Computer Reviews

This laptop is a steal for the price. I have had it a month now and I love it. I did a lot of checking around before I bought a laptop because I didnt know a lot about laptops at the time. If you were to buy a Dell with the same scymatics as this laptop, you would easily pay double. Compaq's are about $500 more for the same thing. Right now I am in Mosul, Iraq and I use this laptop for about 8 hours straight everyday and I havent had a single problem. The wireless internet is definently a plus. I can sit in my tent and get signal off a wireless router 50yds away no problem. The ease of use of this computer is great. Compared to the pentium 4, the Celerion is still a great operating system. If your looking for something cheap yet reliable, this is the laptop for you. Look on epinions.com or pricegrabber.com and read other peoples reviews and you will see how great of a computer this is.

As an owner of a Toshiba S127 and this S157, I can tell you that this thing is pure quality. Dell's laptops have gotten almost pitiful in quality, while IBM are insanely priced. Where's the quality, inexpensive laptops? Toshiba is your answer.

Trust me guys. Get this model. I bought the S127 and ended up giving it to my mom. This model comes with the built in wireless Internet (which is awesome), 40GB of storage, 512MB DDR (XP uses MUCH more than 256MB even doing the simplest tasks), and 2.2Ghz Celeron (you can't tell the difference between 2Ghz & 2.2 Ghz,trust me).

I scored my S157 in brand new condition for $825 off some really nice guy off eBay I struck a deal with. (I picked it up locally)

I'm going to review every single thing about this laptop, sequentally. Please note that this is an unbiased review:

1.) Keyboard: Probably the best keyboard i've ever used in over 18 years of computers. I loved these soft key laptop keyboard. Doesn't have that annoying cursor thing in the middle of the keyboard that some people like to use. (Most despise it, though)

2.) TouchPaD: Works great. Two basic buttons, silver color, and work perfectly.

3.) 15" XGA screen. The screen is nice, bright, and vivid, but I definately could use SXGA (1280x....) XGA is only 1024x768 and is just enough for basic tasks

4.) Speakers: Silver titinium stereo speakers. They work adequately for basic needs. What can I say? They're laptop speakers. Go pickup some Logitech Z-340s for $30 at Best Buy. They will compliment these nicely.

5.) Design: Design is superb. The laptop is suprisingly thin (1 inch) and the colors are perfect. Really great job.

6.) Weight: 6.15 lbs, according to my measurements.

7.) LEDs: The LEDs are great. 5 basic small LEDs that tell you what's going on. Nothing fancy.

8.) 802.11b Wireless (S157 only). This is great. You can save your PCCard slot; you can also disable/enable the device whenever you want. Someone mentioned somewhere that the built-in wireless card means it uses the notebook as an antenna. I don't believe that though.

9.) CD-RW/DVD ROM: Works perfectly. I would've perferred a trayless drive (like the Pioneer 16x DVD drives) but hell, this is great. They both work great.

8.) Battery Life: Battery life is not as good as I would like it to be. I get 2 1/2 hours max out of this computer on a full battery charge, assuming light working conditions. Extra battery costs $150+tax at Best Buy or Circuit City. I'm using my mother's S127 batter. ;)

9.) Noise Level: Both computers are dead silent. There is a fan that turns on once in a while to cool the computers. The fan isn't loud at all.

10.) PC Card Slot: It only has 1 PC Card slot, but that's not an issue anymore now that I have built in wireless internet

11.) Ports:
Serial: Great but I don't use it.
Parallel: Ok, I still don't use it.
2x USB 2.0: Now, this is beautiful. I have several USB devices, some even USB 2.0, that I use with this computer.
Neither models come with S-Video, DESPITE what some specifications say. The model also comes with external VGA for connecting to a projector or external monitor.
RJ45 (Ethernet) AND Modem already installed. What a great value.

12.) Performance:
Hard drive: Works decently. Only 4200 RPM, so don't expect mind-blistering performance, but it's fast enough even for an end user.

Processor: 2.2Ghz Celeron is like a crippled P4; nevertheless, it performs almost all basic functions with ease. Gamers apply elsewhere.

