Looking for a laptop that will last

I have owned several laptops over the years (no Toshibas) and none have lasted over 3 years most about 2 years. I am looking at Toshiba - Satellite Laptop Model: P505-S8980 | SKU: 9553949 18.4 screen. Do you Toshiba owners think i will do better with a Toshiba and espedially the one i listed above?

 

Honestly, this is my very first Toshiba (Qosmio Q850) and could not answer about it's reliability. THis is why I bought an Alienware as well - in case this one breaks down during my work.

Previous to this, I was using Compaq Presario V3000 bought 2006 Sep and still running welll todate. however, it wont accept CD and battery anymore - the circuitry to these are dead.


If you are looking for 3 years down the road, I suggest getting a laptop with CP that will go that far - ie, dont buy a low end CPU which will obviously become obsolete in 1 years time. The Compaq i bought last 2006 was high end at that time - but became low end in just 3 months time.

One thing for sure. DO NOT GET ACER. I got 3 of these and they break down faster than my toddler's toys.

However, user care is also a part of the equation. Take care of it and it will go the length.

 

What happened to your previous laptop?

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 that is 5 years old and still works great, even on its original battery and original installation of XP. It isn't used everyday, but a couple of times a week.
My daughter has a slightly newer Dell that is 3.5 years old. It works well but I had to buy her a new battery a year ago and reinstall the OS last summer to clear off a lot of the junk and restore its speed.

I have a new Toshiba myself and it works well but seems about average in construction. I bought it for travel, not heavy use. I read a survey the results of which claimed Toshiba has the fewest problems, so I bought one for my daughter also but it came out of the box with a defective keyboard. Just goes to show that any manufacturer can have problems.

If you want a machine that you can count on for long life in hard use, you should buy a business class machine. Most of the big manufacturers make them. I have a Dell E6500 that I bought for work a year ago and it is definitely made better than average. Unfortunately you can buy 2 or 3 consumer class machines for what a business class machine costs, so if your consumer class machines are only lasting 2 years that isn't all that bad from an economic standpoint.

 

If you need a laptop that you can take with you on a regular basis, toss it in a bag and lug around... in other words a laptop that can take some moderate abuse without the premium price of most business class ones, look at the 14" "R" series from Lenovo and make sure you grab one of the regularly available 15-20% coupons before you buy...

 

No one has mentioned apple. Are these things overrated. I know you can buy 2 or 3 pcs for what you have to give for one macbook. Yet some people sware by them. I would hate to pay $1500 up and it not last 2 years. I have to admit they turn me on and I would buy one if I could get a decent life from one

 

I agree with the other comments that a business class notebook will fare better in the overall reliability column.

The last personal laptop that I bought was an eMachines from six years ago. That was before manufactures differentiated greatly between consumer and business laptops. Now days, consumer laptops seem to focus more on the color and texture of the case, trim, fancy lights, etc. to create a fashion statement than they do durability. I’m not a fan of the glossy case and screen look at all, but I’m also not going to pay a premium for a business class machine that may have lesser overall technical specs for a system that rarely leaves my house.

Whatever you decide on, you may want to read about people’s experience with the model or series you decide on as time goes on. That eMachines I have had a chronic problem of overheating if you didn’t partially disassemble it and clean a heat exchanger. I got six years out of it I think largely because I read about this before it became a significant problem and did the disassembly work myself every couple years. Preventative maintenance goes a long ways.

A positive thing about getting a larger laptop is that the components are more spread out and can be somewhat less likely to have heat related problems than a smaller compact unit. Unless you need it for gaming or other reasons, *not* having a GPU can be another positive thing in overall longevity, due to less heat being generated. I initially wanted a system with one, but argued myself out of it when I realized that I never use my system for anything that requires not (I’m not into gaming at all!).

I bought a custom version of the model you are looking at. I saw this model in Best Buy, but wanted a backlit keyboard in the worse way, so I customized it from ToshibaDirect. The build quality is good enough, but I still think it’s a notch or two below notebooks of yesteryear. Other than one cooling system error I received on it about 1.5 weeks ago that I’m speculating may have been a firmware glitch ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=450027), I haven’t had any concerning problems with the similar P500 18.4 inch model I got two months ago.

 

Business class laptops, and high-end ones will last much longer than inexpensive ones. You also get better support if something breaks on them. For our business, I bought three dell laptops, and all 3 of them are still in service after 3 years with no faults. 1 was the XPS mentioned in my sig, one was a high end Inspiron, and the other was a high end Latitude.

You get what you pay for, but you also must buy for the person who uses it. The latitude user is rather rough on it, and it is fine. The Inspiron user has never had it leave his desk. I'm in between - mine goes in a bag on occasion, get's used extensively - but always on a flat surface with ventilation. The latitude user is as likely to fire it up and use it in a bar as they are to put it in it's case and bang it around forgetfully.

Business class models tend not to be as powerful in terms of hardware, but they tend to be more hardy. It all depends on your user.

 

I agree with Aerows on his comment "You get what you pay for, but you also must buy for the person who uses it."

Personal Care and Usage is a big factor: if you are rugged, get a rugged machine. If you are gentle and the machine almost never leaves the desk, a cheaper one will do.

In my opinion:
For Home: 13" up to 18" Bigger is better, weight does not matter
For Work: 13" up to 18" Bigger is better, weight does not matter
For Travel: 15" down to 11" Small size makes it easy in a bag. Too big and its too heavy to carry around.
** Though I have a heavy 9 pounder Q850 (or Alienware M15x), i still prefer bringing these on my backpack than my old small screener 13" Compaq. I dont mind the weight; its the price to pay for a failing eyesight.

I believe Apples are built with Quality & Durability - its got a good aluminum case as against plastics on most notebooks. Metal is stonger than plastics but all the same breaks down when they fall on the ground from 10 feet though... I personally would LOVE to buy an Apple (MBP 17") but the lower CPU in these made me think twice. Considering you want a laptop that will last (2-3-4 years?), the CPU in these apples will rot however by that time.

 

I've had 3 Toshibas over the past 6 years. All of them have lasted me over 2 and a half years with out a problem. My p25 from 2003/2004 is still running strong with the damage being my fault. My R15 from 2004/2005 died out in early 2009. My portege m400 from 2007 is dying but not dead due to a defective motherboard that is found across the line.

Overall the quality of Toshiba laptops are high in my book. I would recommend getting a good warranty since the processors and boards are relatively new if you do go with Toshiba.

Like the others have said, the business oriented notebooks are definitely better at handling wear and tear than their consumer counterparts. Aside fro m the physical aspects the customer support is usually a magnitude better.

Would highly recommend the tecra and portege series from Toshiba, the pro and elite book from HP, and the T, W and R series from Lenovo.