Toshiba Satellite

[linuxwannabe]

I'm looking for a average joe laptop for my wife and saw the Office Depot ad for the Toshiba Satellite® Notebook Computer with Intel® Pentium® dual-core processor T2080

15.4" TRUBRITE? WIDESCREEN
Enjoy quick system response with 2048MB of memory
? 2048MB DDR2 memory
? 160GB hard drive
? Reads and writes DVDs & CDs via Double Layer drive
? Microsoft® Windows Vista? Home Premium Edition
? Integrated 802.11b/g wireless LAN


$699.99 AR

I read about the HP and Dell laptops but I haven't heard much about the Toshiba laptops. Any comments on this? Or comments on a choice in the 700-900 range?

thanks.

 

[VinDSL]

I bought a Toshiba Satellite A215 (configed the same as you described, except with an AMD Turion 64 X2) two days ago and I'm V happy with it so far - no buyer's remorse, et cetera.

And, yes, I would consider it a "average joe laptop"... but that's what I was looking for (too)!

To tell you the truth, while I was running around checking out laptops, I never considered buying a Toshiba, however, when I played around with this A215, I thought to myself, "That's the one!" Sure, it's an average type of machine, but very well built, thin, and classy looking!!! Really, it looks more expensive than it is. Pictures don't do it justice!

I got mine on Saturday for $699.99 at Circuit City, with no rebate. Today it's $929.99 at CC and $999.99 at Best Buys. Maybe that's why it looked more expensive than it was!

On the Toshiba web site, they describe it as: "Extreme mobility meets exceptional design". I guess that says it all...

Toshiba has enjoyed a good rep for years! They're just klnd of... um... average... so I *guess* ppl don't get too excited about them these days.

It's like bragging you drive a Chevy...

 

[slugg]

A while back, Toshiba used a lot of 4200 RPM hard drives. If they still do, I wouldn't recommend it. Might want to think about battery life, too. Be sure to research that. Also, try to see one in person before you buy it. Sometimes there will be a great machine EXCEPT for something small but crucial, such as a poor keyboard layout. Check to see how hot it gets, too.

Other than that, I don't know enough about Toshibas to comment any further. Unfortunately, I haven't been keeping up with any laptops under $1000 either, so I can't suggest another cheap laptop. If you want to stretch to $1000, I'd recommend an Apple Macbook. I don't know a single person who is NOT happy with their Macbook

Good luck

 

[linuxwannabe]

Originally posted by: slugg
A while back, Toshiba used a lot of 4200 RPM hard drives.

Thanks for the heads-up. I checked Toshiba's website and they show the HD to be a 5400 rpm drive.
Model A135-S4727
I'll get by there tomorrow and let the wife handle it. I like the advice to get the hands on one.

 

[TheStu]

Two of my classmates have Toshiba Satellites, and although they are fairly decent machines, I was not terribly impressed with the build quality. Both of them had problems with the keys coming off after just 1 year of use. One of the two of them had further problems such as a squeky hinge, additional keys either not responding or falling off, and a busted power connector.

I personally do not like the keyboards or the trackpads on the Satellites. The keys feel too cheap, and the trackpad too small.

 

[VinDSL]

I was playing around with a A135 yesterday at BB. It was very nice too!

Actually, I was looking for a 'sleeve' (carrying case/bag) so I can stick this beauty in my brief case without scratching it up, and a wireless notebook mouse (guess I'll go with a Microsoft mouse, even though I'm partial to Logitech).

The A215 is positioned by Toshiba to be a multimedia machine - not sure about the A135 - so it's got a 160GB 5400 RPM drive, glossy screen, nice speakers, 5-in-1 card reader, and so forth.

Speaking of wives, my wife loves the fact that this machine has full-sized keys, and they're NOT black, so typing is a breeze even in a dimly lit room.

One the greatest thing about this Toshiba is everything is easily accessible via removable panels on the bottom of the case, like the battery (duh), RAM, and HD, so if you want to upgrade anything, all it takes is a small screwdriver. Supposedly, you can stick a new SATA drive in this thing in under 10 minutes, even if you're technologically challenged, so I wouldn't let the speed (or lack thereof) stop you!

Anyway, happy hunting!

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: TheStu
Two of my classmates have Toshiba Satellites, and although they are fairly decent machines, I was not terribly impressed with the build quality. Both of them had problems with the keys coming off after just 1 year of use.

Funny you should mention that!

That was one of the things I was looking for (keys popping off) when I was shopping. I figured if it's gonna happen anywhere, it'll be on display models with unruly kids pounding on them - and I saw plenty of broken keys, but mostly on cheapo low-end units - although I saw a few Lenovo/IBM notebooks with 'teeth' missing. Really!

I might also mention that laptops are a moving target, no pun intended. Manufacturers are constantly coming out with new improved models, so what happened last year or 5 years ago won't necessarily happen tomorrow...

