Toshiba Done Me Wrong!!!!

It all started with the sight of the dual core nvidia combo in a laptop. how happy i was! I bought the t2400 based model right away at costco. oh noes 0x00000ea errors. :*( must be bad ram or driver error. SO i called tech support to have some noob tell me how i should take everything off my startup menu. WHAT?! i didnt understand. so i returned it to costco for a full refund. then i see the toshiba stopped making the t2400 based nvidia combo and upped it to the t2500. im thinkin maybe it just needed more cpu power. So i spend $2800 bucks on a laptop with a 7900gtx and 2.0ghz dual core. the t2500. so happy. then i notice high def world of warcraft is out of the question. i think eh it may just be the ping throttle. no such luck. oblivion had the same issues. then overheating in basic windows? 12fps in wow at low definition?!?! THEN BSOD errrors!!! and so i decide to let toshiba help me out with the situation since i bought it from direct. 2 "system boards" and a full year of warranty later. I am talking to my 7th toshiba rep ,a mr. roger. lol . and everytime they transfer me their volume cuts in half. so i call for tech support. they transfer me to toshiba tech customer service who then tansfers me to customer relations who is inaudible. who then transfers me again. IM 2 HOURS DEEP INTO THEIR PHONES AT THIS POINT!!! i wanna test this in a recording at another time. horrible business tactic with system volume based off call duration. bad tactic. but i digress. they are now 2 days late sending me my "repaired computer" for the third time and im outta my warranty. so i can either shell out the extra cash for the extended warranty and wait till they stop manufacturing the "system board" to get a new computer that will hopefully work. Or i can take it all apart and introduce a water cooling solution to this overheated monstrosity. What do you guys think i should do? aside from building my own rigs. lol

 

DAY 2 still havent gotten a hold of customer relations. wondering if they really exist or if i just keep getting transfered to noone. getting nervous. they still have my laptop.

 

DAY 3 : I got a message bright and early this morning. They are sending me my laptop ANNND they didnt replace the system board... they cleaned it.... for the same problem that has been happening the whole duration of this laptop... overheating. they cleaned it. my end of warranty service everyone. SCREW TOSHIBA. i will never buy toshiba again. i feel so ripped off considering i make 20k a year and spent 3 of it on this laptop.

 

That sucks man. I do hope that your computer works properly when you get it back. I would certainly call them back imediately if it doesn't work as promised.

 

Man, if you cannot run WoW on a recent processor and a 7900GTX higher than 12fps, its time to find out what malware you have installed.
WoW will almost run on an etch-a-sketch... this is no rip on it because frankly they hit their target of wide-audience usage and their client is a testament to compatibility.

While hardware could be the problem, I seriously doubt it after they have replaced everything.

If you haven't done it already, I'd seriously consider blanking it and starting over with a clean format and install.

If it overheats and BSoD with a default install of their software after they just did work on it, then I'd get ahold of a manager and MAKE them hear me out.

At this point they probably don't believe you... they get the laptop, test it, and it works up to specs when they have it so they just clean it and send it back to you and then you have a meltdown.
They are wondering what you are doing to it to cause this... or perhaps if there is any trouble at all.

If you calm down and run some tests yourself and have done the legwork to make sure it isn't you, then they should be asking themselves the "what ifs" that cause enough reasonable doubt to take another look. Do yourself a favor and try having specific steps to cause the problem.

Do not wait too long to do this... warranty might have ended, but the warranty on the work done to the laptop shouldn't end until this matter is resolved. (Trouble ticket began before the warranty ended...)

The 7900GTX is a hot-running GPU... have you tried one of those laptop coolers?

