Toshiba Satellite 1415-S173 Laptop (1.80-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 30 GB Hard Drive)

Although it isn’t the most powerful portable on the market, the Toshiba Satellite 1415-S173 notebook will effectively handle most day-to-day computing tasks and a variety of multimedia applications without breaking your bank account. If you don’t have a compelling need for the most recent top-of-the-line components, the 1415-S173 is a wise choice.

Toshiba takes advantage of the recent glut of high-end processors by utilizing a cost-effective yet very capable 1.8 GHz Intel Celeron. It has paired this CPU with 256 MB of PC1600 DDR SDRAM (expandable to 512 MB), a 400 MHz system bus, and a 16 MB nVidia Go 420 graphics controller. While this level of performance won’t be enough to satisfy 3-D artisans or hard-core gamers, it's more than enough for most standard notebook purposes.

The 1415-S173 isn’t just for business either. Using its multifunction DVD/CD-RW drive, you can watch a movie or play a music CD, burn your own compilation audio disc, or archive your important files. Whatever you do, the system’s generous 15-inch TFT active-matrix display will capably render your images at resolutions up to 1,024 x 768.

You’ll find lots of other goodies inside the unit’s 12.8-by-11.2-by-1.7-inch, 8-pound frame, including a full-size 85-key keyboard, 12 one-touch Internet and multimedia buttons, a convenient touchpad pointing device, a sizable 30 GB hard disk, and a convenient 3.5-inch floppy disk drive. The system features a wide variety of connections, including three USB ports for plug-and-play peripherals, two multipurpose PC card slots, a 56K modem for low-speed connectivity, and 10/100 Ethernet support for high-speed surfing and e-mail access.

Toshiba has equipped the 1415-S173 with a broad range of popular software, including Windows XP Home Edition, Microsoft Works, Intuit Quicken Basic 2001, and Norton AntiVirus 2002.