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Toshiba laptop opinions?

Do any of you folks have Toshiba laptops? Specifically Tecras, although I’m open to any comments, really.

I’d like to pick up a laptop for school instead of using my work laptop for both. I’m after something close to what I’ve got now, a Dell D600: business-class rather than home, Centrino somewhere in the 1.6GHz range, trackpoint, SXGA or better screen (not 1024×768). I know that Dell Latitudes and Thinkpad’s T-series comes in where I want it, but the third major player in refurb off-lease laptops around here is Toshiba which I know little about.

Basically, if you’ve had a recent one, let me know what you thought of it! And if you’ve had one and you’ve had a Latitude or Thinkpad, let me know how they compare. And if you happen to know the difference between the M-series and S-series that’d be useful too, since I can’t seem to find out anywhere else.

I did have Toshiba laptops in the past, but I don’t think I could base my opinions on a T1000 or T5100!

Rich

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12 responses to “Toshiba laptop opinions?”

  1. I’ve gone through three Toshibas now. Enough, enough, enough.

    Toshiba is Japanese for “get a spare”.

    Might I suggest a Panasonic ToughBook? Same size and firepower, but 3lb instead of 8lb.

  2. Stay the fuck away. Well, just buy the super-expensive next-day-on-site warranty. Really. My R100 is still running, but is on its third motherboard, second display, third keybooard and third AC adaptor. The disk and housing are still original ;)

  3. Well, I’ve already made my comments to you on Toshibas, but just for the record, I really like the Satellite I have now. Totally not the same as the Tecra, but I like it. It’s solid (and heavy, but to be expected with a big widescreen laptop) and I’ve never had a problem with it.

    Apart from the previously-mentioned heat issue. :)

  4. I’ve got a Toshiba Satelitte P35-S605, and I’ve been pretty happy with it – only problem has been the DVD drive crapped out, but that wasn’t a bad fix.

  5. I ordered several Toshiba laptops at a previous job (2.5 years ago or so) and they all had hardware issues. Seriously. All 6 or 7 of them, all slightly different problems.

  6. Toshibas are one of the favoured brands here in Vanuatu and the Solomons. So if the ability to survive tropical heat, earthquakes, microscopic ants, humidity, bad power and centipedes is any metric, then by all means go for it. 8^)

  7. I had a Tecra Pro back when 600MHz was fast and 800MHz was the top of the line. Aside from the PowerBook I have now, it was the best darn laptop I had. Linux loved it, including the normally difficult things like video and wireless. I had the snazzy on-site warranty (it was about $300 extra, as I recall), but only had to use it once, for a hard drive issue, and the repair guy basically replaced everything else that he could, just in case. By comparison, I had a ThinkPad T-something as a work laptop at about the same time, and kept blowing through hard drives and motherboards. The PowerBook’s backlight power transformer blew out about a year ago (after 2.9 years of use), and should have been easily replaced (again: extended warranty), but they had a parts shortage that was going to last an unknown amount of time, so they gave me a new laptop (a 1.6GHz for the 1.0GHz I originally brought in.) I’ve never had a Dell (laptop or otherwise), but do know that their desktops are very modular and quite easy to work on.

  8. the newer toshiba models like tecra a8 and satellite pro a120 (i think) are definitely worth considering. not only does toshiba claim that they have much better quality and durability, but they are backing it up in many countries with a moneyback guarantee. you get your moneyback and can keep the laptop.

  10. Faried: Because the thing about spending $500 on a refurb laptop is that you’re going to get something obsolete. Of the options, I want Centrino and not P4M, which in that era was hot and battery-hungry.

  12. iv had sooooooo meny computers but they all gotten problem after the first 5 months but i had my tashiba for over 8 months with no probs, so tgake thes cookies