Sound: No comments. Sound works. :)

Video: This is my biggest complaint (besides the microphone) about this model. Comes with 32MB Intel Extreme Graphics (Shared). Because it's shared with system memory, people tend to think it's 64MB Intel graphics; believe me, it's NOT. It's 32MB Intel extreme graphics that will let you do only the basic video or gaming. Don't expect any kind of performance from this. I really wish Toshiba had put an ATi Radeon mobility in here, but for the price I'm not complaining. :-)

* Software: I don't use the software that comes with this bundle, but make sure to check the personal cons below for additional details.

* Toshiba Utilities: As with most utilities, I don't like running manufacturer's utility files, but Toshiba's aren't _that_ bad. (I still don't run them, though). They allow you to control most of the function buttons at the topic and assign them different functions.

Build Quality: This is where the laptop truly shines. Putting IBM's insanely high quality and price tag, this is the best laptop you can get for budget-price quality. Toshiba rules.

Personal Cons:

* No built in Microphone. The thing has a port for a microphone, but I really, really wish Toshiba had put one in. I know this isn't an issue for most people, but I use microphones on a daily basis. They're cheap, granted, but that's another thing to lug around.

* Rebates: Ugh, I hate rebates. I got my S127 for $760 (after 8.5% tax) and after $250 rebates. I got my S157 for $825 cash from some guy on eBay.

* One thing that annoys me is that Toshiba has loaded this comp with plenty of useless junk like AOL, Special offers, etc. This is an easy fix. I just wiped the drive and put XP Professional on there and boom, it's done. :) The S157, IIRC, comes with Microsoft Works, which I don't use.

If you want more detailed pictures of this laptop, search on www.newegg.com. They have both models and detailed pictures on it.
I hope I haven't missed anything. :)

Had this computer for 20 days. Its a great computer for the price. The built in wi-fi works like a charm. Screen, keyboard, and size is great. Processor and memory was sufficient for my purpose including a little use of paint and drawing programs. Only thing I didn't like is their touchpad. They have something called Draglock feature turned on which makes it hard for me to do what I normally do with my touchpad. I only found out after fiddling around with adjusting all sorts of touchpad settings that it was the Draglock being turned on that was bothering me. If you having trouble with making your touchpad act smoothly, I suggest you turn this feature off. However it is not easy to get to. It is under 5 layers of menu screens. The final menu you will find it is under "tapping settings". Overall, a super buy when you consider the rebates I got this with.

This is how everything should work: Plug it in. Use it.

That's what I got with this card.

Not much to say. Plugged it in, computer found it immediately, and Windows 98SE loaded the drivers. Five minutes tops. I now have an old Pentium 1 that is working great with the latest USB devices. I wish everything worked like this, just as advertised!

Order#:102-0273598,Date:Nov-23
I have a dibet card, but I need to enter a pin number before you ship it; So what Have Done, Is sent you a money order, it should be with my order# and my address on it soon

Get 2 of these bad boys (or the 420EX) plus the ST-E2 Transmitter and you rule wireless multiple flash photography! That's right: 2-head flash set-ups JUST like the pros do it.

Nothing better than Canon's SUPERB "E-TTL" flash sensing ... and the 550EX is a high-powered workhorse you can rely on. Expensive but worth the bucks.

Excellent flash for my canon 10d. Adorama saved me about $140.00 dollars. Service was great.

This is one fantastic flash. I had it on my Canon A2e for four years, and was ambivilent, but if you match this lens with one of Canon's newer bodies that has the funcionality to access all of the 550EX's features, you have an awesome, powerful, flexable flash that can change the way you shoot.

If you purchase a 10D, I consider this as a "must have" accessory. The portait position auxillary button and data wheel are lifesavers when you're popping out a lot of shots. The dual battery slots make for what seems like an unending amount of battery life. I can honestly say that I've never run out of battery life on an assignment when starting with a full charge. In between assignments I can go a couple of weeks of occasional use before I need to charge up even if I use the LCD a lot. It does add a bit of weight to the camera and may be considered bulky to some but having used motor drives on my SLR film cameras for years, the feel is completely natural to me and I wouldn't leave home without it.

