CyberVenice

(tm) Toshiba 4100XDVD Review August 1999

SUMMARY

The new Toshiba 4100XDVD is a fast, good-looking computer with a huge, beautiful screen, that is inexplicably crippled by a low-end graphics card. Also, the keyboard is noticeably a step down from Toshiba's historically great keyboards. Fit and finish, documentation, out-of-the-box experience, and physical design are mostlly steps forward that make the computer more convenient and easy to use.

PRO

There are many positives with this computer:

Fast - 400 mhz (ships with 64 megs, mine had 128 megs of RAM)
Arrived (shipped) ontime
Shipped in a 2nd external shipping box
Startup Instructions right on top when you open the box, easy to follow
Good looks - attractive design
Huge LCD screen
Screen is bright, brilliant, and beautiful
Screen drops to dimmer mode when on batteries (to extend battery time)
Two large built-in stereo speakers - exceed any previous Toshiba models by far
Large diagram showing position of all buttons, ports, dials, indicators, etc.
Built-in CD & Floppy - simultaneous use - nothing here to carry or exchange
Extra pointer caps included
Power-lock button - avoid accidental shutdowns or turn-ons when in baggage.
Physical manuals included
Smooth floppy drive - inserting & extracting disks
Floppy drive faces front - easier to get disks in and out.
CD/DVD quieter than 550 - whirrs but doesn't scream
When using external monitor and port replicator, screen folds *all* the way flat
Lock-cable attachment slot is at back left, out of the way
Port replicator mechanism works well - best yet
Not a lot of junk-software pre-installed
Windows 98 is nicer than 95 once you get a couple default settings set
New click-open phone connector (didn't like at first, but it grows on you)
Floppy & CD indicator access lights (in addition to hard disk).

NEUTRAL

The following are classifed as "differences", neither pro nor con:

Width & depth bigger than 500 series, although thinner
Won't fit into any of the carry-cases left over from previous models
Won't fit into Targus carry-case that comes with roll-aboard luggage
Small power-brick - no bigger or smaller than last one I had (550)
6-gig disk drive is nice but unimpressive versus the competition, which all offer 8+

CON

Two very big negatives, alas, and then some minor quibbles:

NEGATIVE 1:
Keyboard travel less than on 500 series. This is the first sub-standard keyboard (to my knowledge) that Toshiba has put out. This puts Toshiba keyboards on a par with others - the lead is gone. Now you can go blah-blah all you want about the thinness of the unit, but anything that is done at the cost of a good full-time keyboard is a mistake. Toshiba has had just a few differentiators in the market (Toshiba is not the performance nor value leader): message-based compuserve support, library-based (drivers) compuserve support, quality design, and keyboards. This is the first Toshiba I have ever owned where I must use an external keyboard with the port replicator for full-time office use.

NEGATIVE 2:
Real disaster here: Toshiba has inexplicably gone cheapskate on the video graphics board. It does not support 1024x768 external monitor display with true-color, only high-color. This means that you will NOT be using your Toshiba Satellite 4100XDVD with Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Dreamweaver, LViewPro, Adobe Imageready, Macromedia Flash, Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia Freehand because it is useless for photo-editing or internet-content creation. Since sub-$1000 desktops routinely handle much higher graphics quality levels, and since 3-year-old Toshiba models also handle much higher graphics quality levels, one can only assume Toshiba America has decided to hike their profit margins at the expense of customer loyalty and marketshare. BE WARNED - if you want to see video or high-quality photos, if you create anything for the internet, or if you want to play computer games, AVOID THIS MODEL. It is confined to the roving corporate user who uses Microsoft Office and email and not much else, at least in the graphics department.

But there's more bad news: the graphics card does not support reasonable or even usable refresh rates on external monitors. Get ready for actual nausea at 60 mhz (which is the maximum rate stated in the spec at screen resolutions greater than 640x480). Of course, this does not affect every external-monitor user - some people cannot see the difference between 60 and 85 mhz refresh rates. But many people (such as myself) can clearly see the flicker at 60 mhz, and find it sickening - like being on a ship tossing at sea - in just a few minutes of use. It is truly illogical - if not tragic - that an otherwise amazing computer, with many high-end components such as a CD/DVD drive, skimped in such an extreme manner on the graphics card, especially since Toshiba has been shipping *better* technology for many years.

QUIBBLE DEPARTMENT
Once again, no fold-out feet to prop computer up. Plan on using a pencil, as with 500 model, in order to avoid overheating, unless you are plugged into the port replicator. Why does Toshiba flip-flop on this model-to-model?

Model-plate is very prominent - silver plate "Satellite 4100XDVD" on an otherwise all charcoal grey machine. People on airplanes will not be leaning over to ask what kind of computer you have - even people 5 rows back will catch the reflections off your shiny marque. I tried to pop it out with a screw-driver, but only succeeded in scratching it, so now it looks even worse. Black electrical tape, anyone?

CONCLUSION

Overall, the Toshiba Satellite 4100XDVD is like the team that made it to the SuperBowl, but then failed to score. It's an almost-great computer -- will have to wait for the next round of upgrades for Toshiba to get it right.

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