Toshiba Satellite M65-S821

The Toshiba Satellite M65's case is 15.5 inches wide, 11 inches deep, and 1.46 inches thick, placing it on the cusp between the midsize and desktop replacement categories. The Toshiba weighs 7.4 pounds, which is about a pound lighter than a few other multimedia oriented, desktop replacement portables with 17 inch screens the 8.4 pound VAIO VGN-AX570G, the 8.2 pound Dell Inspiron E1705, and the 8.3 pound HP Pavilion dv8000.

The Satellite M65's AC adapter adds another 0.7 pound to its travel weight. Big laptops can accommodate super size features, and the Satellite M65 has an awesome 17 inch, wide aspect display with a reflective coating that helps colors really pop by preventing extra light from infiltrating the screen its 1,440x900 native resolution is more often found on 15.4 inch wide screen displays and is less fine than the 1,900x1,200 found on the Inspiron E1705's screen.

The Satellite M65 also features a wide keyboard, a dedicated numeric keypad (as does the Pavilion dv8000), and a large touch pad.

Toshiba takes a nontraditional approach with the Satellite M65's mouse buttons, molding them out of a single, long piece of black plastic with a split in the middle to indicate where the left button ends and the right begins.

We like the visual effect, but we wish the buttons were a bit bigger. Four super handy multimedia controls (play, stop, forward, and back) sit above the keyboard, along with two programmable application buttons.

On the front edge, a convenient volume wheel lies between the two full sounding Harman Kardon speakers. The final design highlight of note is the useful wireless on or off switch for the integrated Intel Pro/Wireless 802.11b/g card. While the Satellite M65 lacks the built in TV tuner found on other multimedia laptops, such as Toshiba's higher end Qosmio, its design should satisfy most casual media users.

The Toshiba Satellite M65 offers fewer connectors than the most tricked out multimedia laptops, which will affect gadget junkies who like to attach everything under the sun to their systems. The collection consists of three USB 2.0 ports, four pin FireWire, S-Video out, 56Kbps modem, 10/100 Ethernet, headphone, and microphone jacks.

The list also contains one each of Type II PC Card, Express Card, and 5 in 1 flash memory card slots. Competitors' systems, such as the Pavilion dv8000 and the Inspiron E1705, include all those, plus more USB 2.0 ports. At least Toshiba didn't skimp on secondary storage, integrating a sweet double layer, multi format DVD burner into the case.

Toshiba loaded up our evaluation machine with the Windows XP Home operating system though you can also get the Satellite M65 with Windows XP Pro, the multimedia OS du jour Windows XP Media Center Edition is not an option. Toshiba also throws you a few software bones, but the bundle is nothing compared to the excellent multimedia application included with a laptop such as the Sony VAIO VGN-AX570G.