March 29, 2024

faubourg36-lefilm

Think spectacular technology

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309 review: Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309

Editors’ note: This review is part of our 2009 Retail Laptop and Desktop Holiday Roundup, which covers specific fixed configurations of popular systems found in retail stores.

Sometimes, it takes a good retail excursion to find a deal that isn’t otherwise possible. Case in point: the Toshiba T135. While we have already reviewed two different versions of Toshiba’s Windows 7 entry to the thin-and-light laptop landscape, we were pleasantly surprised by this retail-only configuration. This is not uncommon; many of the configurations you see in stores are subtle tweaks of models that manufacturers sell online, trading flexibility for a better price. In the case of the Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309, it means a great price of only $550 instead of the $710 price of the Satellite T135-S1310, at the expense of 1GB less RAM, no Bluetooth, and a black lid instead of a red or white one.

We’ve previously noted that the T135’s cheaper, single-core Pentium processor configuration, the Toshiba Satellite T135-S1300, had vastly inferior performance to the dual-core, more expensive S1310. The good news is that the S1309 has a price only $50 more than the inferior T135, but with a dual-core processor. At this cost-to-performance ratio, we’d say this is the must-get configuration of the Toshiba Satellite T135, if you’re considering buying one. And the even better news is that the battery life is just as good as ever. It’s still slower than higher-end thin-and-lights, but the T135-S1309 is a nice affordable balance that bargain-hunters should consider seeing in person.

Price as reviewed / Starting price $549
Processor 1.3 GHz Intel Pentium SU4100
Memory 3GB, DDR3 1066 MHz
Hard drive 320GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Mobile Intel GM45
Graphics Intel GMA 4500MHD
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
Dimensions (WD) 12.7 x 8.8 inches
Height 1.4 inches
Screen size (diagonal) 13.3 inches
System weight / Weight with AC adapter 3.7 / 4.4 pounds
Category Thin-and-light

The T135 series shares a number of design similarities to the rest of the Toshiba Satellite lineup that received an upgrade earlier this year. The T135-S1309 is covered inside and out in a glossy black checkerboard Fusion Finish; it’s accented with slick chrome highlights along the edge of the palm rest and on the touch-pad buttons. However, that slickness continues literally to the keyboard, which is finished in the same glossy coating we’ve been less than enthusiastic about in other Satellites. While the T135 is thinner than Toshiba’s thick midrange Satellites, such as the U505-S2940, it’s still a semichunky 1.4 inches thick.

The flat keyboard performs better than we remembered on larger Core 2 Duo models, but it still feels a bit too greasy. A matte rectangle of a touch pad, inset along the glossy palm rest, feels decent but not spectacular. The silver button-bar beneath is one continuous piece of plastic that toggles on either side for left or right clicks, but we always prefer distinct buttons instead. Other than the power button, there are no other buttons besides the standard keyboard, so control panel adjustments such as screen brightness are all handled with function-key combinations. Volume control is oddly relegated to a function combination with the 3 and 4 number keys, which took us forever to locate.

The 13.3-inch glossy LED-backlit screen on the Satellite T135-S1309 has a native resolution of 1,366×768 pixels, sharp colors, and good brightness, and it looked perfectly crisp in our use. Above the screen is a Webcam that took fair video, but grainy and low-resolution snapshots. More disappointing were the Satellite T135-S1309’s speakers, which although stereo and planted on the base below the keyboard, still sounded as if they were emanating from the middle of a pillow-lined box: the volume at maximum was so soft and tinny as to be practically worthless. We also had issues with Toshiba’s Netbook speakers, but other Toshiba speakers were generally exceptional. This was a big letdown.

  Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309 Average for category [thin and light]
Video VGA-out, HDMI VGA plus HDMI or DisplayPort
Audio Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks Stereo speakers, headphone/microphone jacks
Data 2 USB 2.0, 1 USB 2.0/sleep and charge, SD card reader 3 USB 2.0, SD card reader
Expansion None ExpressCard/54
Networking Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Ethernet, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, optional WWAN
Optical drive None DVD burner

In addition to a sleep-and-charge USB port (always a nice feature to charge devices while your laptop is asleep or off), the Satellite T135-1309 also has an SD card reader and an HDMI port. One feature that’s removed is Bluetooth, which is available in the T135-S1310, but for the $160 savings, we don’t mind.

The included 320GB hard drive in the T135-S1309 is a generous size for the price, and the 3GB of RAM can be easily expanded up to 8GB after purchase if desired. Of course, as is the case for nearly all laptops now, Windows 7 Home Premium is preinstalled. Windows 7 worked well on this machine, and we had no complaints.

Now, for a word on the confusing landscape of Intel ULV processors. The T135-S1309 has an Intel Pentium SU4100 processor, which is in fact a dual-core processor; it’s not generally as powerful as a standard Core 2 Duo or Core 2 Duo ultra-low-voltage processor, but it’s a far better alternative to a single-core processor such as a Celeron or Atom. The single-core version of the T135 (the T135-S1300) uses a Pentium SU2700 processor, which we’d avoid.

Multimedia multitasking test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Asus K60IJ-RBLX05

1,273 

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309

1743 

Adobe Photoshop CS3 image-processing test (in seconds)
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)

Toshiba Satellite T135-S1309

282 

Source Article