Toshiba Satellite U400-138 (User Review)

Notebook Review

Why to buy?
Let me first tell you that I had owned laptops before (5 of them). A month back I purchased an HD Camcorder and thus, started shopping for something more powerful, to do my HD Movie Editing. I knew it was time for a core2duo model. After contemplating few of the latest brands I chose the Toshiba Satellite U400-138, about 10 days back. Have used it vigorously since; and am already overwhelmed by this Little "Powerhouse".

Reasoning:
My shopping list had Macbook, Sony, Toshiba, Lenovo and Acer (exactly in that order) for their equivalent "Reliability". After deliberately checking those out I finally settled down for the Toshiba Satellite U400-138. You know why? (1)Configuration, (2)Looks and (3)Price. Toshiba beats them in these 3 departments. I'll give you my reasoning, which may not be right for everyone, but is the general requirement for all notebook shoppers:
 Macbook. I sincerely wanted to migrate to Mac this time. But found their configuration & pricing not matching the market (Mac 's still riding on their niche marketing).
 Sony. I wanted the Vaio, purely for its vibrant colours, look-stopper value. But again found that they are unnecessarily pricey.
 Lenovo. A rock-solid laptop. The 2008 Lenovos are better than their older models, nice black, mirror finish tops. But they are still very boxy. Their contours are out dated, I felt.
 Acer. 2nd largest notebook maker. Variety of models. Very competitively priced. But their new models do not look as good as their 2007 ones. These are all plastic, flimsy keypad and I do not fancy their rounded 'gemstone" looks. But, besides the looks, Acer is a very good bargain. I already have one (2007 model).

Fastest Laptop:
My 10 days of heavy usage proved that the Toshiba Satellite U400-138 really runs super-superfast, takes heavy computing without a quirk, that's what we need today in our notebook. The Crystal-Brite TFT LCD displays 1280x800 rez. (plainly speaking, very-very good quality images) and though the 128 Mb Graphics are a low config. Yet it did my Video Editing (HD, mind you!) without a hitch. The NVidia Geforce Graphics would have been better, but you don't always get everything, do you? Not an issue though.

Security:
For Security, it has 2 great features. The Toshiba 'Face Recognition' system, to access the computer and the 'Anti-Shock' system for the HDD. It also has the McAfee Internet Security Suite.

Conclusion:
For a 13.3" Ultra-Portable notebook the Toshiba Satellite U400-138 is 'fully loaded', something which no other laptop has, as I found. Overall, I grade this notebook as the 'Best' in market today. At this price, configuration and reliability, you won't find another one.