After your experience with Toshiba, would you recommend one to a friend?

Merely asking the same question that I'm asking the rest of the main sections.

Would you recommend one to a friend? Why?

For me, I most certainly would. My Qosmio has been nothing short of amazing for what I do. Games are fluid and the quality is well above what I could consider satisfactory.

 

Ya I would. Toshiba usually has some good niche laptops along with mainstream laptops: portege - extreme portability, Qosmio F750 Glasses FREE 3D, Qosmio - mainstream graphical computing, Satellite - general consumer grade, Tecra - business grade.

Other features I love: Harman/Kardon audio system!!!, USB sleep-and-charge, generally good bang for your buck.

I've generally regard Toshiba as a better quality brand [of course there's a few lemons, but many systems are fully functional out of the box]. Other brands are bit of a hit-n-miss. Both Toshiba laptops I've owned have had zero to minimal problems.

Customer Support is adequate, but can be improved. If it's not the same level as Dell [Next Business Day Onsite repair is included with all laptops], then it can be improved.

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As for me, my next laptop purchase [pending getting into grad school], will be the z835 portege. Extreme portability for a secondary laptop with a great price point and good features. Of course, I'll be upgrading to the 2 year, Onsite repair warranty for an extra $100.

 

Hmm, difficult to answer. Yes, I love my Qosmio. My Q893 is one mighty number above your measly Q892, and so is superior in every way imaginable.

However, that wouldn't make me recommend Toshiba's outright. If we're honest, the Qosmio X505 does have some issues; the left CPU fan can rattle (I've heard this sometimes, and sweated bullets), the hinges can creak and I wish Toshiba used more metal instead of plastic. Also, there's no Stereo Mix option; it's a feature I rarely use, but it's unacceptable that my 9yr old Satellite has it and the X505 doesn't. Also, I'd personally prefer the audio ports on the left side, but that's minor.

Having said all that (and bearing in mind all laptops have some issues), if someone found a nice X505-Q89x for a good price, I'd recommend it. AFAIK, it was the very last affordable 18.4" DTR, and the specs were/are astounding for the price (especially the $900 Amazon sale). However, if someone asked about a Satellite or the X775, I'd be alot more hesitant. The Satellite is fairly unremarkable, not bad but also nothing terribly good. The X775 I'd reject outright. It looks terrible. The screen is smaller and mediocre. Build quality is iffy at best. The chassis is too thin with only 1 fan, so it overheats very easily. WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING A GAMING LAPTOP IF IT BURNS DURING GAMING? That's like having a Ferrari that blows up if you touch the throttle! IMO, the X775 is a terrible successor to the X505.

So the answer is, it really depends. TBH, the low price of the Q893 was a real draw; it's tough to build a better desktop under $800-900. Above $1200 though, it's not hard at all and that'd be my honest recommendation if someone wanted a gaming machine. It's undeniable that you get alot more bang for your buck on the desktop side...

 

I bought a Toshiba laptop A200 back in '08. never had a lick of trouble with it. However, I bought a Dell 1545 two years ago and never had any problems with it either.
The Toshiba is alot sturdier than the Dell, but both do the job. My son was looking at a Toshiba laptop so I told him we have one that has been pretty solid so far.

 

I agree with mostly everything said here.

I would recommend my Qosmio model (also X505-Q893). I like the Porteges; actually, I'd love to have one. For the most part, I think Toshiba netbooks are above average. Very good keyboards. However, I wouldn't recommend one of those mainstream Satellites. I wouldn't say they are bad either; I just don't see anything that makes them stand out from the competition, except the fact that sometimes they are cheaper than the competition.

 

You mean aside from your apparent lack of a SSD?

 

Owned a Satellite L505 before getting my current laptop, and it worked great for the two years (give or take a month) that I've used it. Battery held its charge well over said period of time, the hardware itself is good for the price point ($430 for a Pentium T4200, 3GB DDR2, 320GB 5400RPM, GMA 4500), and it stood up well against reasonable abuse. Never had to call for support because it just worked (weirdly, I've had to call IBM for a new battery after my original one died at 7 months old...).

