Reliability of Toshiba laptops

How reliable are recent Toshiba Satellite A200 series models? Or any other recent Toshiba models for that matter?

I apologize for the rather open-ended vague question. But here's my situation: I am very interested in buying a Toshiba A200-AH9 notebook:

(link to Toshiba Canada's product page)
Toshiba A200-AH9

But when I was in the store (FutureShop) tonight to put down a layaway deposit on this laptop, the sales person (in response to my Q regarding toshiba laptops' reliability) took me into the repair centre and showed me all the various Toshiba laptops that had come back for various repair issues. Out of the 15 laptops that I saw in their repair room, easily half or more were various Toshiba models. And in fact there were a couple of customers waiting in line to talk to a repair technician about their Toshiba laptops!

This has now put doubts in my mind about whether or not I should go ahead with this purchase. This particular store (Future Shop) in Toronto does not offer a very big selection of laptops and the Toshiba A200-AH9 was one of the few models in my budget that has a Core 2 Dup processor.

So, I'd like to hear about other peoples experiences with Toshiba laptops and their reliability/dependability especially the Satellite series models.

Am I worrying about nothing? Did I just observe a bad sample/representative set?

Thanks for any info.
Regards,

 

DON'T GET IT!!!! Both my sisters got Toshiba Satellites, and they regretted it. My older older sister got hers and the CD drive stopped working after a year, and the backlight blew out, and all sorts of stuff. And it was normal wear and tear, no drops or anything.

Then my older sister's toshiba's screen latch broke off, and then the keys started falling off. And now the Hard disk is making funny noises (aka, the head is brushing the disk).

Don't get Toshiba.

I convinced both of my sisters to get Dells, and they are EXTREMELY HAPPY WITH THEM!!!! Seriously, they didn't believe me, assumed I was making up all this stuff about good Dell quality. Then they tried it for themselves and they haven't complained since!!!

 

Well, I have to wonder what percent of Dells have problems too. I think all manufactures are going to have periodic problems, but all in all, most manufactures are doing a pretty good job. Dell's problem is the long wait time right now. That's why I cancelled my order with them. My wife's laptop is an HP and we have had remarkably good luck with it. The DVD drive did go bad. They finally sent me a new one. After spending hours on the phone over a few days with someone from India, I sent HP and email. Someone from the USA responded and sent me a new drive. Those foreigners just wanted to format my HD!

What are the statistics of Toshibas sold at FutureShop vs brought in for repair compared to other brands they sell?

I'm still getting a Toshiba. I'm also getting the extended warranty, as should anyone buying a new notebook.

 

I wasn't told that but I'll ask the next time I go into one of their stores. I was just surprised to see so many Toshiba laptops in their repair centre.

Believe me, I want to buy that laptop! A Dell with similar specs is probably going to cost more than what the Toshiba A200-AH9 is currently selling for at FutureShop.

Thanks.

 

Well I did not had satellite but I had Qosmio G30 which is supposed to be a premium model. On one side it was great you will never get so good speakers as in Toshiba, the screen brightness was 450nit most notebooks have 220 and new LED backlit only 300, so I was laughing when my friend show me his LED and said it is so bright;] On the other side first problems with speakers, had to send it for repair because of big black line on the bottom of the screen, then first hdd broke, than another, 2/3 of the time I had it it was in repair.. So although it had some great features I will never consider buying another toshiba again.

 

My Tecra M7 was purchased brand new in February 2007. Barely a month over, the paint on the palm/hand rest started to fade where it came into contact with my hands. My palm imprints are discolored and faded. We're required to sanitize our hands multiple times a day at my job, so residual dirt and grease shouldn't be a hugely contributing problem.

This tablet has had light to moderate use (I mainly use it to draw on, and even still use an external keyboard for that). The touchpad buttons are at uneven angles now (again, light usage).

The laptop has a much higher amount of wear and tear than I would have imagined, but it still performs fairly well. But to be honest, I don't know of the longterm longevity of it (2+ years).

But, I was satisfied for the tablet (for the most part) that I did go back to Toshiba for the x205. If I had to do over again, thought, I'd have veered far away from the Tecra M7 due to the performance/quality of the LCD screen.

 

I've had no problems with my Toshiba M-55 so far. I've had it for 1 1/2 years.