The Canon BG-ED3 battery grip is an accessory which depending on your shooting preferences, may provide features that are extremely useful. The device is compatible with Canon's D30, D60 and 10D model digital SLR cameras, and accommodates two BP-511 type batteries, providing power capacity for an extended period of time. BP-511 batteries are generally very long lasting, and having available the power of two batteries provides peace of mind for those who shoot for long hours, or frequently use the LCD display.

Very handy for some shooters is an auxiliary shutter button, located on the grip, and positioned to be used when the camera is held in the conventional vertical shooting position. The shutter button is activated by a recessed switch on the grip, and operates in a manner identical to the camera's shutter button.

Though it is relatively light, some may find the grip's additional weight objectionable. Others find the camera to be more balanced and easier to hold and handle, with the grip attached. Especially when a long or heavy lens is attached. Be advised that with the grip attached the space requirement in your camera bag or other carrying gear, will need to be increased a bit. Another "benefit" is purely esthetic, as some users feel the camera simply looks "better" with the grip attached. Secured primarily by a screw that threads into the tripod socket, the grip does have a tendency to loosen up with continued use, and just needs to be tightened occasionally.

With some other Canon camera systems, buying a battery pack grip could be justified for cost saving reasons. Using rechargeable batteries in the grip, eliminates the need to purchase non-rechargeable lithium batteries. Over time, one could save enough to pay for the cost of the grip. In this case, there is no such benefit, as these cameras only use rechargeable BP-511 type batteries. So unless the other features are useful to you, the BG-ED3 may not be a recommended purchase. It mainly depends on the kind of shooting you do, and perhaps the type of lenses you have.

I have extremely large hands and simply cannot hand-hold a standard EOS 10D without the BG-ED3 battery grip. Without it, I cannot grip the camera with the little finger on my right hand, making the camera feel unbalanced. The front of the BG-ED3 grip rests neatly and comfortably in the heel of my left hand and provides support for the lower half of my right hand, making for very stable shooting in horizontal format. For vertical format shooting, Canon have neatly arranged the controls so that there is minimal difference in feel when shooting this way, again making steady shots much easier. It's ergonomically brilliant. The extra power provided by the second battery is really appreciated when you are shooting with flash. My battery grip lives on the camera and I will, like as not, never take it off. It's an essential piece of kit and I would not use an EOS 10D without it.

On the go, I frequently need to print out documents, be it invoices, reciepts, e-mails, etc etc so I decided to purchase this product. Words cannot describe my feelings toward it, I use it soo much with the laptops I don't know how I lived without one before. Installation on Windows 2k, and ME was flawless, both using the Fast IrDA.

The printer is just the perfect size to slide in to my briefcase, and adds little weight. It's battery operation is really what caught my eye, it says you can print about 100 pages with a full charge, but I think its a bit less than that. However, the battery takes little time to charge.

I was not aware it would come with as much ink as it did, came with 2 color cartidges, 1 black (small), and 1 black (large), as well as two trays that they are held in. The Fast IrDA is such a fabulous thing, wireless printing all the way. I decided to purchase a USB cable, its much easier some times using the cable then the IrDA (Infared) port. The quality of the documents is fantastic, matching (and beating!) my desktop printers at home. The speed is good, considering this is a portable printer. The only real drawback is that it is a single sheet feed printer, unless you buy the paper loader, which I will surely do! This is THE BEST portable printer I've found on the market, it is well worth the money.

This is a small update, I've been using the printer for about 5 months now, and everything has gone smoothly. I purchased the auto-sheet feeder from Canon (directly, from their web site) and it performs just like a normal desktop printer would! I'm still loving it.

I needed a printer to go with my Notebook and this one filled the bill. It isn't cheap but you seem to get what you pay for. When at home, adding the Auto Sheet Feeder makes it as convenient as a stationary printer but with a smaller footprint. Highly recommend this one for the Notebook users.

I JUST BOUGHT THIS PRINTER FOR MY LAPTOP.
IT WAS VERY EASY TO INSTALL AND EASY TO WORK WITH. THE PRINTING IS GREAT, AND QUICK FOR A BUBBLE JET. THE COLOR IS VERY GOOD.