 

i run zone alarm. i monitor my port activity through that and all malware is taken car of by lavasoft and avg. all newest versions. not all running at same time though mind you. and i have looked into a laptop cooler but thats like turning it into a desktop and i might as well recase this damn thing my self for free. ive tried running the overall computer in lower definitions as well because 1680 by 1050 seemed a little hot to me when idle in windows and a browser. last time i called i talked to a supervisor who informed me that i should call the person who refered me to call her. it sucks. faceless corporation = no responsibility. and toshiba shows it plain as day. using the general public for your test market on the gaming industry is a bad business practice as proved with the psp and all their firmwares. the public hates being the test market. dont give us bogus crap and expect us to swallow. and im tired of talking to a pissed off dude in india that has a bogus engineering degree from durkadurka university telling me that he doesnt know what the toshiba pinger program is for and i should take it off my startup menu! ITS ON YOUR DAMN REFORMAT DISC!!! KNOW YOUR OWN MALWARE YOU CRAP CORPORATION!!!!! btw they also bundle aol with their computers. figures.

 

you know..this is Precisely Why I've been telling people around here to purchase from a reputable seller - sellers like Costco; I mean how many of them actually give you 3 months (USA [or 6 months in Canada])to return a computer for a full refund no questions asked?

Most retailers and manufacturers (through their direct websites) either give you 14 days to figure out if the machine is good or not, or at the very most 1 month - after which it's: See YA!

..for a Very complex piece of machinery I may add; and this isn't even taking into consideration how many manufacturers these days cut corners everywhere which undoubtedly allows for a higher number of defective components to pass through onto suspecting consumers that aren't able to figure it out until it's too late. But I guess that's just too bad if consumers get screwed

The best thing one can do these days is 'smart' purchasing - i.e. don't just buy from anywhere..

- Jordan

 

jordy i gotta say you sir are correct 100 percent. my favorite part about this whole experience was in the begining when i bought the p105 or maybe it was the p100. i dont even remember anymore. wtf is really the difference. 0.14 ghz cpu power >.<? anyways i took it right back after toshiba tech support scared me away with their ignorant arrogance.

*yes thats what ill do india tech guy is take all my programs off startup menu after a reformat. brilliant. lol. if anyone has to do that with a brand new computer thats refund time right there btw.*

i should have stayed with buying from costco instead of toshiba direct. that way i wouldnt have any of this mess and woulda already returned it for a full refund. EVERYONE SHOULD BUY FROM COSTCO SO IF YOU GET RIPPED OFF BY A CORPORATION LIKE ME IN THIS SITUATION YOU CAN JUST RETURN IT FOR A FULL REFUND.

Is there any way that i could sue? i mean i feel like they sold me a 1st year tiburon. 100 percent lemon. they stole from me by offering a prodect that works about as much as my dead grandparents screw. maybe i should say swindled. its more like they are like gypsies. selling you this or that then when you get back to test it out it just doesnt work at all. yes i believe i will refer to toshiba a gypsy jerks from now on.

 

I am filing an official complaint with the bbb. ill keep yall updated cuz im also gonna call them till i get customer relations. we will see if they really exist, lawl.

 

Buddy, may I know that problem that you have on the laptop. Is it OS related or Hardware related?

 

Im currently in xp with the system performance settings set look like win200prof. I fully believe it is hardware. just horrible ventallation for a 7900gtx and a dual core. some vents look like they are completely covered by the board inside. the only vents that seem functional two in the back and one on the side that has a very quiet fan. either quiet or broken lawl. if i had vista it would make alot more sense i know. higher graphical usage. but seriously im running this crap as efficiently as i can.

 

Have you monitored your GPU and CPU temps?

Is the outside of your case hot and uncomfortable to the touch in places?
(especially when not gaming)

if your gpu and cpu temps are hot and your laptop is not comfortable to use then it is entirely possible that the ventilation of the unit is indeed bad.

The GPU will heat up in gaming and it is possible that your horrid performance is because the CPU or GPU are downclocking to avoid heat build-up.

If heat is the bad guy here, then you have a completely legit complaint that you should indeed march right back to Toshiba or whoever you can get on the phone. Note that numerical data and a method to reproduce them sent to their techs gives them a very good idea where to start to make sure they see what you see.


