Best Buy: Toshiba A45-S121 Laptop 599.99 (400 MIRs)

[Slacker]

I saw some kind of postage stamp sized card?(not sure) I had an HP pavilion before and saw the modem/network card in a mini pci config so I do know what it looks like but I didnt see it this toshiba

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Slacker
The processor :evil:

Had a P4 2.2 leftover from the last upgrade to my desktop system so I decided to try it out, still debating which processor is the better choice.

Just about ANY P4 should beat a celeron easy. Heck a Old AMD Duron runs circles around celerons.



But if you think you are getting a Mobil CPU, you are wasting your time and money with this laptop. A lot of people are a little ticked off at fatwallet about this.

 

[Slacker]

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[Pecos]

Originally posted by: tcsenter

You don't need much in the graphics dept for a display like that. I'd take the $600 and put it towards something that I felt had a "useable" display. No sense in settling for something that doesn't completely satisfy just because of the cost or lack thereof.

"Useable" for what? DVD movies? Is this screen "unuseable" because you prefer a Widescreen?

If that is the case, guess what? You do not need anything more than Intel Extreme Graphics to drive quality DVD/MPEG decoding on WXGA, either, albiet with higher CPU utilization.

If gaming is what you prefer, then the screen is 100% irrelevant. Its the GPU that is critical in gaming, whether it is driving XGA or WXGA. WXGA is also 15" in sub-$1500 notebooks. Its a little senseless to compare apples to oranges. You're not going to find WXGA larger than 15.4" for less than $1500, which is $500 more than the regular price on this notebook.

Edit: Not to mention the additional $400 of MIR (as the original post shows) that you still pay taxes on.

Particularly California's ridiculous sales tax rate.

Call me crazy, but screen real estate is important to me. This is the reason that I still like my Dell Inspiron 7500, P3 600 and its 1400x1050 display even though I cannot upgrade the video. I can see more than this 'Reply to' window. It's no gaming rig by far, but it's a lot nicer with Visual Studio and Office than a 1024x760 display is. It all comes down to your individual preferences. Don't get me wrong, I'm not telling anyone that this isn't a decent deal, but just to make sure that you're aware of the specs and not to jump in on an impulse.

 

[TrouserTrout]

I got mine. I took the Circuit City ad in (expired yesterday) and showed it to the manager and then asked for the $50.00 difference back. He said they matched the CC offer yesterday and the $599.99 sale was over, but he would give me a $50.00 gift card.

So I got the laptop for the 899.99 - $150.00MIR - $100.00MIR - $50.00 Gift Card - $40.00 Best Buy Reward Points.

Thanks guys. It pays not to give up.

 

[Slacker]

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[skyking]

hey those crappy pics are more than you get from a generic "manual" these days, THANKS!
So no evidence of an easy way to slap in the built in wifi? :Q Ices this deal for me. I will have a scsi card permanently residing in the pcmcia slot.

 

[Vette73]

Originally posted by: Slacker
Well, I looked around a bit and the small card I mentioned earlier appears to be the modem, one of the numbers googled out to this info

10 x Anatel Internal Notebook Modems. P/N (01) 07898369270034

the underlined number was on a label attached to this card, that quote is from a link to an auction in the U.K.

I took some pics, will get them posted soon.

Marlin1975, I dont care about it being a desktop cpu, actually I think it is a good thing, I found that this motherboard can do either 400mhz or 533mhz fsb, so it looks like a 3.06ghz 533mhz bus chip will drop right in.

Everything you need to get to on this laptop is very easy, I have added ram, changed the cpu, pulled the hard drive, DVD/CDRW drive and modem (just to look at them )

The cpu has a huge heatsink with a heat pipe setup that you can see a bit if you look in from the back.

gonna upload those pics, BRB.

NOPE.
Someone tried a 533Mhz 2.8Ghz P4 and it overheated and locked up the system.

This laptop can't handle most P4's. Your 2.2 at 400Mhz is probable juts cooler then higher speed P4 with 533Mhz FSB

 

[Slacker]

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[LSASr]

I have one of these. Wanted to go to internal wireless card. Does anyone know if the wi-fi antenna was built into it?

Bought mine 2 weeks ago and got $150 mir. Lucky I used my Amex and have filed a value guarantee for another $100 against the BB price. Not as good as this deal but I needed one right then.

LSASr

 

[Slacker]

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[pilgrim2u]

slacker...

thanks for the pics

How easy is it to open the laptop?
what size screw driver is needed? My last toshiba had a phillips plastic head screw I just about "stripped" trying to loosen it

 

[Toro 45]

So this can use a wireless pcmcia nic correct? and it looks like the deal is now $650.00 after rebate?

 

[masterjp]

Somebody mentioned this above, but it went unnoticed:

Anyone knows where to find wireless antennas necessary for the internal mini pci wireless card?

Getting such card and installing it into the mini pci slot is easy, but there are no antennas.
According to the card manufacturers they should come with the notebook, but Toshiba didn't hesitate to save 3c. :-(

 

[Slacker]

No mini pci slot

 

[kef7]

Slacker--your pics showed two sodimm sticks. Did it come that way or did you add a 2nd sodimm?

 

[Slacker]

It came with 256mb I added a 512mb stick I got from Microcenter for $100.00

 

[tcsenter]

Someone tried a 533Mhz 2.8Ghz P4 and it overheated and locked up the system.

This laptop can't handle most P4's. Your 2.2 at 400Mhz is probable juts cooler then higher speed P4 with 533Mhz FSB

The Toshiba A45-S151 is identical to the S121 except it uses a Mobile P4 2.8GHz instead of a Celeron (plus upsells like RAM and HDD capacity). Sitting side-by-side @ Best Buy, you can't tell them apart. I doubt Toshiba uses a different motherboard for each.

I suspect that P4 up to 2.8GHz can be used in the S121, but it must be a Mobile P4, not a desktop. Perhaps the P4 requires a different cooling solution with heat pipe or something.

 

[bigbadmateo]

slacker -

Are you still running that P4 in your Toshiba? I'm thinking about pulling the celeron out myself, just wondered if you had pics of where that happens in the machine.

Anyone else out there swapped out the CPUs?

 

[Slacker]

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