Toshiba Satellite
With six customizable models to choose from, laptop buyers can pretty much mold the Toshiba Satellite into their notebook of choice. The specs for the six models are all over the place, and it’s impossible to make sense of what each model focuses on, so it can be difficult to be able to choose which one to pick if you’re in the market for a new Satellite.

The Intel Core 2 Duo seems to be the most popular processor with the Satellite, as it’s offered in a 1.6 gigahertz format with the A100, A130, and L35 and U200. A 1.66 gigahertz version is available in the P100, R20, and the U200, which also can contain a 2.0 gigahertz processor as well. Besides that, other processors are available as well, including the Pentium Dual Core 1.6, and the Intel Celeron M 1.73 gigahertz. Confused yet? In a nutshell you can get virtually any of the latest Intel processors in the Toshiba Satellite, depending on how much you want to spend, and what other qualities you’re looking for in a laptop.

Memory varies among models from between 512 megabytes in the R20 and A130 to 2 gigabytes in the A100 and P100. In addition, the U200 can contain 512, 1048, or 2048 megabytes, depending on your configuration. For users who are just going to be running business applications and browsing the web, 512 is probably plenty, although it may be a little low for Windows Vista and some of the new applications coming out. In this day and age, the more memory the better, so I would go with the 2 gigabyte option. It’s worth the extra money, as it will make a very noticeable difference in performance.

Screen sizes on the Satellite models range from 12.1 inches on the U200 to 17 inches on the P100. It makes sense, because the U200 is supposed to be a highly portable mobile computer at only 4.1 pounds, and indeed it is at that weight. That’s one of the lightest full featured laptops being made today. The P100, on the other hand, is more geared toward multimedia, so its users are going to want a bigger screen.

In short, the Toshiba Satellite offers something for everyone, with a wide range of processors, memory, and screen sizes. The six models that fall under the Satellite label are quality laptops; nothing too special, but overall a good value for the money.