First of all, I was in the market for a widescreen laptop, so other widescreen laptops were the only ones I compared this to. Second, I bought X1030US refurbished direct from HP Shopping.

Overall, the laptop has a very appealing design and is right up there with other laptops in style, such as the Sony line of laptops. The widescreen display is just candy for your eyes and great for many applications, especially browsing the internet.

The system specs were plenty for my taste, enought to do everyday activities and once in a while a strenuous one, like play games, run CPU taxing programs etc. The HDD size is plenty, though you really only get around 33gb after the OS is installed and etc.

I have not yet ran the computer off the AC adaptor, but the few times I did take it off the power, I really like the feature that tells you (approx.) how much time you have left to run the laptop on the battery. The battery life is great compared to my last laptop. It seems to calculate to over 4+ hours.

Another great feature that I love is the wireless internet. However, it does some weird things when I turn the wireless off and then back on. It finds my network, but won't connect. I just restart the laptop which isn't a big deal. I leave the wireless on most of the time anyway. The button to turn it off and on is a great feature as well.

The feature that I must say I like is the fact that the fan, about 90% of the time, does not come on! My last laptop ran the fan all the time, but this laptop apparently can handle it without running. It's so quiet I don't know if it's on or not. It also usually runs only at around 600Mhz. I rarely see it reach the 1.4Ghz mark. The firewire port is a handy feature, but I really wished they included the 6-pin style rather than the 4-pin. I would really like to try out the infrared port too.

So far I have been very impressed with Compaq's laptop. It's thin, lighter than my old laptop (Gateway 400 series) and it's amazing because it's bigger than that laptop. The speakers are not too good, but it's tolerable. Of course you're not going to get Klipsche quality speakers, but they do their job.

The only other problem I've had is that I haven't been able to burn a CD on the laptop yet. It does have a CD-RW drive, but my software doesn't recognize the drive. I have used Easy CD Creator and Nero, but it can't find my drive. Strange.

One last pet peeve are the stickers that come on the laptop. :) I've tried to get a couple of them off, but they just won't come off!

Overall, you can't beat what you get for the price. I've compared it to the Dell Inpiron 8600, eMachines, HP, and Gateway and the only other close competitor for me were the widescreen series for Gateway. The lower price pulled me to this laptop and I don't regret it!

An Amazing machine, yet again by HP/Compaq, keeping their credibilty at its peak. A user friendly, fully integrated and a robust machine with everything you need for personal computing. As I said earlier, A Perfect Machine !!

This is hands down the best computer i have ever had. The only weakness is the 40 gig hd but a 60 or 80 was too much money. This computer owned my desktop P4@2.0ghz in everything i have done so far. I LOVE COMPAQ/HP heeh. This computer PWNS

This is a great pda/gaming console...there aernt many games out now but you can expect good things :) (never winter nights,mtx:mototrax, tomb raider, and street hoops)
there are already great titles out ..like duke nukem..tony hawk 4 , doom2, and many more...
if you dont like the games or applications made specifically then you can pick up over 19,000 others that are compatible witht the palm os(so says tapwave)...Visit the website and look at the specs and stuff....
BUY THIS PRODUCT YOU WONT BE DISSAPOINTED..(also if you would like to actually try out a zodiac before you buy it then visit your local compusa to try one out...)

I owned zodiac 2 for about 8 months now, and i can say with confidence that it is the best palm OS that i owened and i moved between a few. i can babble on and on about its features and capabilities and it is great speakers, screen, memory, analog pad for games. bluetooth connectivity. but that what not add much to what other people said or what you can find on the website. and nothing is better than trying it. get from www.tapwave.com and if you don't like it just return it within 30days. i know i did that and i decided to keep it.

I'm a long time Palm (and Pocket PC) user and have never really been 100% happy with any device I've gotten. Some came close...my wonderful Sony Clie 710C was awesome in its day. I've enjoyed the Sony Clie line for its superb color screens and cutting-edge features. But they are expensive and more recently, seemed to be falling behind. I was darn tired of having to upgrade the RAM in order to have something useable so when I heard about the Tapwave Zodiac 2 which offered an unbelievable 128 Meg of RAM I was immediately interested. After checking the specs I determined to be one of the first to get one of these devices. Gaming is secondary to it being a good Palm device, but definitely a HUGE plus for me.

