Satellite 100CS: A reasonably-priced road warrior<\/p>\n
By Zatni Arbi<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): In the past, I never had a really pressing need
\nto buy a notebook, as I was always able to borrow one from
\nfriends when I needed one for just a couple of days. Also, I was
\nnot interested in investing in a notebook because its technology
\nmoves very fast and the price is usually almost twice that of a
\ndesktop machine with the same features and performance.<\/p>\n
In other words, buying a notebook is an investment that
\nrequires a lot of strong justification, something that I had not
\nbeen able to find. However, when I was about to leave on a 12-day
\ntrip to Down Under last month, I had no choice. Twelve days
\nwithout a computer was unthinkable for me, so I decided I should
\nhave a notebook of my own.<\/p>\n
After a quick browse through the list of popular branded
\nnotebooks that were available in Glodok at that time, I set my
\nmind on a Toshiba Satellite 100CS (please keep in mind that the
\naccompanying picture is not exactly the model that we have on the
\nmarket here, though).<\/p>\n
The Satellite 100CS's price seemed right for an entry-level
\nPentium machine -- there is hardly any point in buying a 486DX4-
\nbased PC nowadays -- and it had all the features that I would
\nneed for working away from my desk.<\/p>\n
Features<\/p>\n
The U.S.-assembled Satellite 100CS is based on a Pentium 75
\nMHz processor. Business insiders told me that this class of
\nPentium chip was already in the phase-out stage. The next entry-
\nlevel for a notebook would be Pentium 100 MHz. In comparison, the
\nhighest that you can find in a notebook today is perhaps the
\nPentium 133 MHz, whereas in a desktop, you'll easily find the 166
\nMHz version. Well, notebooks always seem to be one step behind
\ndesktop PCs as far as CPU power is concerned.<\/p>\n
The Satellite 100CS comes standard with 8 MB EDO RAM.
\nTheoretically, this amount of memory is barely sufficient for a
\nWindows 95 machine, but since I figured I would rarely run more
\nthan one application at a time I could defer buying additional
\nRAM. And, frankly speaking, I have had no problem at all with the
\ncurrent configuration; Word Pro 96 runs decently, and basically,
\na word processor is all that most of us need while on the road.<\/p>\n
With a diagonal dimension of 10.4\", the screen real-estate is
\nnot bad, although it's no match for the 12.4\" one that IBM
\nThinkPad 760CD has. The dual-scan LCD produces acceptable colors,
\nalthough, needless to say, they don't compare with the brilliant
\ncolors you'd see in a TFT display. It also has a TrackPoint II
\npointing device.<\/p>\n
The TrackPoint, called AccuPoint by Toshiba, takes some time
\nto get used to, but it definitely beats using the awkwardly
\npositioned trackball that we used to see in notebooks of about
\nthree years ago. The keyboard feels just right, too, although we
\nmight wish it would feel more like the IBM Butterfly's expanding
\nkeyboard.<\/p>\n
Windows 95 is preinstalled but no application is included. It
\nwould be nice if Toshiba had followed the market trend by
\nbundling an all-purpose integrated program such as Microsoft
\nWorks, which Compaq bundled with its Contura Aeros.<\/p>\n
Pleasent<\/p>\n
The hard disk has a 520 MB space on it and images of the
\noriginal copy of Windows 95. Toshiba utilities and other software
\ndriver diskettes are also stored on it. If we need more space, we
\ncan reclaim the space occupied by the operating system and
\nsoftware by running the supplied utilities. The images will be
\ncopied to diskettes. I haven't done this yet, since it will
\ncertainly take a couple of hours to complete.<\/p>\n
First of all, for somebody with less than perfect eyesight
\nlike me, a high-display refresh rate is a must. Satellite 100CS
\nuses the Chips and Technology accelerator display interface, and
\nthe vertical refresh rate for the external display can be set as
\nhigh as 75 Hz.<\/p>\n
This gives me a pleasant, flicker free display each time I
\nconnect the notebook to an external monitor. In fact, the Display
\nControl icon is already placed on the screen so we can change the
\nrefresh rate on the fly when moving from one external monitor to
\nanother.<\/p>\n
The brightness of the LCD can also be set to a semi-brightness
