Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 review: Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980

Editors' note: Because of a change in retail availability, Best Buy won't be selling the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980 until January 2011.

7.1

Toshiba Satellite E205-S1980

The Good

Updated version of the Satellite E205 includes Nvidia Optimus graphics; WiMax-ready; slim design; Intel Wireless Display.

The Bad

Weak speakers; poor battery life; expensive compared with similar offerings.

The Bottom Line

Toshiba's holiday update of one of our favorite laptops, the Satellite E205, adds graphics and WiMax, but its higher price and lack of other new features prevent it from being a standout at the end of 2010.

Back at the beginning of 2010, one of our favorite laptop surprises was the Toshiba Satellite E205-S1904. Available as a Best Buy exclusive, the thin blue Satellite was one of the first laptops to feature Intel Wireless Display technology, and at $899, its combination of a then-brand-new Core i5 CPU and solid specs added up to a great value.

The E205-S1980 is an updated version of the E205 for Best Buy's Blue Label line, adding Nvidia graphics and a WiMax antenna to the package, albeit at a higher price. Nvidia Optimus automatic-switching graphics come in the form of an entry-level GeForce 310M GPU; graphics were one of our biggest gripes on the first E205, and its presence here enables basic mainstream gaming and better video/media creation capabilities. Other than that, though, the package remains remarkably similar: slightly faster Core i5 processor, same hard drive, same RAM, same design and case structure, same Intel Wireless Display.

Back then, the Best Buy-exclusive E205 bundle we reviewed cost $899. The E205-S1980 costs $1,079, a hefty premium for entry-level discrete graphics nearly a year later. Though the E205 remains a solid laptop with good specs, it feels long in the tooth compared with similar products that are available for even less. Dell's entry-level XPS 15 at $849 lacks Wireless Display but otherwise outperforms the E205 in a number of regards, losing out only on weight and battery life.

A lack of Blu-ray and built-in speakers that sound subpar are the biggest negatives, along with a battery life that, by our tests, dropped about an hour and a half compared with the previous E205 configuration. At the original $899 we'd feel a lot better about the E205-S1980, but at $1,079 it just feels like too much.