the bulk of the unit's 40GB drive free for your own applications or data.
Conclusion
In all, we have very little to complain about. It looks great, it's very fast, and there are no obvious problems we can see, aside from the minor issues noted above.
However, it seems clear to us that there must be a market demand for the 1400x1024 resolution of the model (also) offered in the U.S. It's certainly the model we would prefer, after having spent some uncomfortable time running Windows at the default 96-DPI setting at 1600x1200. (We'd also rather run Windows XP Professional, which has additional network security features and remote access capabilities not found in the Home Edition.) We, like the reviewer at HotHardware (noted below) and the reader who posed this question to us originally, would not choose to run at 1600x1200 on a 15.1" screen, having done so in the past and found the icons and text (and tooltips, tool icons, etc., etc.) uncomfortably small by default. It's simply too far away from the recommended dots-per-inch standard(s) established by Microsoft, Apple, et al.
For Further Reading
Post new comment