\nlevel, which I find the most comfortable level for my eyes. There
\nis only one button that we can use to control the contrast of the
\ndisplay. The plastic case feels very sturdy, much more sturdy
\nthan most of the other notebooks I've seen. The LCD panel is
\nattached to the CPU with two large and strong hinges.<\/p>\n
The Satellite 100CS also comes with an integrated power
\nadaptor, so we don't have to bother ourselves with the typical
\nbrick-like external power adaptor anymore. I think this is a
\nfeature that every notebook should have had a long, long time
\nago. It also comes with a three-meter power cord. This extra-long
\npower cable might help a lot at times, especially if the power
\noutlet in a hotel room is quite far from the desk.<\/p>\n
My unit came with a Nickel-Metal Hydride battery. It has
\nalways given me more than two hours of power for each recharge,
\nand recharging doesn't take very long. The system comes with an
\ninstant-resume feature; we could turn off the notebook and the
\nsystem would create an electronic bookmark that it will store on
\nthe hard disk before it shuts down completely. When we press the
\nPower button again, we will be back exactly where we left off. We
\ncan also use Windows 95's Suspend command to achieve the same
\neffect.<\/p>\n
Downside<\/p>\n
As you already know, if you're looking for beautiful displays
\nof colorful images, you shouldn't go with a dual scan LCD. No
\ndual scan panel can deliver the gorgeous color range that an
\nactive matrix TFT panel can. However, on my unit there are
\nnoticeable streaks of white on all its four edges. This is common
\nto most of the larger-sized LCD panels that I've seen, since the
\nsources of light are positioned on the edges. Nevertheless, a
\ncolleague of mine has an LCD panel that's almost perfect; the
\nbrightness is equal from edge to edge.<\/p>\n
There are noticeable horizontal streaks, too, when you have a
\nwindow on the screen. In a conversation I recently had with some
\npeople in the notebook business, I learned that quite a few
\nToshiba owners took back their newly-bought notebooks because
\nthey were unhappy with this problem. I was told that the LCD was
\nactually OK; it was the driver that Windows 95 used that created
\nthe problem.<\/p>\n
Therefore, if you see these streaks on your notebook display,
\nyou might have to live with it for the rest of the notebook's
\nlife. Anyway, after a while, you'll get used to it and it won't
\nbother you anymore. However, it is a good point to remember when
\nyou buy a new notebook.<\/p>\n
Despite all the nice features it has, there is no sound
\ncapability in this notebook except for a tiny system speaker.
\nGiven that it would have caused Toshiba just a very negligible
\ncost to build this capability into the system board, I wish this
\nleading notebook maker had gone the extra mile to add it to this
\nalready feature-rich model. All I would have to add later on is
\nan external CD-ROM player that hooks up to it via a PC card, and
\nI would be able to listen to some multimedia stuff while on the
\nroad as well.<\/p>\n
Notebook<\/p>\n
However, the most serious complaint that I now have is that it
\ntakes some force to unplug the power cord from the rear of the
\nnotebook. I didn't have this problem in the beginning, and now I
\nhave to be really careful not to insert the jack too deep into
\nits socket each time I want to use the notebook.<\/p>\n
When I was scanning the market for the best price last month,
\nToshiba notebooks were difficult to find. However, if you had
\nvisited last week's Jakarta Computer Expo held in the Jakarta
\nConvention Center, you'd have seen a lot of Toshiba notebooks
\naround. And, as is the case with all computers, the price had
\nalready dropped slightly from the time I bought mine.<\/p>\n
I paid Rp 5,250,000 for mine and it was the best price I could
\nget at that time. Last week, at the exhibition, it was offered at
\nRp 5,125,000. However, since I am happy with it and it has helped
\nmake my trip more productive, the price drop doesn't matter after
\nall.<\/p>\n
If you happen to be screening the market for a reasonably-
\npriced notebook with a decent performance and feature set, the
\nSatellite 100CS is definitely one of the best alternatives you
\nshould look at.<\/p>",
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