Opinions needed on Toshiba Satellite M55 (new)

Hi all,
I'm looking at purchasing the new Toshiba Satellite M55-325 laptop (P-M model) and am looking for pros and cons that any of the gurus out there can offer (particularly any cons). CompUSA has it right now with $200 in rebates bringing the price down to $1199.

I've looked at the HP DV1000 and was generally impressed, but in person I found that it just runs too hot and the Asus W3V is just a bit too much for me to afford.

Thanks in advance for everyone's help.
Smudge

 

Toshiba's aren't really preferred right now, as their Satellite model's are poorly made, and their Customer Service isn't spectacular either.

The DV1000 is a great choice though.

What are you uses for the notebook, as well as budget?

 

I mostly sit my current (old) one (14") in the living room surfing the internet and working which consists mainly of MS Office and internet taskes. I'll be doing some CD and DVD burning so I need a reasonably large HD. If I have a laptop with a battery that works I imagine taking it with me to the coffee shop or local BW3, but the current laptop just isn't up to it. Because I sit with it on my lap I'm very sensitive to the heat on the base of the laptop. The DV1000's I have seen have really impresed me, but just sitting on the shelf at the local big boxes they get burning hot on the bottom. I can only imagine what they would be like if I actually got the CPU working

 

I'm actually thinking about buying one of these two laptops - Toshiba M55-S325 and HP dv1000.

I'll be using it for light Music/Video applications (no gaming though), normal internet stuff, and some Office/Business type applications for grad school.

I can't stand the keyboard on the hp's though, they seem very noisy and feel cheap to me. Apart from that I really like the dv1000.

The Toshiba looks good, but I'll be carrying mine around A LOT, and poor construction would not be good at all.

Any other thoughts?

 

I recently purchased a Satellite M45 and I love it. I did some serious research as this was my first laptop. I actually bought the HP DV1000 brother the Compaq V2000. It was nice looking and felt pretty good, but while the screen was nice looking the resolution for text was never great, always had to angle the screen back. I do not like the look of the HP DV1000, the kepyboard is all black and there are a ton of back lit buttons everywhere, looks and feels kind of cheap and too busy.

The Toshiba Satellite M45 is beauty with simplicity and quiality construction. The screen is just amazing visually. I also love the fact that the volume is a dial on the front, so at night it's easy to use, none of this 2 button process. Of course it get's warm but I have this thing on my lap for a long time and it's nothing to complain about. They all get warm.

Ok, my only complaint....the battery life. I have yet to do gaming and so it's basic email, online surfing, some Word, etc. I have yet to get more than 2.5 hours out of it. Of course the boys at Circuit City say 'what, should be at least 4-5 hours!' Well, that's what Intel tells the world about Centrino. I called TOshiba and they said the printed specs for that laptop and battery are 2 hours and 45 minutes. What a joke. What's the point of a laptop then?! I must admit, it's too late to return and I still love everything about it.

So now there is the M55. What a great addition to the line up. It is almost identical to the M45 but has a 14" vs. 15'4" widescreen and 100GB vs. 80GB harddrive AND has double layer DVD burner vs. single layer. This is of course for the Centrino model. I have checked it out and love it. Just wondereing what the battery life will be like. I will probably get it because it has the bigger harddrive, lighter and most important, double layer DVD burner. ALl this improvement for only $100 more than the M45. Anyone interested in an M45 in perfect condition?!

 

Well I just broke down and bought the M55 from Compusa today. My wife makes fun of me because I've been researching this almost endlessly, but the 200.00 in rebates were too good to pass up and one of them ends after tomorrow. I'm still opening and charging it right now, but I'll be adding posts and eventually a review as I give it the 'ol test run. Wish me luck.

 

Good luck! Please tell us about it when you are done messing around with it. I'm also the type of guy to research things like laptops endlessly, I can never decide, afraid of making a bad purchase.

 

After evaluating the laptop for a few days I hate to say it's going back. I never thought I've end up returning it when I bought it, but now I understand what peoplke mean when they talk about Toshiba quality going downhill. I suppose I had to find out the hard way. The CTRL key is slanted at about a 45 degree angle to the rest of the keyboard and the keyboard in general is terrible. Don't get me wrong, there are some real nice features to it, but it is definitely a cheap build. I'll be posting a review on it in the next week or two so keep your eyes open.

