It's the Toshiba Satellite® L355D-S7809. My local OfficeDepot has it for
$599. Here are the specs:

processor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
processor speed 2.0 GHz
brand name Toshiba Satellite
manufacturer Toshiba
model name Satellite L355D-S7809
Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
hard drive capacity 200 GB
memory 2 GB
memory speed PC2-5300
memory type DDR2 SDRAM
maximum memory capacity 4 GB
included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
screen resolutionprocessor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
processor speed 2.0 GHz
brand name Toshiba Satellite
manufacturer Toshiba
model name Satellite L355D-S7809
Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
hard drive capacity 200 GB
memory 2 GB
memory speed PC2-5300
memory type DDR2 SDRAM
maximum memory capacity 4 GB
included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
screen resolution 1440 x 900
software included yes
warranty 1-year limited
number of USB 2.0 ports 3
number of USB 1.1 ports 0
modem standard 56K V.92
audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
frontside bus speed 800 MHz
integrated speaker yes
integrated memory card reader yes
mouse pointer type touchpad
number of VGA video ports 1
video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
thickness 1.7 inches
width 15.7 inches
depth 11.5 inches
Ethernet port yes
number of parallel ports 0
number of PS/2 ports 0
number of S-video out ports 0
number of serial ports 0
infrared port yes
computer battery type lithium-ion
number of FireWire ports 0
1440 x 900
software included yes
warranty 1-year limited
number of USB 2.0 ports 3
number of USB 1.1 ports 0
modem standard 56K V.92
audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
frontside bus speed 800 MHz
integrated speaker yes
integrated memory card reader yes
mouse pointer type touchpad
number of VGA video ports 1
video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
thickness 1.7 inches
width 15.7 inches
depth 11.5 inches
Ethernet port yes
number of parallel ports 0
number of PS/2 ports 0
number of S-video out ports 0
number of serial ports 0
infrared port yes
computer battery type lithium-ion
number of FireWire ports 0


Sorry for the spam. How come it's so cheap? I'll be using it primarily to
play older games like Quake 3 , Diablo 2 and HalfLife 2. What do you guys
think?

Silpheed wrote:
> It's the Toshiba Satellite® L355D-S7809. My local OfficeDepot has it for
> $599. Here are the specs:
>
> processor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolutionprocessor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolution 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
> 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
>
>
> Sorry for the spam. How come it's so cheap? I'll be using it primarily to
> play older games like Quake 3 , Diablo 2 and HalfLife 2. What do you guys
> think?
>
>
>
They are OK machines, but come with a boatload of bull**** apps
pre-installed. The Toshiba helper programs can be a gift or a PIA,
depends how you look at it. (Turn off IPv6 if you plan on using a router
more than a year old).

"G.G.Willikers" <noone@athome.com> wrote in message
news:st9Nj.3909$vF.18@newssvr21.news.prodigy.net.. .
> Silpheed wrote:
>> It's the Toshiba Satellite® L355D-S7809. My local OfficeDepot has it for
>> $599. Here are the specs:
>>
>> processor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
>> processor speed 2.0 GHz
>> brand name Toshiba Satellite
>> manufacturer Toshiba
>> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
>> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
>> hard drive capacity 200 GB
>> memory 2 GB
>> memory speed PC2-5300
>> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
>> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
>> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
>> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
>> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
>> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
>> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
>> screen resolutionprocessor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
>> processor speed 2.0 GHz
>> brand name Toshiba Satellite
>> manufacturer Toshiba
>> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
>> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
>> hard drive capacity 200 GB
>> memory 2 GB
>> memory speed PC2-5300
>> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
>> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
>> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
>> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
>> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
>> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
>> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack
>> 1
>> screen resolution 1440 x 900
>> software included yes
>> warranty 1-year limited
>> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
>> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
>> modem standard 56K V.92
>> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
>> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
>> integrated speaker yes
>> integrated memory card reader yes
>> mouse pointer type touchpad
>> number of VGA video ports 1
>> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
>> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
>> thickness 1.7 inches
>> width 15.7 inches
>> depth 11.5 inches
>> Ethernet port yes
>> number of parallel ports 0
>> number of PS/2 ports 0
>> number of S-video out ports 0
>> number of serial ports 0
>> infrared port yes
>> computer battery type lithium-ion
>> number of FireWire ports 0
>> 1440 x 900
>> software included yes
>> warranty 1-year limited
>> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
>> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
>> modem standard 56K V.92
>> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
>> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
>> integrated speaker yes
>> integrated memory card reader yes
>> mouse pointer type touchpad
>> number of VGA video ports 1
>> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
>> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
>> thickness 1.7 inches
>> width 15.7 inches
>> depth 11.5 inches
>> Ethernet port yes
>> number of parallel ports 0
>> number of PS/2 ports 0
>> number of S-video out ports 0
>> number of serial ports 0
>> infrared port yes
>> computer battery type lithium-ion
>> number of FireWire ports 0
>>
>>
>> Sorry for the spam. How come it's so cheap? I'll be using it primarily to
>> play older games like Quake 3 , Diablo 2 and HalfLife 2. What do you guys
>> think?
>>
>>
>>
> They are OK machines, but come with a boatload of bull**** apps
> pre-installed. The Toshiba helper programs can be a gift or a PIA, depends
> how you look at it. (Turn off IPv6 if you plan on using a router more than
> a year old).

