There was this thread regarding Toshiba on sale at Bestbuy for $449, with AMD Athlon QL-65 processor. Was also noted there is similar model available at Costco with Intel T6400, price is $599 in store and there is $100 coupon in Costco coupon book. Costco model has slightly faster processor, plus comes with Costco's excellent 90 day return policy and 2 year warranty (versus BestBuy's 14 day return policy and 1 year warranty). Costco model is exclusive to Costco, so hard to find reviews and comparisons. However, you can configure similar model on Toshiba site (L300-ST2501), you find lots of reviews there. 112 reviews, rated 5 stars. Configured as sold at Costco it's $675, but still 1 year warranty, no 2 year offered but 3 year is $85 more. Here is detail product specs for Costco's model (click here).

We chose the Costco model, picked this unit up for my daughter for college. Feels solid, looks good, still early to tell anything significant but it's working. Having 90 day return was primary decision point -- plus 2 year warranty is plus too. Worth the $50 additional, plus I get 2% CashBack as Executive member.

FYI - Free upgrade to Windows 7, info here.

Satellite L305-S5946 Laptop : Detailed Product Specs
Processor* Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T6400
Operating System* Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit)
Memory* 3GB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz SDRAM
Display Size* 15.4" widescreen
Display Type* WXGA with TruBrite® Technology
Display Resolution* 1280x800, Supports 720p content
Graphics Engine* Mobile Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Graphics Memory* 128MB-1342MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
Hard Drive* 250GB HDD (5400rpm)
Secondary Hard Drive Size* None Available
Optical Drives* DVD-SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflash™ drive supporting up to 11 formats
Wireless LAN* Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/g/n)
Bluetooth No Bluetooth (No Antenna)
Webcam Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel

Inputs and Controls
TouchPad™ pointing device, CD/DVD Buttons (Play/Pause, Stop, Prev Track, Next Track), 86 key US keyboard, Media button, Mute button
Security and Protoection
HDD Recovery
Modem
Modem
LAN
10/100 Ethernet LAN
Audio
Standard stereo speakers, Microphone jack (mono), Headphone jack (stereo)
AC Adapter
75W (19V 3.95A) Auto-sensing, 100-240V / 50-60Hz input
Battery
Li-Ion (4000mAh, 6-Cell)
PC Express Slot
1-ExpressCard™ Slot
USB Ports*
3-USB (2.0)
Media Card Reader
4-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter
Software*
Toshiba ConfigFree®, Microsoft® Works Version 9.0, WildTangent® Orb™ Games Console, Hard disc (HDD) recovery, Toshiba Face Recognition, Norton 360™ All-In-One Security (60-day Trial), Google Picasa™, Toshiba Disc Creator, Toshiba Speech System, Microsoft® Office Trial Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial), Toshiba DVD Player, Toshiba Recovery Disc Creator
Weight*
Starting at 5.49 lbs.
Color
Glossy Black with Onyx Blue lid
Standards*
Energy Star 4.0 Compliant, RoHS Compliant, EPEAT™ Silver
Standard Limited Warranty*
2-Yr Standard Limited Warranty (1-Yr on Battery)

yes, got one yesterday. Pretty happy so far except the glossy finish that can easily attrack dirt and dust.

Has anybody but me had issues with the build quality on Toshiba laptops? I've had two now: an entry level A135 from a FW deal several years ago (HUGE problems trying to find XP drivers and trying to run Vista, enven after boosting up the paltry 512mb memory that it came with - it should be a caning offense for manufacturers to put out a computer with so little memory. There were also several straight up hardware failures, too), and a high end 17" Qosmio (the poor sods at Toshiba have had to replace virtually every component of this unit, from the motherboard to the screen, and everything in between). It has really made me reluctant to buy another.

Best Buy link

Got one for the wife. It comes with Windows DVD Maker and Picasa which is the kind of software we were looking for. Make sure you check for Windows updates several times. Took me 1 hr. to download all the updates. The last big one was SP2. Also, don't forget to sign up for the Windows 7 update.

Toshiba Windows 7 upgrade offer

soundxli said:lmirasol said:Got one for the wife. It comes with Windows DVD Maker and Picasa which is the kind of software we were looking for. Make sure you check for Windows updates several times. Took me 1 hr. to download all the updates. The last big one was SP2. Also, don't forget to sign up for the Windows 7 update.

Toshiba Windows 7 upgrade offer
I'm curious to know. Did this model qualify for the upgrade? I ask because I checked the Win7 Toshiba qualifying laptops and this model was not on it. The list is very specific so I'm wondering if this one qualifies.
Yes it is, already processed my upgrade order, it's confirmed.

tcool93 said:I thought Costco used to have a lot longer return policy than 90 days for computers? I know SamsClub has a 6 month return policy for their computers.Costco used to have a very generous return policy, but was abused so they changed to 90 days last year for computers and electronics. They then also bumped up the warranty to 2 years on these items, so you get better coverage after the purchase - but nice return policy by Sam's.

Does this have a HDMI port?

I heard that the Windows 7 disk will come with both 32 and 64 bit versions. Anyone know if you will be able to upgrade to the 64 bit version from this 32 bit version of Vista. I heard that you can't upgrade a 32 bit version of Vista to a 64 bit version of Vista.

My current laptop is a HP Pavillion dv6000 with AMD Turion 64X2 TL-50 1.60 GHz and
NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150 video. Would this be much of an upgrade? I want to use it mostly for imaging, video and Microsoft Flight Simulator.