Only real negative to the Satellite series is the cheap display that they general use. Yet again, nobody can realistically expect 900p or 1080p in a sub-$500 *new* laptop, right?

 

Honestly speaking, I love my Satellite P305. It's been really reliable the whole time since I bought it new back in 2008. The only problem I had with it was the DVD drive; it started rattling while spin up. Toshiba replaced it but after a short while the problem repeated and it was evident that the fault solely lies with the drive and not the laptop. The thing I truly hate about my Satellite is the mousepad, the track area is way too small and the design is the worst I've seen and experienced. The pad is smooth and 'flushed' across the palmrest and 85% of the time I couldn't feel where I was tracking, and it is VERY hard to scroll vertically since there are no guides or feel to it. This made it VERY hard to use/navigate every time unless you look down (but then they've since improved on the trackpad). Ultimately, this was the reason which prompted me to purchase a new laptop, I was gonna buy another Satellite but couldn't stand the new design, so I ordered a Dell XPS 17. While the Dell is nice and all, I do miss the Toshiba brand and will certainly go back if they improve the design. I will never buy another Dell that's for sure. During the two months I've had it, the hardware has been nothing but a nightmare. There were at least 15 repairs and a new replacement laptop, not to mention the numerous phone calls to Dell in a 60-day span. The only thing good about Dell is that their customer service is top-notch, and they were able to send me the parts to work on the replacements myself! But at the end of the day, there is nothing like a reliable laptop where you spend more time playing with than on the phone with customer service.
Would I recommend the Toshiba brand to a friend? Most definitely and certainly!

 

So far it looks like there are several of you who would easily recommend a Toshiba. I generally try to promote Toshiba whenever I see someone looking to buy one. My dad was up between a Dell and a Toshiba. He eventually went with the Portege'. (I think that's what it's called. )

 

I got my first BSOD with the XPS 17 this morning! God, am I regretting BIG TIME!

 

LOL, my first old laptop still works, HP-Z4000. It's the new stuff that scares me. I love how my Qosimo runs but the plastics are gosh awfull.
I'm talking about quality, thickness, not looks.

My old E1705 had magnesium! cases, but first was DOA

I've noticed a sad down turn during the last three years except for a few.

 

I voted: Not sure.

This is because while I loved my Toshiba x200, (which unfortunately, the graphics card died last night and it is not worth replacing) there are a number of things that I am not happy with.

For starters, it really bugs me that one cannot customize a build if they are located in Canada. I mean for myself, I just was not impressed with the stock selections from Toshiba Canada. On the other hand, I helped my sister who lives in New York, find a Toshiba laptop because it was an exceptional price (error on page that Toshiba honoured) and it was great that they added a in home repair service option which she greatly needs.

I was also disappointed when I went to purchase a 9 cell battery as an upgrade from 6 cells, even though I bought it from Toshiba directly, it did not function with my computer. I tried with two batteries and bot didn't make contact so I gave up and bought another 6 cell.

Lately, I have also found that there are other reputable brands (e.g Asus, Sager) that markets similar specs for for cheaper with the option to customize.

That being said, I still will have fond memories of my monster of a computer with its huge size and adapter and aside from a failed harddrive and a dead graphics card which cannot be faulted to Toshiba, it ran great for around 5 years.

 

Graphics cards are the #1 killer for laptops, once it dies it brings the whole laptop along with it -- sort of like a fancy car with a very expensive 'dead' transmission, except with the car and hopefully you have a lot of $$$, it can still be saved.
The newer cards on today's laptops are 'optimized', at least from nVidia it is and supposedly only turns on when needed. I have a Dell XPS 17 and the card hardly comes on. It can also be set to function differently.

 

Hey, guys this wasn't only referring to the Qosmio line too.

Any other machines that you've used in the past would be nice to hear about too.