If heat is not the issue, and your software is causing slowdowns and BSoD, then you have not a foot to stand on...
FYI, while your defenses are decent... those programs are not a guarantee of safety. If you run in Admin mode all the time then all you have to do is misspell a web site and a nasty trojan infects your system, nerfs your defenses, and does whatever else it wants...

Do yourself a favor and run HijackThis and get a txt dump of your startup items and run through them. If you have the foresight to do this, you can send any doubting Thomas the printout and let them pick at it.

 

It is actually normal for a high end graphics adapter to generate heat no matter what OS you are using. Like for a desktop graphics adapter, some high end adapters requires very good cooling system and that is that reason why they are expensive. There are some laptop accesories such as laptop coolers that can be attached on the bottom of the unit to increase performance and to decipate heat. Cooling systems built-in on laptop are not enough.

 

Well, the laptop should indeed be able to do things without requiring external cooling help and most definitely should be able to run something as easy as WoW at higher than 12fps...

Given the 7900GTX and newer processor, he should be getting 40+ fps at 1680x1050 with nearly everything on...

Higher end GPUs do indeed produce quite a bit of heat, (and especially the 7900Go GTX) but they should not go into meltdown with standard usage.

If the laptop does indeed meltdown with just playing WoW for a few hours without using a laptop cooler and the laptop doesn't list a laptop cooler or low ambient temperatures as a requirement for using the laptop for what it was designed for, AND the heat is definitely the (only) issue, then I'd say he was quite correct in bringing Toshiba to task on this...

 

kernal pac you are a brilliant man and i will get that printout i didnt even think of that lol!!! an easy thing to send to toshiba to prove my situation is worthy of a little attention. imma send em a printout of temps and my failed 3dmark scores lol. OH and my computer upon reformat actually has a totally blank program in startup menu and always has. thats kinda odd i think.

i love this one http://www.hardwarecooling.com/prod...od/386/Cooler_Master_Coolpad_Notebook_Cooler?. i dont think ill recase it myself anymore. to much to do with next semester comin up quick.

http://www.hardwarecooling.com/prod...od/386/Cooler_Master_Coolpad_Notebook_Cooler?

however there is a problem. it appears the vents on the bottom of the computer aren't so much vents >.<. covered by a black microfilm im guessin its coverin up green mobo. but the cooler should still help alot. i think ill try toshiba one more time tomorrow to try to get to someone in customer relations to see if i can get an extended warranty comped or something. anyone got any ideas about the mystery black film that is covering the bottom vents on my computer? from the inside mind you. i mainly have experience with desktops so most of this is pretty foreign to me.

 

THIS IS HOW HOT IT IS WITH JUST THIS FORUM OPEN JUST TURNED ON 10 MIN AGO

CPU TEMP :68 C !!! WTF??? with 10 percent load mind you.
cpu clock speed shows a mere 1004 mhz
hd temp: 52 c
unable to get gpu temp ><

Im goin to install oblivion and test it out for a few. ill edit this and post the results below. should be a monstrous change lol.

 

that's HOT! My cpu hovers around 37 C when idle. Even under load it never goes that high. My HDD is around 39 C when idle. Such a high HDD temp is not healthy for it. I also have a P105 and issues. Do you have windows Vista installed?

 

no im runnin xp and everytime i get transfered to their customer relations the wait is welll over 30 min sometimes an hour wait. i get so tired of waiting i have yet to actually talk to anyone from that dept. im on the phone right now on hold for customer relations. i think their message is clear. they want me to burn in a fiery frustrated mess.

 

I am surprised you haven't had a mini chernobyl yet with those temps.

my idle temp range on my toshi-t-ba after boot, but before wow or guildwars is run, is 49-55C, post gaming it is usually in the low to mid 60's, but with time i can get back to my idling temps.

i can run wow with everything at max except for that drop down box for multisampling, that's left at 1x (i don't want to risk it yet) and it gets 55-62 frames per sec which is amazing compared to my desktop (p4 2.4ghz HT with 1GB ddr400 ram, asus n6600le 256mb AGP) which ranges from 12-40 fps with not quite everything maxed.

by the way what program are you using to measure the temps with?
i am looking for something free that can do it.