As I said in an earlier post, I think the "build quality" in ALL lappys/notebooks suck, especially the crappy connectors - and there's NO getting around this, unless you want to spend $4000 on a military spec laptop, like a Panasonic Tough Book. Personally, for a $3300 difference in price, I'll take my chances with a discount model!

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
I was playing around with a A135 yesterday at BB. It was very nice too!

Actually, I was looking for a 'sleeve' (carrying case/bag) so I can stick this beauty in my brief case without scratching it up, and a wireless notebook mouse (guess I'll go with a Microsoft mouse, even though I'm partial to Logitech).

The A215 is positioned by Toshiba to be a multimedia machine - not sure about the A135 - so it's got a 160GB 5400 RPM drive, glossy screen, nice speakers, 5-in-1 card reader, and so forth.

Speaking of wives, my wife loves the fact that this machine has full-sized keys, and they're NOT black, so typing is a breeze even in a dimly lit room.

One the greatest thing about this Toshiba is everything is easily accessible via removable panels on the bottom of the case, like the battery (duh), RAM, and HD, so if you want to upgrade anything, all it takes is a small screwdriver. Supposedly, you can stick a new SATA drive in this thing in under 10 minutes, even if you're technologically challenged, so I wouldn't let the speed (or lack thereof) stop you!

Anyway, happy hunting!

The only machines I know of off hand that do not have the RAM and HDD that easily accessible are the MacBook and MacBook Pro. On my MacBook, i pull the battery and remove 3 screws, that gains me access to the RAM and HDD. On the MacBook Pro, you remove the battery and 3 screws to get at the RAM. You then remove an additional 12-15 screws, the keyboard, and move some wires to get to the HDD... not exactly user friendly

I second the recommendation to going to the store to check out the machine personally. Play with it for a while, type up a few sentences to get a feel for the keyboard, play minesweeper to get a feel for the trackpad, see if there is a video you can watch (maybe bring in a DVD) to see how the screen looks, surf the web and open a lot of applications to see how it handles multi-tasking. These are all things I did when i was hunting for my laptop last summer and that is what led me to getting my MacBook. It has IMO, the best trackpad and keyboard of any machine out there (something sort of important if you plan on using the laptop as a mobile computer) the screen is gorgeous, and it multitasks well. The speakers are fairly quiet, but decent sound quality.

 

[linuxwannabe]

Well, I went to Office Depot and got my hands on that toshiba. It had a nice keyboard and overall feel. I also spied a big honkin HP widescreen with a AMD processor for $900 or something. I could be happy with the Toshiba if I got it. I want to look more at the HP units. thanks for all the input.

<EDIT> I think this is the HP

(mouse pad off-center, wierdness IMO)

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: TheStu
I second the recommendation to going to the store to check out the machine personally...

Play with it for a while, type up a few sentences to get a feel for the keyboard, play minesweeper to get a feel for the trackpad, see if there is a video you can watch (maybe bring in a DVD) to see how the screen looks...

There's one thing I should mention in this regard...

As I said, Toshiba has positioned the A215 as a multimedia machine, so it comes with a very bright (and glossy) TruBrite® panel. They did this so your digital pics, videos, DVD movies, et cetera would really pop out at you!

In the store it didn't look all that bright to me - and I know a lot of ppl complain about glossy panels, so the jury was out, so to speak. The salesman told me these displays don't look very good in stores because of the bright color-corrected fluorescent lights that they use in the computer area. If you'll notice, in the TV area of these stores, it's so dark you can't see the controls, but they got the laptop area lit up like you're on the surface of the sun.

When I got my lappy home, I had to turn the brightness down to 3 (out of 7) 'cause I was getting a headache, it was so bright. The speaker quality/volume sounded much better at home too!

So, take this B&M shopping experience with a grain of salt!

 

[VinDSL]

Originally posted by: linuxwannabe
Well, I went to Office Depot and got my hands on that toshiba. It had a nice keyboard and overall feel. I also spied a big honkin HP widescreen with a AMD processor for $900 or something. I could be happy with the Toshiba if I got it. I want to look more at the HP units. thanks for all the input.

Now, for a word of warning...

I was looking for a keyboard/mouse combo at PC Club about a week ago (for my bosses' desktop). The place was dead, so I took the opportunity to ask the service rep about Acer laptops - if they were any good, yada, yada.

He said, Acers were okay - nothing special - they weren't any better or any worse than anything else, et cetera. However, unsolicted, he added, "Speaking as a tech, we see HPs in here more than anything!" And, he left it at that...

I asked the salesman at CC about this. He said there are a LOT of HPs out there, so PC Club might see more of these in for repairs simply because there's so many of them floating around.

Anyway, take it for what it's worth...

 

[VinDSL]

Um...

Sorry if I'm getting carried away, but you DID ask about Toshiba Satellites!

 

[linuxwannabe]

Originally posted by: VinDSL
Um...

Sorry if I'm getting carried away, but you DID ask about Toshiba Satellites!

You're doing a fine job, thanks.