WHAT'S HOT: Dedicated multimedia buttons let you start a DVD movie or launch a music CD without first turning on the Toshiba Satellite 3005-S403 notebook. It also includes a SmartMedia card slot--great for directly loading digital photos, MP3 music files, PDA contact information, or other digital data from a SmartMedia -equipped device. A TV-out port and three USB ports (two more than most notebooks) round out the highlights. An NVidia GeForce2 Go graphics chip, the first mobile graphics chip with a graphics processing unit, is designed to offer better graphics and smoother game play.

WHAT'S NOT: The fuzzy-sounding built-in stereo speakers are disappointing for a notebook with so many other audio perks. The screen latch on our test unit was a little stubborn, and Toshiba offers no docking connection for this model.

WHAT ELSE: The 3005-S403 is a midsize black-and-silver laptop with one modular bay on the front. The bay accommodates the included floppy drive or the 6X DVD and 4X/4X/24XCD-RW combination drive, or another device (Toshiba sells a second hard drive and a supplementary battery). By inserting the included weightsaver module into the bay, you can reduce this Satellite's weight to 5.7 pounds. It's easy to reach this notebook's memory slots and hard drive, and we liked the super-quiet keyboard, though it did feel a bit spongy.

Two dedicated shortcut buttons make quick work of launching applications or files. Toshiba's signature mouse buttons--vertically stacked crescents made of a rubbery feeling material--are more comfortable to press than hard plastic, but the right button is a bit difficult to reach with one hand while keeping one finger on the eraserhead in the middle of the keyboard. Besides launching music or video, the notebook's audio controls, located in the screen hinge, can control volume and pause, reverse, stop, and eject discs. Battery life was a respectable 3 hours in our tests. A thick, thorough manual covers all the notebook's features.

The Satellite 3005-S403 turned in a score of 86 on our PC WorldBench 4 tests--about what we would expect from a Pentium-1000/700 notebook running Windows Me.

UPSHOT: Ready for work with a complete set of productivity applications or for entertainment with dedicated audio controls, the Toshiba Satellite 3005-S403 is a well-rounded laptop.

SUMMARY

Toshiba Satellite 3005-S403 PC WorldBench 4 score of 86, Pentium III-1000/700, 256MB of SDRAM, 256KB of L2 cache, Windows Millennium Edition, 14.1-inch active-matrix screen, NVidia Geforce2 Go with 16MB of DDR SDRAM memory, 30GB hard drive, 6X DVD4X/4X/24XCD-RW multifunction drive, built-in V.90 modem and network connections, eraserhead pointing device, 7.7-pound weight (including internal, removable floppy drive, AC adapter, and phone cord), Lotus SmartSuite Millenium Edition. One-year parts and labor warranty; free, unlimited, 24-hour toll-free tech support. $2199 800/867-4422 www.csd.toshiba.com