Notebook Hunter

Good bargains are to be expected in end of financial year sales, but for only $1,495 the 3rd Gen Intel Core equipped 17.3in Toshiba Satellite P870/027 is ridiculously good value for money. In addition to the powerful 3rd Gen Intel Core i7 processor there’s an enormous 16GB of RAM, which allows for very intensive multi-tasking. The gigantic 17.3in screen is also full HD, so Blu-ray movies played through the Blu-ray burner will be at their native resolution.

There’s also a generous 1,500GB of hard disk drive space, so you can burn Blu-ray discs knowing you’ll have space to spare. This generous amount of storage will also be useful with the TV tuner, as it provides plenty of room for recorded TV content. Suffice it to say you’re getting a powerful and versatile desktop replacement for your money.

It’s worth noting that while Dick Smith’s website says the P870 has a 3D screen, this is not correct. However, the P870 can output content to an external 3D screen via the HDMI port.

See the special online here.

See a summary of the specs below.

Processor
The P870 features a 3rd Gen Intel Core i7-3610QM (2.3GHz), a new high-end processor that’s roughly 15% faster than equivalent 2nd Gen Intel Core i7s. In addition to being powerful it has better power management, allowing for longer usage between recharges.

Graphics
It comes with a mid-range dedicated graphics card called the NVIDIA GeForce GT 630M. It’s a reasonably powerful mid-range component that should have no problems with modern games.

RAM
16GB of RAM allows for multi-tasking with exceptionally demanding software. It’s also more than enough for just about any image or video editing tasks.

Storage
1,500GB of hard disk drive storage is enormous, and can store heaps of media content including burnt Blu-ray movies.

Screen
The P870 sports a 17.3in (1,920 x 1,080 resolution) gloss screen. This is the native resolution of Blu-ray movies, so they’ll be shown in their full glory.

Portability
The P870 isn’t really very portable, because it weighs 2.99kg and is 33.7mm thick. This will likely live on a desk and only move around if absolutely necessary.

Other Features
The P870 has a Blu-ray burner, which allows it to play Blu-ray movies or rip them to the P870’s storage. It also has a TV tuner, which makes it possible to watch live TV on the P870and also to record live TV to the P870’s storage.