 

nhc. notebook hardware controller

*edit* i have filed a complaint and review with the bbb. i have left messages for customer relations. they have not gotten back to me. I strongly urge anyone buying a toshiba to look around. stay away from this company if you can.

 

toshiba is one my choices on MY first notebook, along with acer and HP... only three i'll take(afford).
im hoping to take one from the lowest end at Circuitcity and test it out first. then go check out other brands...

it seems its the luck of the draw with toshibas, as i'v read

 

acer is a budget brand and from the luck a friend of mine had, not too great a brand, though the laptop he had was a year or so old. i would consider them as a last resort.

i went with the toshiba because of the features it had, so far i have been lucky on the hardware side of things, but we shall see when the warranty runs out.

 

if its luck of the draw then i drew 2 unlucky laptops in the p100 series and 3 unlucky system boards. :*(

 

i haven't heard anything about their p1xx/p2xx series's of laptops, the A100/A200's though i have heard are decent - great. It really sucks that you got burned twice, if you do go a third time, hope that one works for ya.

 

Unless its alienware (and that's just cuz they are owned by dell now) im going to build it myself from here on out lol.

*edit* BTW customer relations still hasnt gotten back to me. nor have they responded to my formal complaint through the bbb. their bbb info is all messed up too. just noticed. their review at the bottom ish of the page says bonches of negative stuff. the user reviews are all negative. yet they still have an "aa" rating. something odd is happening.

 

indeed.

Since you aren't a big fan of to****ba have you been here yet?

http://www.toshibasucks.org/

 

LOL i think thats the most awesome thing anyone has linked. though it is from 2 years ago the message is clear. toshiba reaaaaaaaly sucks. they still have yet to contact me from the message i left their customer relations. they said they would contact me within 4 hours of that message. 2 days ago most recently. lol. also still no response to my complaint through the bbb.

 

well i don't know about their Canadian branch but the USA one sure has dropped the ball in customer service judging from what google has found for me over the last few days...

 

seriously after you posted that i googled "class action lawsuit toshiba" and i was blown away! there is so much out there thats negative that just goes unnoticed.

 

Yeah, but google any of the big name suppliers + class action lawsuit and you will get the same long stream of hits. Like Dell for example, or HP, or any other big hitter that sells consumer products.

The point being that large targets get large hits on the internet. It tells you nothing quantitiative in terms of satisfaction/dissatisfation vs. volume of customers. And the guy at http://www.toshibasucks.org/ faked the BBB rating for Toshiba on his web site. Considering the volume they sell, their BBB registered complaints (at the actual BBB site) are quite low.

 

check out the complaint experience on the labbb site. also check out when they rejoined. all of their user reviews are negative. it is true that the company used to have an "f" rating. as seen here : http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=3185

at this point it is really just a matter of time before their rating drops to an "f" again.

i liked your smileys though...

 

only problem is that article is over a year old. nothing has happened to that rating since then.

 

date of article : July 7, 2006 6:20 AM
date of toshiba rejoining: 10/19/2006

there's 3 months in between their "f" and them rejoining with a full "aa". can a modern day corporation turn it around so quickly? in my experience with them... no.

*edit* here's a copy of toshiba's old bbb report before they left or got booted; i cant find any info stating what specifically happened. >.< : http://www.toshibasucks.org/bbbreport.htm
im looking for a more non-biased reference but the statistics in the article i linked previously to daily tech are close to the stats on the report above. not exact though.

 

I found a screenshot of the "f" they recieved in 2005 or 6 i dunno.
http://www.ericmackonline.com/ICA/blogs/emonline.nsf/dx/toshiba-earns-an-f-for-customer-service

 

cant run wow. cpu at 84*c. whenever i do try to open it i get ten fps and the temp starts to rise. so i close it right away. toshiba still has not contacted me. i will call heather (their rep on the bbb page) on monday. we will see if i get through or if she will call me back.

