Toshiba Satellite P205-S6267

The fixed-configuration Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 has a lot going for it. Its sleek, reflective black exterior and upscale silver interior fit right in alongside premium desktop replacements as the HP Pavilion dv9500t and the Toshiba Qosmio G35. Its beautiful 17-inch display and remarkably comfortable keyboard make it a pleasure to use. And for its $1,299 price you get a mix of decent--though not cutting-edge--components that cost hundreds more on competitive systems, such as the Dell Inspiron E1705 and the HP Pavilion dv9000t. Our only major complaint about the Toshiba is its puny battery, which lasted just 97 minutes on our admittedly harsh drain tests. Otherwise, the Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287 is a decent, affordable desktop replacement laptop for home users.

When we pulled the Satellite P205-S6287 from its box, we were astonished by its dramatically different design. Dramatically different, that is, from previous Satellites, but remarkably similar to current HP Pavilions: rounded edges, reflective blue-black exterior, and silver interior. We like the look of Pavilions, and we likewise found the Satellite to be quite attractive, except for the giant "TOSHIBA" emblazoned in 1-inch silver letters across the laptop's lid. Also off-putting was the Satellite logo on the left side of the laptop's front edge which, while small, glows bright blue. Between that and the lid, we felt like we were sitting behind a Toshiba billboard every time we booted up.

The Satellite P205-S6287 weighs a scant 7.2 pounds, barely enough to qualify as a desktop replacement. Compared to the 8.1-pound Dell Inspiron E1705 and the 7.8-pound HP Pavilion dv9000t, the Satellite P205-S6287 is a featherweight, even with its one-pound AC adapter. But you'll need just a little extra room in your bag to carry it, as it's 0.2 inch thicker than both the Dell and the HP.

Movies and the Vista Aero interface look great on the Satellite P205-S6287's glossy display, which features a crisp 1,440x900 native resolution. The picture is sharp, colors pop, and there's plenty of room to work in multiple windows at once. A Webcam and a microphone are incorporated into the display bezel.

The Satellite P205-S6287 includes a full-size keyboard (with a shortened space bar, but we felt no difference while typing) and a 10-key numeric keypad. Heavy users of keyboard shortcuts will appreciate this redesigned board, which includes both a right-side Ctrl key and a Windows key in their standard positions (previous Toshiba keyboards had omitted the former and moved the latter to the upper-right side). A slightly rough finish on the broad silver keys struck us as odd but didn't seem to affect our typing at all. By contrast, fingers glide smoothly across the wide touch pad, which includes both vertical and horizontal scroll zones. In the absence of a touch pad On/Off button, we appreciate that the touch surface is recessed, which prevents you from accidentally grazing the touch pad and misplacing the cursor while typing. Above the keyboard sit basic media controls (Play/Pause, Stop, Track Forward, and Track Back) as well as buttons to launch the media player and your default Web browser. On either side of these buttons sit the laptop's stereo speakers, which emit balanced sound but don't get as loud as we'd expect from a desktop replacement. About the only thing missing is a fingerprint reader, which would make it easier to quickly log on to networks and Web sites without typing a password.

The Satellite P205-S6287 has a typical array of ports and connections for a desktop replacement, though it lacks DVI output and Bluetooth, even as an option. Unfortunately, the USB ports are stacked on top of each other (two on each side) which can lead to cord crowding. Also worth noting is the Satellite's DVD burner equipped with LabelFlash (similar to HP's LightScribe), which lets you laser etch your own labels onto compatible discs.

We tested two fixed configurations of the Toshiba Satellite P205, and the higher-end P205-S6287 is the one we'd recommend. Its 1.73GHz Core Duo T5300 processor strikes an effective balance between low cost and decent performance, and its 2GB of RAM helps offset the pokey 4,200rpm hard drive. On CNET Labs' application benchmarks, the Satellite P205-S6287 may not have been able to outperform the more-expensive Core 2 Duo-based Inspiron E1705, but it did come close to matching the Dell on our Photoshop and Office productivity tests. For typical home users who want to save a few bucks without compromising decent performance, the Satellite P205-S6287 delivers the goods.

That's not quite the case for home users who want to spend much time away from the outlet. The Satellite P205-S6287's six-cell battery lasted just 1 hour, 37 minutes on our taxing DVD drain test. Though we're admittedly not likely to roam too far with a laptop this big, we'd prefer to have enough battery life to make it through at least one movie. The Dell Inspiron E1705, by contrast, included a nine-cell battery that lasted 2 hours, 28 minutes.

Toshiba backs the Satellite P205-S6287 with an industry-standard one-year warranty; extending the warranty to three years costs $134, with express and on-site upgrades available for an additional fee. Support is accessible through a 24-7 toll-free phone line, an online knowledge base, and both a carry- and mail-in repair service.

Find out more about how we test laptops.

Multimedia multitasking test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Dell Inspiron E1705

748 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287

1,177 

Acer Aspire 9300-5005

1,380 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237

1,576 

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Dell Inspiron E1705

290 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287

312 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237

489 

Apple iTunes encoding test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Dell Inspiron E1705

208 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287

241 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237

278 

Acer Aspire 9300-5005

302 

Microsoft Office productivity test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

In seconds

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287

1611 

Dell Inspiron E1705

1689 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237

1740 

DVD battery drain test
(Longer bars indicate better performance)

In minutes

Dell Inspiron E1505

154 

Dell Inspiron E1705

148 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287

97 

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237

90 

System configurations:

Acer Aspire 9300-5005
Windows Vista Home Premium; 1.61GHz AMD Turion 64 x2 TL-52; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 642MHz; 384MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7300; 120GB Hitachi 5,400rpm Serial ATA/150

Dell Inspiron E1505
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon x1400; 100GB Hitachi 7,200rpm SATA/150

Dell Inspiron E1705
Windows Vista Home Premium; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7900GS; 120GB Toshiba 5,400rpm Serial ATA/150

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6237
Windows Vista Home Premium; 1.73GHz Intel Core Duo T2080; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 533MHz; 256MB Mobile Intel Express 945GM; 120GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm Serial ATA/150

Toshiba Satellite P205-S6287
Windows Vista Home Premium; 1.73GHz Intel Core Duo T5300; 2,048MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB Mobile Intel Express 945GM; 200GB Toshiba 4,200rpm