OT: Toshiba laptops - reliability and build quality

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Thu, Aug 30, 2007 at 09:40:23AM -0700, asdf wrote:
> (off-topic posting... regarding laptops)
> 
> Anyone on this list have experience with Toshiba laptops (the Satellite A200 series
> in particular)? Care to comment on your experience with them esp. regarding
> reliability and overall build quality?
> 
> There's a particular Toshiba Satellite model on sale at Future Shop at the moment
> that appears to be a good deal:
> 
> Toshiba Core2 Duo T5300 1.73GHz Laptop (A200-AH9)
> http://tinyurl.com/26tt75

Well intel CPU and chipset gives decent chance of Linux support.  2GB
ram is nice.  200GB HD is impresive for a laptop.  15.4" 1280x800 is
quite common.  2.72kg is rather good for something with a 15.4" screen
and a claimed 4 hour battery life.  All for $1000 is actually a pretty
good deal by the looks of it.  It also appears to be out of stock at
most futureshop locations (although not all).

> However, when I was in a Future Shop store close to where I live in Toronto I
> happened to ask one of the sales associates about the reliability of Toshiba
> laptops. In response, the SA took me inside the service/repair area of the store and
> I was shocked to see something like 7 or 8 Toshiba laptops in there for various
> repair issues. The only other brands I saw in there were HP.
> 
> The problem is that I am stuck with Future Shop gift certificates and need to get a
> laptop. And only the above Toshiba model sports a Core 2 Duo processor which is what
> I want to get.
> 
> So, I'd like to hear about other TLUGers experiences (good and bad) with Toshiba
> laptops.

Well I have in the past gotten a Compaq (HP) laptop at FutureShop.  From
it I have learned that consumer laptops from brand names are pretty much
junk and I will never buy another one.

My wife's current laptop is an Asus R1F-K018E which is way better build
quality than the Compaq, and not that much more expensive.  The warrenty
is better too than the Compaq and I don't think the power connector is
likely to fail on the Asus either since it actually looks solid while
the Compaq looked flimpsy (and it was).  Nothing is built quite like a
Thinkpad, but they cost a lost more (probably double of the Asus for
anything close to equivalant).

My only experience with Toshiba was a number of years ago, and the
problem was that they had invented their own pcmcia controller that
Linux didn't like.  I was not impressed, but it wasn't my laptop I was
just helping out. :)  On the other hand the Toshiba can't possibly be
worse than the HP/Compaq models in quality.  If you expect it to last
more than 2 to 3 years, you should probably go buy something meant for
business users instead, or maybe a Mac.

--
Len Sorensen
--
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