 

good luck have you tried buying a notebook cooler ?

 

TURNED ON 10 MIN AGO

CPU TEMP :68 C !!! WTF??? with 10 percent load mind you.
cpu clock speed shows a mere 1004 mhz
hd temp: 52 c
unable to get gpu temp ><

Im goin to install oblivion and test it out for a few.
Oblivion test - 30 min
Cpu TEMP : 83c avg
cpu clock speed 2007mhz
hd temp :54c
15fps lowest resolution without 4x anti

wow test - 20 min

cpu temp : 84c avg
cpu clock speed : 1004- 2007 mhz
hd temp: 53c
25 fps at 800x600 all effects turned off

sony vegas- when rendering avi from files it lags to the point
of effecting the render and offsets the sound

cpu temp: 86 c avg
hd temp: 55c avg

I dont believe it is because of elevation. where im at in albuquerque
isnt more then 7000 feet above sea level.


In all of these programs i have had spontaneous
loss of power from what i believe is a passive cooling
mark the cpu reaches. upwards of 90c . when the computer
is in the 90s it is completely useless getting 5-10 fps
in wow and crashing oblivion. I have had it shutdown just
off of watching movies and tv shows while browsing.

Toshiba has contacted me and i contacted them back to hear that i need to send the computer back to them AGAIN. so i was in the process of getting the personal stuff off my computer and i see toshiba is already trying to close the bbb report i put in saying i never answered their calls or got back to them. im still goin to send in my computer with all the data ive accumulated. wish me luck,

 

good luck. i haven't had that happen, my highest temps are in the high 60's under 75-100% cpu use on both cores (mainly running wow), it takes a little while to cool down back to a mid 50 idl temp, though i have the back end of the laptop raised off the ground with a deck of cards under the battery, so that helps a little bit. but man thats hot.

 

Did you try to see if there is a toshiba service center around you? maybe you can just drop it off there and they will repair the problem? That's what I did with my tabletpc. The screen died so I just drop it off there and they repair it in less than a week. I didn't bother calling the toshiba customer service. The repair centers aren't owned by toshiba, they paid the local company to do the repair and the ones around me have great customer service.

 

unfortunately there isnt a toshiba sevice center near me. :*( also i did use an aluminum plate to sit the laptop on and i elevated it off the aluminum plate with a book titled "siddartha" which i love in the corner to help with air flow. I have been trying to contact heather, patricia, and guy from their bbb contact info i received and none of them are taking my calls now or they just arent there (on a business day during midday hours). im leaving messages. i want an email for the new "tech support diagnostic team" im supposed to be sending my laptop to so i can send off my diagnostic findings. seems like im not reaching anyone though. :*( they have officially tried to close my bbb report but thats ok cuz ill just open another if they close it. I strongly urge noone to buy from this company. Sager right now has some amazing stuff.

 

If you bought this from costco, return it, they have a very good return policy.

 

Wrong: FWIW …. After spending at least two hours on the phone to Toshiba tech support the last two days I was steaming mad. Four different people (each one a paragon of politeness) made me repeat my problems with my Satellite notebook and then transferred me to Customer Relations. End of story; twice now after holding the phone for one hour each time I gave up.

I was told that if I could not get through Toshiba Customer Relations would call me back. Another lie.

Then I looked at this forum and read DMW's story. I suspect now that there are plenty of similar stories and dozens of frustrated customers.

How can Toshiba get away with treating customers so shabbily? Has anyone complained to the Federal Trade Commission? Is there some industry association one can complain to?

But enough ranting. Surely someone, some time has found Toshiba support to be responsive? Would that person please tell us his secret? Thanks. ..wdc

 

I still don't understand why u don't do a clean install of XP ... and u are using 3 programs for security ... u said not all 3 in the same time, but you know, they all run in the background as system services even if u stop them and this just kills your lappie (it will kill even a powerful desktop).

