US and UK Toshiba Satellite Blu-ray Laptops Compared

Now they've started, they just can't stop!  A couple of months back we took a look at the ultra high-spec, Blu-ray equipped Toshiba X500 laptop which has now been joined by the Satellite P500 laptop.  Also sporting a Blu-ray drive, the P500 was first spotted at the IFA show, but has now been priced and is ready for sale.  If you're interested in a sensibly priced Blu-ray laptop, here's what you need to know:

The P-series differs slightly based on whether you're buying it in the UK or the USA.  In the USA, the model you'll want is the P505-S8980, but in the UK, it's the P500-12F.  While they both share the same drive, 18.4" screen - which only displays a 1680x945 resolution, so no 1080p fun here - 500GB hard drive, SP/DIF and HDMI sockets and built-in Wi-Fi, they do differ in several other key areas. 

The processor inside the P505 is Intel's Core 2 Duo T6600 and although the speed doesn't seem to be clearly stated anywhere, it's likely to be 2.2Ghz, but in the P500, it's the 2.53Ghz P8700 Intel Core 2 Duo processor.  Leveling the performance out is the P505's 6GB of RAM playing the P500's 4GB, but probably most significant alteration is the Intel 4500MHD graphics card used inside the P505, with the P500 getting the NVIDIA GeForce GT 230M.  They both use Windows 7 as their OS.

Finally, the pricing.  We've described and compared the two Blu-ray off-the-shelf models and one would expect them to be relatively similar when it comes to cost, but the P505 will cost you $1019 and the P500 £999, making the US model £400/$660 cheaper than its UK counterpart.  Pricing aside, these are two good laptops ready to bring HD pictures into your home either on their own screens or your HDTV.