Do Toshibas really suck as bad as they say?

I am a professional photographer who has owned a
Toshiba Satellite A45-S1202 for almost three years and it's been a decent laptop except it's too slow for photo processing and at 7.7 pounds, a little too heavy considering I tend to carry more than 20 pounds in photo gear with me when I travel.

So now I'm in the market for a new laptop, something I will use when I travel or when I am on a tight deadline and don't have time to rush home and process the images.

I am considering the Toshiba Satellite U205-S5067, but I've been hearing and reading a lot of people saying that Toshiba does not produce quality laptops like they used to.

Still, for the price, size and hardware, I haven't been able to find something better than this computer.

At 12.1", it would be perfect for a new camera/laptop bag I'm planning on buying. And with a Core 2 Dual processor, it should be good for using Adobe Photoshop CS2.

But I'm worried that it may be too good to be true and I'll end up regretting the day that I bought it.

What do you guys say?

 

Have you considered the XPS M1210 ? it's rather expensive, but souns much more suited to your needs, ans without the problems of a toshiba.

 

The problem has more to do with the budget Toshiba notebooks, really. They aren't really as well-made as Toshibas used to be, but then again, at $599 or whatever, it's hard to expect much.

The U205 should be fine though. It essentially has the same chassis and internal hardware as the Tecra M6, which is business-class. It's very durable generally, and a pretty solid little machine.

If you look for the reviews of the U205, they are almost overwhelmingly positive. I think the only real negative I've seen is the supertiny trackpad, but I imagine you'll be using an external mouse anyway (I can't even imagine doing anything with photoshop with the trackpad of the U205).

Have you had a chance to use one in person? My only concern would be that using Photoshop, etc. could be kind of difficult. The screen is excellent, but still kind of small.

 

I got a nice customized M45 <$1000 for me and I'm happy with it.

 

we are waiting for delivery from toshibadirect of the u205. at 4.1 or so pounds they arent alot of options that dont cost hundreds more....with the t7200, 2 mb ram, 160 gb hd,bluetooth and vista ultimate is come to about 1900 including tax and delivery and a free printer from toshiba direct. the equivalent sony sz and lenovos were at least $500 more and the dell xps1210 comes to over 2100 without the printer....the build in the stores seemed pretty solid...and my current 2 year toshiba p15 has held up pretty well....

 

In my opinion, no they certainly do not, and I have no idea what everyone else is smoking, I think their built just fine, I've tried them in stores and they are built just as well as the other notebooks by mainstream companies such as Gateway, HP, etc. I had a Toshiba M55 and it was very solid despite a review on this website suggesting quite the contrary, it was noticeably better built than the HP DV1000 series for instance.

I do not see what all the complaining is about, I myself would certainly not count Toshiba out if I was looking for a laptop and I am looking at buying perhaps the U205 as well.

 

well, IMO it depends on the cost of your notebook. if it is a budget series of the line of course you can expect less than perfect build quality and you might have problems here and there throughout your ownership.

if you're buying the more expensive one, (eg. the business line tecra or the media center behemot Qosmio)

i think toshiba is having this image because it wants to catter to a wider range of user/buyer. you can see that toshiba actually introducing cheaper and cheaper model. and of course by introducing budget notebook will hurt its brand image.

think of it as 1-series BMW or if you're a merc fellow; the A-class.

 

First what's with the troll post?

Second, have you tried to post process anything on a 12.1" screen? That's pretty small, and on a high res photo, you might be wishing for more.

I think you are going to find that 12.1" laptops are also going to be limited a little more in preformance do to heat issues.

You should be able to walk into any Best Buy, Circuit City, Staples, or Office Depot and try out a Toshiba for yourself. I have a 5 year old Toshiba 5105-s501 and a my brand new A130. Both are 15" laptops, the 5105 was about $1700 and the new A130 was $1200. The keyboard on the newer machine has a bit more flex than the old laptop. The older laptop has a higher screen resolution. If I would hve spent another $500 this time around, I have no doubt I would be in a better class notebook.

I also work in the IT Dept for a large company. I have 3 different brands of laptops spanning the last 3 years in my office right now. If I've learned anything it's a toss up as to who makes a better machine. One month Dell's putting in a crappy keyboard, the next month the HP's port placement is a little annoying. Right now we are getting some nice PC's from Dell, and I like my new Toshiba, but 2 months ago I was looking pretty hard at HP. Find the features you need. Try out the machine if possible. Most of the machines you are going to look at are made out of the same parts anyway.

 

My experience with the M55 is quite to the contrary. My old M55 is built very poorly. The palmrest scratches and fades easily. The top assembly and bottom panels creak when you pick it up. The keyboard is noisy and flexes a lot. I understand the newer M100 and Tecra A6 range which replaces this model no longer exhibit such poor built, but they're still not as solid as the newer lines of HP notebooks. The true Toshiba (Tecra M & Qosmio) models are very well-built, so this usually applies to certain models manufactured by certain ODMs.

 

Toshiba doesn't suck IMO. Sure some of their budget lineups are not amazing -- and have their share of problems. But my M45 has been my buddy for a long time and love it a lot. The keyboard has a great feeling and the battery lasts around 2 hours even after over a year of daily use.

 

I don't have any of those problems with my M-55. It's still my baby. :wink:

 

You could be lucky or you got it later than me or the reviewer here did (because later revisions have since improved). I got it when it first came out and I agree with everything the reviewer mentioned because it was that bad. Either way, for the price, I don't have much to complain.

 

I've had it for 14 months now. When did you get yours?

 

when people are talking about budge toshiba notebook, are they talking about a specific price range or what? i'm thinking of getting a a135-s4467

 

Generally the budget Toshiba notebooks people are talking about are the ones in the $599-999 range (perhaps a little higher, but not much).

 

I work in a retailer that sells HP, Toshiba, Compaq, and lately Lenovo. Ever since Toshiba starts making notebook that could be sold for less than $600, the quality of the notebook has gone down ever since. Customers may be delighted to buy a $600 notebook because for that price and the size of the notebook, you get 1GB of RAM, 120GB HD, 15.4 screen and Vista Home Premium. The CPU of course is a Celeron M, which is ok for daily internet/office work.

However, I couldn't comment on these A100s because their build quality is questionable. The LCD screen itself is unevenly lit (like who cares...), the hinches are plastics and wobbly. The plastic on the housing feels flex and not too solid. Even Sony who is known to make flismy notebooks feels better.

The smaller Toshiba Portege are much better in terms of built quality, but of course they are on a different price level.

Comparing with all the brands I sell, I personally prefer Lenovo, then HP. Although Lenovo is plain boring, but it still has the quality into everything. HP just has all those bloatware installed, but everything is decent. Compaq is the least I will choose to buy, but for the money, I will choose Compaq over Toshiba.