Compare Laptop Computers: Toshiba Satellite P25 Laptop

Toshiba Satellite P25 Review: Toshiba's second generation of Media Center notebooks is here. So what do you get for your money? A great notebook whose standout feature is a digital video recorder that will make your VCR obsolete.

This is one of the easiest Digital Video Recorder's to use on any platform. With the click of a button on the included remote control, you can watch a show, record it in real time, or set it in advance to digitally tape a show right off the program guide ( the P25 can hold about 19 hours of top-quality video at one time). You can even watch the beginning of a recorded show while still recording the end, which is one of the many smart reasons that make Media Center Edition 2004 a solid operating system.

Powered by a 3.2GHz Pentium 4 processor with Hyper-Threading, the P25 is a mover that will satisfy gamers, home-video editors, and those who just like to watch movies. This Satellite is loaded with a bevy of top-shelf components like an 80GB 5,400-RPM high-performance hard drive, as well as the latest DVD-Multi drive.

The audio quality is top-notch when compared to most notebooks, but the P25 lacks a S/PDIF optical connector for using a set of high-end external speakers.

The Toshiba P25 offers legacy ports as well as USB, S-Video, and FireWire. Communications are a snap with support for wired LAN, a modem, and Wi-Fi. The P25 also has a pair of Type II PC Card slots and a Secure Digital slot.

The P25 is really a hybrid. It's neither a notebook or a TV, but it offers the best of both worlds.