My first reaction when I got it was how awesome the screen was! It definitely rivaled any other Palm device out there, and people always comment on it when I show them. The huge amount of RAM is just a joy to have. You can even load MP3s on it, although certainly using a good size SD card works even better. Don't miss the double card slots! Another feature you won't find on any other Palm device.

Video playback is great using MMPlayer (ditch the crappy Kinoma it comes with) and MP3 music is quite excellent. Battery life is excellent compared to other Palm color devices, and landscape and portrait options make things like reading ebooks and viewing photos even better. Bluetooth works great, I have no trouble downloading email over my cellphone.

So, how is it as a gaming device? Compared to other Palm devices, this device blows them out of the water! The number of available games specifically for the Zodiac is still fairly small (although there are some excellent games out there now) but having access to the full library of Palm games means I have more games loaded on it then I ever will have time to play. The included game, Stunt Car Extreme, is excellent and shows great potential for this device.

Overall, as a gaming device alone, I probably would not recommend the Zodiac, simply because there are better, cheaper options out there. But if you need or want a PDA that does multimedia and gaming, you won't find a better choice, and at a very reasonable price.

Well, all cat5 cables are pretty much the same. It serves my purpose and works fine. Best of all, it wasn't that expensive and the color doesn't look as bad as the picture.

No, though this cord coils like one, it is not a phone cord. Aside from that minor drawback, this cord functions just fine. Though I wonder how you could rate an ethernet cord for any reason.......

Unlike my other belkins, for some reason this yellow 50 footer seems to want to twist up - like a phone cord liukes to twist up, but not quite so bad. Multiple attempts to untwist have been unsuccesful. Don't know why it's just the yellow one, none of my other belkin cables do this, but there ya go. Not a big problem, really, since it's not like a phone cord that just turns into a gigantic knot, and it'ss till usable and can still be strung along a wall, etc., but it's annoying, just the same.

I ordered this item Aug.31st. It has been in stock . where is it?!!

Great for final reports and presentations. Best uncoated inkjet printer paper I've found where you desire to keep the tactile feel of "normal" paper. I've tried most kinds, including 100% cotton, presentation papers, and other brands of inkjet papers ranging from Kodak to Georgia-Pacific to Weyerhauser. Printouts appear sharp and colour images fairly good, though it's obvious that coated stock makes for brighter colours in pictures. Black text appears almost the same on this paper as it does on the HP coated paper, so use this one and save money (and you can print on both sides).

Because this is uncoated paper, it doesn't have that chalky fingernail-on-chalkboard feeling that the coated papers have. This is an important point when you have to give presentations where people will handle the papers. It has a thick luxiourious feel for 24# stock and doesn't suffer print-through.

Upon testing with some generic ink refills, this paper holds up well to some of the thinner generic inks that might bleed through on other papers. The older HP paper stock was 96 bright, then HP improved it to 106 brightness and the most current incarnation of this paper is at 108+ brightness.

I use this paper for making out newsletters for family. It works quite well, there's no smearing, no bleeding and it's BRIGHT! Good job HP!!

I bought this Iogear 4 port switch as a replacement for my Linksys switch. It superb in finish quality, very compact, and needs no extra powersupply. You can switch between computers by pressing the left or righ CTRL key twice to go forward or backwards between computers, or by the buttons on the switch. Four cables included, its a great deal.

Having owned several Belkin KVM switches, and used other brands at various client sites, without a doubt this switch is the best. The Belkin Cube would lose sync with the mouse and keyboard several times every day. The IOGEAR has never skipped a beat. The keyboard sequences are far easier as well - control key twice, left to go to the left, right... well you get the idea

This product has to be simply the best..
i had considered getting the linksys KVM.. but after calling linksys and Belkin KVMS...linksys told me that I wont be able to use my wireless mouse or keyboard with their product.. and belkin's first question was which KVM are we talking about.. so I said what the hell.. lets try IOGear.. and needless to say I am extremly happy.. the wireless keyboard and mouse works flawlessly...

this is my first IOGear product... and you can be darn sure I am going to purchase more of IOGear..