Toshiba T135-1309 13.3" Laptop Review

It's funny how times changes. 9 years ago I purchased a Toshiba laptop for college. It set me back $1800 and came "loaded" with a Pentium 3 @ 600Mhz and 64MB RAM. I promptly maxed out the RAM to 192MB. I ended up hating it and vowed never to buy a laptop again.

Fast forward now a decade into the future. Things have changed. I'm married, have a full time job, and laptop hardware doesn't suck now. Neither does battery life. Windows 7 comes out. A netbook looks tempting. But do I really want a machine with such a tiny keyboard and screen? The shopping begins.

My search end when I decided on a Toshiba T135-1309 laptop. For the price, the specs are quite impressive:

• Intel Pentium SU4100
• 3GB RAM (DDR3 1066)
• 13.3" LCD (16:9)
• 3.88 lbs.
• Windows 7, 32-bit Premium
• 320 GB Hard Drive
• ~8hrs battery life
• Built in ethernet/wifi-N
• Built in webcam
• Built in memory card reader

Cost at Best Buy: $549

So far there are some things I really like about this laptop:

• Affordable
• Small and lightweight
• Seems to get really good battery life
• Comes with windows 7 premium

Overall I've been rather happy with this machine. There are 2 small things I'm not so pleased with, but they're very minor and defiantly not deal breakers.

• The speakers are quiet; a lot more quiet than you'd expect. There's no external sound control either.
• The whole laptop is rather glossy. I wish they had toned that down a bit.

At the time of purchase, I also picked up a Logitech M305 wireless mouse. Let me tell you -- it's worth the money. The mouse comes with a dongle that is ridiculously small. You plug it in and basically leave it there. There isn't a huge thumb-drive sized thing hanging out the side of your laptop. It's smaller in size, but not uncomfortably so.

The M305 actually comes in 3 'fashionable' designs and of course boring gray. I went with a designed model that was a bit more subtle than the other 2. It fits with the laptop.'