 

As a former computer break/fix technician with experience in laptops, my opinion is that, if you go looking for bad, you'll find bad. If this sales rep showed you all the Toshibas on their bench, it's a sure bet that he only did that to up-sell you to something more expensive.

We were an Authorized Toshiba repair facility, so I did tons of repair work on Toshiba laptops. I also did tons of repairs on IBM Thinkpads, Compaqs, Sony, and the only reason I rarely worked on Dell was because we were not an Authorized Dell center, so we didn't get their warranty stuff.

I currently live about 5 minutes from Dell, so they're constantly in the headlines here. You don't want a Dell product; Michael Dell has fallen prey to what every other multi-gazillionaire does: the almighty dollar. Everything from doctoring their books to make their profit margin appear better to investors, to buying B-grade parts in order to cut costs...Dell has gone from being THE leader in the personal computer (and laptop) market to being another dog in the fray fighting for a piece of the pie. They've earned the demotion, in my opinion.

Ask around; you'll find as many people that hate their Dell laptops as those who hate their Toshiba laptop. I have a Satellite, and I love it.

Besides (for what it's worth) every laptop manufacturer is putting identical parts (Fujitsu) in their systems and slapping their own brand on the case, so you're getting the same laptop, but with different support. The only time I called Toshiba, I spoke to an American.

 

I have am A100 for about half a year, absolutely no complaints about it. I love it.
Just a random dead pixel came up recently, doesn't bother me.

 

My father in law has had a Toshiba for about a year now. NO problems whatsoever. He bought it at compusa at the time for around 600 (after rebates) I am trying to decide between Toshiba, HP and Dell right now. My brother has had an HP for over 2 years and had not ONE problem with it. As far as Dell i couldn't tell ya. anyways i just thought i would add this for a more "positive" side of Toshiba (or HP)

 

ohh forgot to add..my bad.. one of my friends has a 6 year old laptop that she bought from our college a couple of years ago. She has dropped it twice..and there was one other thing that she did..and has not had ONE problem with it either. And these were lappys that the school used to give out to the students when they were still doing their laptop program. so all in all I have 2 good reports to give you about Toshiba.

 

Also, one of the things to take into account is how many laptops that store sells and who produces them. If 40% of their inventory is Toshiba, and they sell a lot of Toshiba... the ratio of Toshiba to Sony to Dell would be higher than other companies. That, and what is the cause, too? Hardware failure is gruesome, but laptops go in for other issues - viruses, spyware or even simply to get upgraded.

While I've had mostly cosmetic issues with M7, and I think the screens on both my x205 and M7 could be improved upon, I do like both my laptops. I wouldn't buy the M7 again, but I do like it. Kinda. It's a love hate sorta thing.

 

You have a good point there - it never occurred to me that the Toshiba laptops I in the repair centre might be there for virus, spyware or upgrade related issues and not just hardware problems.

In retrospect, I think the sales associate was trying to get me to think about their PSP (Product Service Plan) which is kindof like an extended warranty.

Anyways, thanks all for all the feedback - it's been very useful to hear both the +ve and -ve experiences from everyone. At this point, I am still very confused so I am not buying a laptop just yet.

Keeping my options open and will be looking at Acers and Dells and even Toshiba models!

The one thing I really disliked about the A200-AH9 for sale at Future Shop was the bilingual keyboard - I know I am in Canada but since I do not comprehend French the bilingual keyboard stands out to my dislike. Not a criticism of Toshiba in general just the fact that this particular model was "bilingualized"!

Thanks.
Cheers,

 

Don't be afraid to ask if they can special order a laptop that comes with a standard English keyboard, too. Remember, if they can make a sale... some companies will do what they can to accommodate you.

 

Only had my x205 for a month... very happy with it.

Done a lot of work on laptops... I'd say that the only brand I'd never EVER buy or use again at this point until something changes is Sony.

Dell has fallen back into the pack as far as I am concerned, but their build quality is still decent and their prices decent as well. It is sad they lost their edge, but frankly that means their is room for someone to step up.

Pretty much ANY company there is a wide difference between their higher-end lines and their "value" lines for reliability and durability.

Remember, that good construction does not require massively expensive parts, but it does require good design and execution in both labor and supply.

One can make an excellent product from decent parts and excellent design.
Below-spec parts generally make low-end products period regardless of design or label.

One rule of thumb... NEVER buy low-end from any label.

 

I'm having dejavu or something...


That's what I said too. Perhaps great minds think alike.