What do you think of the screen: TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD. I notice
that most other laptops has WXGA or something like that. Is it the same? I
guess I'm looking for the catch here.

"Silpheed" <none@nospam.org> wrote in message
news:OuudnRcbUNu-g5jVnZ2dnUVZ_vCknZ2d@earthlink.com...
> It's the Toshiba Satellite® L355D-S7809. My local OfficeDepot has it for
> $599. Here are the specs:
>
> processor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolutionprocessor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolution 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
> 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
>
>
> Sorry for the spam. How come it's so cheap? I'll be using it primarily to
> play older games like Quake 3 , Diablo 2 and HalfLife 2. What do you guys
> think?
>

You generally get what you pay for with laptops (unless you buy Sony,
anyway). The one experience I've had with Toshiba was kind of bad. I got the
idea that once I had the laptop, they didn't want much else to do with me,
and that was a typical sentiment in their customer community at the time.

Their online support presence was pretty bad, too, being poorly implemented
at first (I believe it was some cheesy knowledgebase search with a name
like, "Ask Iris" or something that was cumbersome to use and not very
effective) and then outsourced to not much better, IIRC. The laptop itself
was ok. Nothing to brag about, but it didn't hold up very well over the next
several years. Heat issues when it was new (common of that particular
Satellite model) were only addressable through the purchase of a third-party
utility to manage the fan, when a BIOS update should have been able to
easily correct the problem and rampant failures of the GeForce2 Go discreet
graphics cards due to manufacturing defect (faulty soldering during the
manufacturing process) are a couple of the major issues I had. Naturally,
the graphics issue manifested itself about four months after my warranty ran
out, so I was out of luck.

All things considered, Toshiba wouldn't be anywhere near the top of the list
of laptops I would purchase in the future.

The unit you listed may not be a bad deal, but I'm not a big fan of the
Turion processor. It runs hotter (significantly, as I understand it) and is
less capable than it's Core 2 Duo counterpart. I would think you could find
a good deal on a Dell (watch their website and search online for Dell
coupons) or perhaps an HP for similar or little more than that price.

I currently own a Dell Inspiron 6000 - one of the lesser expensive models
when I bought it - and it's been a very solid machine for about three years
now.

--
Richard Carpenter

The price is not unusually low. It's ok, but not "alarmingly" low.

I am not a fan of AMD processors, and generally won't buy such laptops.
I am not a fan of laptops with 17" displays

Those are my personal views and nothing more.

Silpheed wrote:
> It's the Toshiba Satellite® L355D-S7809. My local OfficeDepot has it for
> $599. Here are the specs:
>
> processor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolutionprocessor model AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-60
> processor speed 2.0 GHz
> brand name Toshiba Satellite
> manufacturer Toshiba
> model name Satellite L355D-S7809
> Wi-Fi capability included (Wi-Fi ready) yes
> hard drive capacity 200 GB
> memory 2 GB
> memory speed PC2-5300
> memory type DDR2 SDRAM
> maximum memory capacity 4 GB
> included integrated drives DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R DL
> diagonal screen size 17.1 inches
> notebook computer weight 7.3 lb
> screen type TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD
> operating system Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1
> screen resolution 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
> 1440 x 900
> software included yes
> warranty 1-year limited
> number of USB 2.0 ports 3
> number of USB 1.1 ports 0
> modem standard 56K V.92
> audio hardware Windows-compatible audio
> frontside bus speed 800 MHz
> integrated speaker yes
> integrated memory card reader yes
> mouse pointer type touchpad
> number of VGA video ports 1
> video hardware ATI Radeon X1250
> video memory 128MB to 831MB shared
> thickness 1.7 inches
> width 15.7 inches
> depth 11.5 inches
> Ethernet port yes
> number of parallel ports 0
> number of PS/2 ports 0
> number of S-video out ports 0
> number of serial ports 0
> infrared port yes
> computer battery type lithium-ion
> number of FireWire ports 0
>
>
> Sorry for the spam. How come it's so cheap? I'll be using it primarily to
> play older games like Quake 3 , Diablo 2 and HalfLife 2. What do you guys
> think?
>
>
>

