Satellite C75D-B7300 - thoughts..

So I bought one of these for $400 or so at BB the other day.
I needed a big screen quickly for work.
I should have done some more homework and bought a nicer used one, but I'm not
one to avoid laying in the bed I made myself, so..

This is the replacement for my six or eight year old Acer Extensa 4420,
which was also a $400 Best Buy piece and still functions well but is ram limited and small screen'd.

Has cheap laptop quality just dropped recently? The old Acer is several times better made/feeling.
Sure this one is faster and newer and has a larger/better(maybe) screen, but the plastic is flexy and cheap,
the trackpad is tiny and annoying, and it's mostly empty space inside.

That said, after I educated myself about Windows 8.1, extracted the product key, created
installation media courtesy of Microsoft, de-authorized the existing install, put a 500gig Samsung 840 EVO in it and reloaded
windows, it performs decently. By the by, the correct 8.1 non pro OEM multi language ISO from the MS media creation tool installed
and activated without so much as saying a word. That BIOS level key stuff isn't all bad other than I can run this copy on 37 boxes at once.

The audio is.. There. That's about it. Ye ole Acer was better if not louder.
It actually has room for larger speakers, I may procure some.

The 6gig of ram is two mis matched sticks, a 4 and a 2, but they are PC3L.
I ordered two 4gig sticks while ago, cas8 that it probably can't take advantage of but at least they'll match.

The Atheros wifi card is shaped funny, one mounting screw, most mini pcie or whatever they call them now have
two mounting screws. I planned to find one with bluetooth to replace the non-bt stock one. This might involve a hot glue gun.

There isn't access to memory or drive via a panel on the back like every other laptop since the dawn of time.
Luckily, Toshi managed to use all the same size screws save one on the back cover, and it comes off
without too much fuss. And being giant lappy with a tiny motherboard there is plenty of room, single layer
build pretty much.

Still updating Windows, but beyond the gripes about general feel of the plastic and the trackpad and speakers, it's OK
for a $400 laptop. Which is now a $700 laptop after the 500gig SSD and 8 gig of ram, but who's counting..

Anyone want to take bets on if it lasts as long as the Acer did?

 

I came across one really bothersome thing.
I have ordered three batteries now, good aftermarket brands I've used before, and
all three will not power the laptop, or charge, the orange light just blinks.
Stock battery works fine.

My conclusion is they have something in the genuine Toshiba battery that tells it to work,
and that it's missing in the aftermarkets ones. Thankfully Amazon is pleasant about returns, this
is the first time I've ever had to return something to them in years of regular use.

I tried looking for a bios update, I tried the battery out OS shutdown power off hold the button to discharge
whatever for a minute routine, nada. None of these three despite being correct will work.

I just ordered one direct from Toshiba for $120 or so shipped.

It isn't shipping till the 23rd they say.

The "thank you for registering" coupon code is only good for Genuine Toshiba items at regular price and expires the 8th (today).
The Genuine Toshiba battery on there site is already on "sale" from $120 or to to $109 or whatever it was, so one cannot use the
coupon code. Oh and the sale expires today, the 8th. Then the price is back up.

That is mighty ty Toshiba, and it will not be forgotten.
My hopes of another five year lasting $400 laptop seem to be dashed with Toshiba. Shame.
I had a Pentium II era Tecra that was a great machine years ago.

And it's not even so much that I'm upset at spending $100 on a spare battery for a new machine.
That's a bummer but ok whatever, it's that in two or three years when Toshiba does not even sell a battery for the thing,
or if they do it's even more expensive. Then what?

I go buy another Acer or Asus or something is what I guess.

 

Final update.

The $120 Toshiba battery direct from them does the same thing the aftermarket ones do.
Tech support gave up pretty quick and I suspect this is because they know there is something goofed up
with the part/application. First they asked me why I needed an extra battery, then they said here's the number
to sales, send it back for a refund. No further effort or suggestion at all to resolve the issue.

So, the battery back to Toshiba, and the laptop back to Best Buy.

What a disappointing experience.