 

I fall in the same category. A while back Toshiba's BBB rating was and F. I dont know how they did it but they resetted their BBB rating and at the moment it's better. Still doesnt change the fact that Toshiba's customer support is the worst.

 

Toshiba seems to be feeding everybody crap sandwiches. kimber my first lappy was from costco then i bought the second p105 from toshiba direct. And of course i stop system processes if they are weighing me down. as i said earlier i dont have 3 securities running at the same time. not even in the backround. no way no how. Jessik3 I have been in contact with heather from their customer service. unfortunatly, they have neither returned my calls about the status of the laptop that they said they just wanted to take another look at; nor have they been good to me through the bbb. they close my bbb report prematurely stating that i didnt call them back and i was reluctant to send in my laptop for the 4th time. i rebutted a day before that on the bbb records lol. But i digress. so anywho they say im not contacting them yet they have my laptop complete with all of my diagnostic results. the last time i did talk to patricia she told me "everything looks ok" "ill give you a call back about the status". that was 4 days ago. now they arent answering their phones. not even guy lugo. wtf is going on. i seem to remember paying 3 grand for something i dont have.

IF ANYONE ELSE HAS A p105 other then jessik3 CONTACT ME. SEEMS LIKE WE NEED TO BAND TOGETHER FOR THIS ONE. CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT ANYONE? OR WASTE YOUR TIME IN SMALL CLAIMS COURT.

 

OOOOO good stuff here. TOSHIBA DOES NOT HAVE AN ARBITRATION CLAUSE WITH THE BBB. that means that if you are unsatisfied with your bbb report results or with the current rating of said designated comany you are up ****e's creek w/o a paddle. BBB has no actionable stance against toshiba. they can request arbitration based off of the case in point but if rejected it doesnt matter whatsoever. i now have the number for their trade manager or something. a kim grutshosauhdfahficb <--(not her real last name btw), that i will be in contact with about their missing bbb time and how they started with an "a" rating magically 3 months after recieving "f".

 

are you dealing with toshiba directly or one of their authorized repair centers?

I am dealing with a repair center for my a200, it wouldn't POST, they said a couple of days but after looking at the RMA for parts orders, they have MAIN board listed as well as a couple things of goo. That will take more than a couple of days i think. But I don't care as long as it works again and it doesn't cost me nothing (warranty). It sucks because I only had it a month and a half.

 

heather and patricia are representatives for the toshiba america branch. i dunno if they are a 3rd party rep or what but they dont return calls nor do they know how to answer their damn phones during normal daytime 11am-3pm on a weekday wtf crazyness? this includes you guy lugo representative. ive tried calling him as well. Batkinson, i will read your fortune.... they will probably replace your "system board" aka the whole damn integrated mess. they will do it for free and will keep doing so.... up until.... the end of your warranty. then do it once more and say "any further repair will be considered post warranty and could take between 2- 4 weeks and cost up to .... the whole cost of your computer brand new." but seriously i wish you the best of luck dealing directly with their service center. it seems to be either fed ex or u.p.s. for me and u.p.s. salesmenses tell me they see these laptops alllllll the time. they intake about 3 a week just from the one little ups store i went to. makes you think about how much bs "fixin" they must do. placebo computer technical repair really.

*EDIT*
BTW i did push the arbitration option i had with the bbb. i am supposed to hear back within the next two weeks in regards to whether or not i will have to go to small claims court.

 

hope things work out for ya. and as for your fortunetelling, you are probably right, but as long as they do it right this time (if the apply enough goo my temps might get below 46'C for a change, or they could rise higher and kill the system before its even in my hands (provided these guys are smart enough to stress test the components first also providing my hard drive is still good and doesn't need formatting)

 

SOooooo toshiba sent back my laptop without calling me back. guess that means that i dont get a refund or extended warranty. im still trying to get back in contact with heather or patricia or anyone that will answer my calls. but no one does. screw toshiba and their "customer service". still waiting for the arbitration response from the bbb.