Toshiba Satellite P20

The Satellite P20 is massive - a true notebook behemoth. The red outer casing may not appeal to all, but the insides have a more attractive metal and black combination.

Running on a 3GHz Pentium 4 and 512MB memory, the Sysmark score was impressive, reaching 244 overall. The P20 also uses Nvidia's Geforce FX Go5200 graphics chip. Battery life was poor, lasting just over an hour, but at 4.3kg it's unlikely you'd be lugging this around much.

Toshiba makes little use of the notebook's sides. With this much space, we expected a floppy drive, multimedia card readers and more USB ports.

Sadly, the first two are missing and there are only four USB2 ports on the sides and back, and a single non-powered Firewire port on the right-hand side. But there is a DVD writer, two PC Card slots and an SD slot, as well as Ethernet, modem and audio mini jack ports. The optical drive has been placed on the front which makes it easier to use, and sits it next to the player controls.

It's a real shame Toshiba could not have used a bigger keyboard, given the amount of space available. But it is comfortable to type on, even if some keys are in an awkward position. The Harmon Kardon speakers are also excellent quality, something Toshiba has gained a positive reputation for.

Despite our reservations about the case, this is a very good notebook for those with the space and inclination towards a widescreen display.

However, the screen quality was slightly grainy - we certainly expected better.

Contact: Toshiba
www.toshiba.co.uk

Specifications:

• Intel Pentium 4 M 3GHz processor
• 512MB memory
• 40GB hard disk
• Nvidia Geforce FX Go5200
• 17in TFT
• 419 x 293 x47mm (w x h x d)
• 4.3kg