Toshiba Satellite M200

The laptop market today has become hyper-competitive, with increased performance levels available at prices unimaginable just a few years ago. This has lead to top-level manufacturers like Dell and Acer offering budget solutions that offer great VFM. In line with this, Toshiba recently updated its Satellite series to be able to exploit this growing market.

One of the models it's introduced is the Satellite M200. How does it fare against the competition? Let’s find out.

One of the things I have always admired about Toshiba’s laptops has been its styling and good quality finish. The M200 adheres to this quite admirably. Its body and frame sports a nice high-gloss black finish on its lid and the area directly below the mouse-pointer area. This same finish extends to the area directly above the keyboard too. However the laptop is not glossy all over. The area around the LCD panel has a black matte finish, while the keyboard and immediate surroundings are shades of white and a dull aluminum finish.

Physically this is a hefty laptop. It has a thick frame and when you combine its weight of 2.5kg... well, it’s not going to be winning any awards for breaking new ground in industrial design. Jokes aside, the laptop feels quite sturdy and when you factor in the reinforced LCD panel, one can reasonably expect it to last a while without wearing out. There were no audible creaks either from the hinges or the keyboard area. The only drawback is the glossy lid, which is a fingerprint magnet and looks shabby if not cleaned regularly.

The keyboard of the M200 is one of the best I've used in a while. It’s nice and wide, offers excellent response while typing. The softly textured keys make working long hours a pleasure. The touchpad is a bit small, but well-recessed mouse keys and good positioning make working with it a non-issue.

The LCD panel is a glossy 14.1 inch widescreen with a native resolution of 1280x800. It offers very good levels of brightness with average levels of contrast and color. Though at first the glossy screen was an irritant, given sufficient time and adjustment of the screen’s brightness it was very usable.

Connectivity-wise the M200 is decently represented. It has 4 USB 2.0 ports, one FireWire 400 port, one Type II PC card slot, VGA connector, S-Video slot , multifunctional 5-in1 card reader and a 1.3 MP webcam.