All current production laptop screens are TFT active matrix and have
been so for more than 5 years. NO EXCEPTIONS

TruBrite means it's a "glossy finish". Lots of people don't like that,
but very few laptops are made these days with a matte finish
non-reflective LCD panel.

WXGA refers to the resolution (horizontal pixels x vertical pixels)

None of the above 3 paragraphs have anything to do with each other.

There is no catch; the laptop is reasonably priced for what it is. You
can buy new laptops as low as $399-$449, you seem to think that this one
is selling for like half of what it should be, it's not. It's a
reasonable buy, but it's not shockingly low priced.

Silpheed wrote:

>
> What do you think of the screen: TruBrite TFT active matrix LCD. I notice
> that most other laptops has WXGA or something like that. Is it the same? I
> guess I'm looking for the catch here.
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:480565ef$0$4104$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> The price is not unusually low. It's ok, but not "alarmingly" low.
>
> I am not a fan of AMD processors, and generally won't buy such laptops.

Is this just a principle thing or do you have a tangible reason. My last
dektop had an AMD processor, and I found that it beat the pants off its
intel equivalent for most applications, though there were a few where the
reverse was true.

"M.I.5¾" <no.one@no.where.NO_SPAM.co.uk> wrote in message
news:4805c557$1_1@glkas0286.greenlnk.net...
>
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:480565ef$0$4104$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> The price is not unusually low. It's ok, but not "alarmingly" low.
>>
>> I am not a fan of AMD processors, and generally won't buy such laptops.
>
> Is this just a principle thing or do you have a tangible reason. My last
> dektop had an AMD processor, and I found that it beat the pants off its
> intel equivalent for most applications, though there were a few where the
> reverse was true.

While AMD has taken the crown on occasion in terms of desktop CPU
performance, I've only known it to happen with one or two generations of
their product line. Aside from that their claim to fame as alway been they
they performed almost as good for significantly less money. Gamers on a
budget freaking loved them for two big reasons: 1) They were cheaper, and 2)
They were often more overclockable than those from Intel. Still, if you
wanted the fastest and most stable consumer processor without having to
worry about keeping it cool, with just a few exceptions over the years, you
typically bought Intel.

The same has not held true in the case of mobile processors. I don't know
that AMD has *ever* been the best choice in laptops. I'm not saying mobile
AMD processors are bad, necessarily, and they certainly still offer a better
price, but in terms of performance, heat and power consumption, Intel has
pretty much always been the best option in my experience.

--
Richard Carpenter

Intel processors have been better than AMD since the Core 2 Duo family
came out in 2006


M.I.5¾ wrote:
> "Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
> news:480565ef$0$4104$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
>> The price is not unusually low. It's ok, but not "alarmingly" low.
>>
>> I am not a fan of AMD processors, and generally won't buy such laptops.
>
> Is this just a principle thing or do you have a tangible reason. My last
> dektop had an AMD processor, and I found that it beat the pants off its
> intel equivalent for most applications, though there were a few where the
> reverse was true.
>
>

"Barry Watzman" <WatzmanNOSPAM@neo.rr.com> wrote in message
news:480565ef$0$4104$4c368faf@roadrunner.com...
> The price is not unusually low. It's ok, but not "alarmingly" low.

I agree with Barry. You're getting a decent deal there, but this isn't really
a particularly "portable" laptop. Knowing Toshiba, they'll have included a
low-end battery and your battery life will probably be no more than two hours
while, e.g., playing back DVDs of doing something else that's "power"
intensive. (The choice of that AMD processor makes it cheaper but sucks a lot
more power than Intel Core 2 laptop CPUs.) You're really buying more of a
desktop replacement machine here -- it's big enough & heavy enough that you
wouldn't want to carry it around on a regular basis.

For the older games you mention, the video card will probably be OK at the
native 1440x900 resolution. You definitely won't be playing Crysis
satisfactorily on this, however.