Problems? See this thread at archive.org.
Im considering buying this laptop for ~1000 cdn
I want it to last AT THE BARE MINIMUM 3 years.
Also since it has an ATI 3650, will it be able to play current games like COD4 and future upcoming ones like cod5/diablo 3?
Seeing as it only comes with a 1 year warranty this makes me really uncomfortable, im debating between this and an asus m51S with a 9500GS
also im a uni freshman, so ill be taking this around ALOT.
Last question, if something happens to go wrong in around 2 years, does toshiba offer repair services?
Thx
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From my experience with my HD 2600 (overclocked so very similar performance to HD 3650), it plays COD4 very well. At 1024x768 you can most effects enabled with high textures, but for 1280x800 you'll have to disable shadows. Bioshock is almost exactly the same.
COD5 and Diablo 3 will probably run well, but I think you'll struggle with new games that are more demanding, like Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3.
Basically, I'd avoid any game with minimum requirements similar to/higher than Crysis; I found Crysis plays well on mostly low settings at 1024x768 (with a few of the less demanding settings on medium). Luckily Crysis' graphics are extremely customizable and look decent even mostly on low; most games aren't like this.
The 9500m GS will be comparible if it has DDR2 VRAM like the HD 3650 in the Toshiba, but definately better if it has faster DDR3 VRAM. The main reason to choose the HD 3650 over the 9500m GS is that it will run cooler. My HD 2600, even when overclocked, generally averages 46-48 degrees (max 50-52) when gaming with the laptop on a cooling pad. Nvidia's current GPUs tend to run quite a lot hotter than this, and some laptops have trouble managing the heat and can have relibility problems as a result. I believe the 9500m GS is a 65nm core so it's less likely to have problems than older 80nm GPUs (8000 series), but I would try and find out how hot it runs from owners of the ASUS laptop with the 9500m GS.
If you look after it, then you should get a good 3 years use out of it. The main problem will probably be battery wear.
I'm a bit skeptical about the value of extended warrenties, especially after my experience with my Toshiba A210. I found part of the DVD drive mount was damaged (the centre part of the drive you secure the disc to), not the clips that hold the disc down, but one of the plastic parts that help centre the disc on the mount (so would occasionally get a lot of vibration as the disc wasn't centred). I don't know how I could have caused this, but I found Toshiba wouldn't cover it under my standard warranty and a replacement would cost me at least £111. So I decided instead to buy the updated version of the same drive for £30 and installed that myself (which has voided the last few weeks left on the warranty). After fitting the new drive, I tried poking another part the same as what had broken, and it practially fell off, like the plastic was weakened and brittle. So it seems Toshiba class damage as a result of poor quality materials as 'accidental damage' and won't cover it (placing the blame on me).
So that's sorted, but what if I had spent extra money to get another 2 years cover (which would cost around £70 or so)? To keep my extended warrenty (that I would have paid £70 for), I would have to pay at least another £111 for a replacement DVD drive! So as far as warranties are concerned, I would stick with the standard warranty. I think that usually if something is going to fail, it will fail in the first year of use, if it's reliable for the first year, chances are it will be reliable for at least another 2. The only time I think it is worth paying for extra warranty cover is if you're likely to be putting it at risk a lot and if the extra warranty actually covers 'accidental damage'.
EDIT: I didn't realise the original post was a month ago
! It seems the topic creator has already bought the Toshiba, so it wasn't worth writing all this!
Toshiba A300-07G, how long will this be able to last?
Discussion in 'Toshiba' started by shinakuma9, Sep 13, 2008.