 

I just bought one yesterday, so I could get the rebate at cc before it expires. Wasn't sure about the build quality, and heat/fan issues under moderate to full cpu load. Only had a few minutes at the store with the machine, and the keyboard seemed to flex too much. Now, after reading that you returned the M55, I don't want to open the box and have to pay a restocking fee (or does it matter whether the factory seal is broken or not?). Did the M55 get hot? Noisy fan? Please elaborate on why you returned it.

Thanks

 

That sucks man. I've been checking this machine out at Future Shop and Best Buy and it seems like a good machine. Nothing wrong with it at all, however, I have noticed that the keyboard does flex quite a bit. Seeing as how I don't own a notebook and never have I have to ask this: Is this a good thing that the keyboard flexes or is it a bad thing?

 

I am still shopping for my first laptop, so my experience is limited, but here''s my 2 cent's worth, and hopefully more experienced readers will add what they think.

The keyboard flex was more than I expected from a Toshiba. But overall, the chasis felt solid. The screen did flex as well, with minimal dimpling when pressure was applied from behind, but was more solid than an HP dv1000 series. I was surprised to find only one latch in the middle for the lcd, where all other notebook this size or larger use 2 to secure the lcd.

These things are not so bad as to be dealbreakers for me. I'm more concerned with what I cannot assess.. the quality and durability of the motherboard and lcd as those things are the most costly to replace. Why is it that Intel can design processors with a 50 yr service life, but some motherboards last only a few months? From what i've read, the motherboard is the weak link in many laptops. It makes me appreciate my ASUS desknote more. Didn't realize how nice I had it until I started shopping for a notebook. But right now, I'm trying to stay within my budget of $800 - $1000.

So how bad has Toshiba's quality gotten compared to several years ago?
What do you guys think of HP/Compaq's build quality compared to Toshiba's?

 

I too have been considering the M55 and DV1000 series. I am going to begin college in 6 weeks and I want a light notebook. If anyone can give further insight on either one of these series of notbooks, it would be much appreciated.

 

I have a revised dv1000 and a dv4000 right now and they both are going back. I am in search of a 14" widescreen that is as quiet and cool as my thinkpad. The main problem I have with the dv1000 is the fan comes on every 40 seconds and stays on for 5 seconds at a time. very very annoying in a quiet room.

Scott

 

Too bad about the dv1000. Of the 14 inch wxga's I've been looking at, that one seemed to be the coolest. Even with the celeron in the floor model, it seemed cooler than the M55 which had a centrino, and HP/Compaq v2213(?) which had the Turion. I'm really not impressed with the available models. I like the Dell 700m, which runs very cool, but was hoping to get a larger notebook.

 

Just wanted to say that the newer models of the M50/M55 at least don't have this issue. I've seen several others report your problem and they stated this back in like July of last year and I think the problem is fixed now. Over the past month, I've tried out three M55s at Costco, Bestbuy and CompUSA and they were built very, very well for the price. I also found their screens to be better than the ones on the DV1000s.
I think the quality of the DV1000s screens have declined.

 

I wouldn't say that - HP usually has pretty consistent build and screen quality. Toshiba's screens are usually their stronger points, so its no surprise the M50/M55's screen beats out the HP's.

 

Trust me, their screen quality is not consistent, they are using various screens in their DV1000s at least. I remember at CompUSA looking at a DV1227us and a higher model DV1340us. Both were set at max brightness yet the former's screen was noticabely brighter and crisper than the latter.
I have heard some users on www.dv1000forums.com complaining the newer DV1000s have lower build quality than their older cousins though I've tried out various DV1000s but haven't noticed any build quality changes,
only in the screens.

I can even remember at Frys looking at two different DV1000s side by side and one's screen was "wider" than the other, maybe it had less bezel around the screen, I dunno.

 

Hmm...

That's odd - notebook makers usually stay with one screen manufacturer. Maybe whoever HP went with is having quality control issues. Getting back on topic: The M55 should have pretty solid build quality - Toshiba worked out most of the bugs since it came out - the only weak point it has is its GPU.

 

You can go to www.dv1000forums.com where at least one owner had noted HP uses different manufacturers for their screens.
I will agree that at least the newer M55s have good build quality and found one more solidly built than a DV1000 sitting next to it at my local Bestbuy. At least an ATI Radeon X600 would be quite nice. If Asus can put it into their 14" W3V, why on Earth can't HP, Dell and Toshiba with their 14" notebooks?