Product Reviews

In Q4 of last year, Toshiba was toppled as Europe's number-one notebook supplier by Compaq, but one of the biggest reasons for its loss in market share is Dell (see Horizons, p53). If Toshiba is to regain top spot, it has to make sure its notebooks are competitive with machines like Dell's Latitude CPx H500GT (reviewed issue 65, p154). The new Satellite Pro 4280 aims to do precisely that, and incorporates Intel's mobile Pentium III processors to help, with a 500MHz chip accompanied by 64Mb of RAM in the review machine.

This moves the 4280 into desktop-replacement territory, and its sizeable exterior and all-in-one build confirm this point. This might imply that it's going to be immovably heavy, but the Satellite isn't quite the beast it looks, weighing in at a reasonable 3.1kg. Counteracting this is its bulk, as it measures a full 49mm thick when closed.

When you get to grips with this machine, though, it doesn't have the solid feel that I associate with really good kit - some of that weight-saving has come out of the thickness of the major case mouldings. The body of the machine is still acceptable enough but I wasn't happy with the lid surface, which sagged and touched the screen under moderate pressure.

The battery-retaining cover was also disappointing. This was basically just a sliding bit of plastic, captive to the battery pack itself, which forms part of the front-left corner of the case when closed. I've never liked this arrangement as it's exposed to impact and damage, and I was a bit surprised to see it used on a Toshiba notebook. Common sense and attention to detail were evident, with sliding locking catches for the power stud and the PC Card slots. The expansion bus port is also well protected, and is compatible with both docking station and port replicator options from Toshiba, at £250 and £115 respectively.

Neither

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the hard disk nor the 24-speed CD-ROM drive are removable, so if either needs upgrading it will be a return-to-base job. In the light of this, the choice of CD-ROM rather than a DVD-ROM might cause problems in the future as DVD-ROM becomes more fully established as a medium for software distribution. Toshiba doesn't even offer DVD as an option. Memory upgrades will present no such headaches, as the base 64Mb is hard-wired, leaving both of the easily accessible SODIMM sockets in the base of the machine free.

Like all Toshiba notebooks, the Satellite uses a trackpoint pressure stud. This is an area where the Dell Latitude CPx H500GT holds the advantage as it provides both a trackpoint and a trackpad, allowing the end user to choose. However, the Satellite fights back by providing two extra mouse buttons which can be found above the standard pair. These are primarily intended to stand in place of the scroll wheel found on Microsoft's IntelliMouse, but they're fully programmable and could be used as shortcuts to apps instead.

Toshiba's keyboards are reasonable without being top drawer, with a light though positive action. They're not hugely roomy, but avoid being cramped. The Satellite is certainly going to make the grade as a notebook fit to type on, though, so I don't want to sound overly critical here. The screen is fine as far as size and resolution are concerned: 14.1in is enough diagonal to ensure that XGA looks readable. However, when on battery power the lighting isn't terribly bright.

Graphics suffer from the usual power notebook overkill, with an 8Mb AGP 2x Savage/MX accelerator providing more than enough memory and clout to keep 2D business apps zipping along nicely. This theory was confirmed by the PC Pro benchmarks, with the Satellite returning a score of 1.33. This is about right for its class, and is only slower than the Samsung GT7500XV (reviewed p153) due to the latter having 128Mb of RAM. The machine's battery life was less encouraging, as it gave up the ghost after only two hours and 20 minutes, almost an hour less than the Dell Latitude.

So is the Satellite Pro 4280 the victor over Dell's rival machine? At the price listed above, the answer is no, but if you can negotiate the price down when buying in corporate bulk it's certainly worth shortlisting. However, I do have concerns over its build quality and battery life, so if you want a safer bet, opt for the Latitude.