Toshiba Satellite L505D-GS6000 Laptop – AMD Turion II dual-core M500 / 16.0″ HD LCD / 4GB DDR2 / 320GB HD / DVD SuperMulti Drive / Built-in webcam / Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Posted by admin | Posted in Notebook | Posted on 02-09-2010
5
- VISION Technology by AMD Featuring AMD Turion II dual-core mobile processor M500 2.2GHz
- 16″ TFT-LCD widescreen HD TruBrite® Display / ATI Radeon 4200 graphics
- 4GB DDR2 Memory / 320GB Hard Drive / DVD SuperMulti with Labelflash
- Built-in webcam with microphone / Built-in 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN
- Windows 7 Home Premium Edition 64-bit
Product Description
Performance Processor* AMD TurionTM II Dual-Core Mobile Processor M500 Operating System* Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit) Graphics Engine* ATI® RadeonTM 4200 Graphics Memory* 256MB-1918MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory Webcam Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel Wireless LAN* Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n) Color FusionTM Finish in Midnight Breeze Software* TOSHIBA ConfigFree®, TOSHIBA DVD Player, TOSHIBA Face Recognition, Hard… More >>
I purchased this laptop recently for school purposes. So far it’s running beautifully, and I haven’t had any problems with it. Windows 7 is good, much better than Vista at launch. The only big issue I have with it is the sound: it’s not that good, but I’ve heard that other L505 laptops have the same issue, and the problem is usually fixed with drivers. The problem here is that I think BestBuy started selling this piece early, so it’s not supported yet on Toshiba’s website.
I found it at BestBuy for $550 before tax, which is considerably lower than other places. Try to find it for that price if you can. If you cannot, then wait until it’s supported on the Toshiba website.
Rating: 5 / 5
I purchased the gs6000 last weekend. The salesperson recommended the Toshiba gs6000 with the AMD processor over the computer I was going to purchase with the Intel processor. That left me confused since I had not heard of the AMD processor. I went home and did some research on AMD processors. The AMD won hands down in almost all reviews I read, excelling in graphics. So far, I love the Toshiba. It’s very quiet. The touch pad was scrolling at times, which I thought was not working correctly until my step daughter got on it and informed me the right side of the touch pad was made to scroll! I have always owned a Dell. One thing I really like about the Toshiba is that the fan vent is on the side, keeping the bottom much cooler than my old Dell where the fan was on the bottom. The only complaint I would have is the keys are not concave, which I am used to. Just a preference. I mainly use it for photography. So far, it’s great!
Rating: 5 / 5
I helped in buying this laptop for my mother as a replacement for an old 2001 computer she was struggling with.
After setting it up for her I spent a day experimenting. Here is my assessment of the Satellite L505D-GS6000:
Pros:
– it runs smoothly on Win-7 with a minimum of the balky behavior experienced with XP
– video and video card are excellent
– the webcam is much better than expected
– battery life is well-inline with specs
– comes with Microsoft works, which is perfect for those not wishing to spend a lot of money
on software they won’t use, such as the Office Suite
Cons:
– speaker, though turned up to maximum did not allow hearing of media player
– 64-bit software limitations are still severely limiting
– cooler will be needed, unless you like replacing the hard drive every 12-24 months
The sound quality can easily be improved with cheap speakers provided by Microsoft and Logitech, two reliable providers. The cost would be in the $30-40 range.
When I used Vista 64-bit in July 2009, I found it impossible to find replacements for expensive upgrades provided by Norton (antivirus), Webroot (Spysweeper) and others. Many technical software providers, such as AutoDesk require complete upgrades such as over $800 for AutoCAD Lt 2010. To my surprise, Win-7, which was a vast improvement over clunky Vista, would not allow me to run AutoCAD Lt 2007. I purchased AutoCAD Lt 2007 for about $1000.
Here’s how I met the challenge. First, I went back to Win-7 32-bit, although this will cost me RAM; you need 4G minimum for Win-7 anyway (not 2G they said in 2006 – this happened before with MS XP!). I run a gamer machine with 8G, so I can tolerate using it all to run 32-bit Win-7.
With 64-bit Win-7, it’s different. You will find that the new and improved Internet Explorer has a pretty good firewall according to PC magazine. However, I recommend using the Norton Internet Security package that comes with the Toshiba L505D-GS6000. It runs much smoother than the original Norton software of 2009. Next, you should add CCleaner, which is an excellent tool for removing cookies and such for free; go to CNET or another reliable free software site with less chance of picking up spyware.
Unfortunately, you will find than many 32-bit softwares won’t run such as Avast! Free Antivirus. You will get warning that the software did not load or than no warning at all. Look for the software on your computer faceplate. If it isn’t there, it probably didn’t load. You can check using Control Panel too.
I’m advising everyone owning a laptop to buy a cooler. I’ve owned laptops for years and the new duo-cores run very hot; hot enough to eventually destroy the hard drive, CD player and even the CPU. You will want a fan-driven cooler because the so-called passive coolers don’t do the job. I’ve tried both and you can expect to see a 20 F improvement with a fan unit compared to half of that with a passive unit. Believe me, it’s cheap insurance. A cooler will cost about $30-50 and a new hard drive will cost about $200, so you do the math. I prefer a Targus twin-fan unit.
My only complaint is that the laptop makers haven’t caught up. The fan for most laptops draw air in the bottom through a tiny 1-2 inch grated spot in the lower upper left corner of the laptop and expell at the side. Wouldn’t it be nice if the cooler fan were located near the inlet? A push-pull system would improve cooling. When it gets really hot, i.e., in the 90′s, I use a wash cloth and ice pack to cool my computer for web-brousing. The wash cloth goes under the ice pack to catch humidity collecting on the ice pack. This works well.
If this review was helpful, please add your vote.
Rating: 5 / 5
I bought this at bestbuy and it was a great price..you have 14 days to try a laptop there and I tried couple of dells then for the first time said heck with it and went with toshiba with amd..I have always had Pentium..but, I have this amd one and its great..the speakers arent bad in this at all..matter of fact its louder than some and even louder than the asus brand i tried. I even had to turn it down! go figure..this machine is awesome..and the design is sexy! the key board is great and I even like the numbers on the right side..I never had a laptop with that on the side..I actually use it more than I thought..I am happy with my final choice..I think that toshiba has won me over for a couple of years..anyway..I will more than likely got another one from toshiba..!!
Rating: 4 / 5
I absolutely love this laptop… I spent a week researching to buy a laptop and this one is a great buy!, I got it at Best-Buy at a great price… it has around 2 hrs of battery life (which of course, depends on what you’re working on), screen size is great, the 10-key pad is awesome (never before saw a laptop with the whole keybord) its very useful… had it for a week now, and I am very, VERY happy I came accross with this machine… it has everything you need and more!!!
I would absolutely recommend it…
Rating: 5 / 5