Toshiba rep states about A215 issues

I asked a toshiba rep today if the issue with the A215 has been resolved.
The issue where the screen suddenly goes blank and you need to reboot the laptop and start over from square one.
She stated that "Toshiba is working very hard to straighten out any 215 issues, the AMD machines are new and they are getting used to the systems with the AMD processors."
She wasn't aware of that issue directly, but did state their are alot of downloads,(drivers), for the 1st generation 215's.
The new 215's are on their web site right now...but I can't buy it knowing that this "blanking" screen could still be an issue...
Anyone know any info on this??
joe

 

I never experienced it on the A215 I reviewed.

 

i noticed that.
Take a look at bestbuy.com or circuit city.com....
unfortunatly it's got a "blanking out" screen issue.....
I wish it didnt, I like the machine. I like toshiba, but this unfortunate incident made me discover how great fujitsu's are....
I would by a new 215, if i read it has been fixed. I look on their web site under downloads to see if there is a new driver....or something.

 

I live way too far from BB or CC to make a short trip over.

 

No, no, don't go there...go to the web site, www.bestbuy.com and look at the 215 4747, read user reviews....
it's a gremlin, just can't find the problem....lots of customers, wish it wasnt so...I like toshiba.....(although maybe you can tell me, have they slid a bit in quality since I got my Satellite 6yrs ago?)
I really like the 205 series as well, esp 205 4777.
thanks

 

Somebody posted on another forum that changing the Processor Power Management settings so that both the min and max values are at 100% solved his problem with this.

I haven't tried it yet on my dad's A215, but I'll try it when I visit him this weekend. The problem with this issue is that it happens so randomly (and in our case, only 3 times in 2 weeks), it's hard to troubleshoot what causes it. I would imagine it'd be difficult to determine whether or not the Processor Power Management settings change fixes the issue or not. The blank screen might not happen again for another 2 weeks.

 

I am glad you had a reply to this issue, thank you! I do like the 215 model, and the 2nd generation models are out now...no clue if the problem still exists...
What is the processor power set at now?? I'd hate to think you have to run it at max if you don't have to...Toshiba's site should mention something about this and it doesn't.....
Good luck and please do tell if you hear of any other possible reasons why this happens...

 

By default, the power plan is set at Balanced with a processor power setting of 5% min and 100% max. I changed it to 100% on min, so we'll see how it goes.

I'm just hoping this issue is software and not hardware. Software can be patched easily later on.

I'll let you know if I hear anything else about this.

 

good deal, thanks.

 

I'm wondering if Toshiba is going from high reliability, down a couple notches...
hmmm......

 

Just went to best buys web site and there are a few reviews on the 2nd generation A215's, they are blanking out as well......toshiba, WAKE UP, you are losing alot of prospective a215 buyers....

 

So far, no fix, and the seconde generation A215's are failing all over the place.

 

SOLUTION TO BLANK SCREEN: If you are running VISTA, try going to the Power Options, advanced options, processor power management, and change the value of the minimum processor state to 100%.

I have a A215-S4807 and was facing the same problem that many people reported here. After doing this, the problem disappeared.

 

Any update? My friend is randomly experiencing the same trouble.

TIA

 

The screen on my A210, which I bough mid October, would occasionally flick off and on. Vista would say that the video driver stopped responding, but has now recovered. But I found that putting the power plan to "High Performance" made it stop, and it hasn't happed this month. This is fine by me, as I run off the mains with the battery removed and have only used the battery once. So it must be a power management problem when the system scales down the performance.

 

There's a BIOS update on Toshiba's site for the A210 series (probably A215 aswell). I can't find any release notes say what has been fixed, but I suspect this issue may have been. My old BIOS were 1.4, now I'm using 1.8 and have started using the power saving modes so I'll see if the screen has stopped occasionally blinking (that sometimes happened when using the power saving/blanced power plans).

So far, the most noticable difference is that the fan behaviour has changed; when on my Zalman cooler, instead of being mostly on at it's lowest speed (occasionally off), it switches off for a few minutes, but then kicks in at a high speed for a few seconds. It will probably help a bit with the battery life as the fan isn't on so much, but it makes it more noticable each time the fan starts up again.

 

I just flashed to 1.80 last night, and I think its a BIG MISTAKE for me because of the fan. My fan behaves just like this. My home is usually quiet, so when the fan goes off, it's very annoying. And Toshiba doesn't let downgrading BIOS or recovering backed up ones...I hope they release another one soon that fixes this problem....

Oh, and my model is A215-S4747 with AMD Turion64 X2 TL-56, 2GB DDR2 667 RAM, and integrated Radeon X1200.

 

I wouldn't consider it a mistake. I've been using the balanced power plan that used to give me the occasional flicker of the screen, and it has been fine. So either the BIOS update or the ATI HD2600 video driver update has fixed it. I don't really notice the fan kicking in any more anyway.

 

I can tell you that no they have not fixed the problem. i have switched out 3 times now, on this 'Best Buy exclusive' A215-S5818, loved the specs on it, and it it quite speedy, but being a photographer and editing photos, it's highly annoying to have the screen disapear and have to reboot, losing everything you'd done since last save.

Note: I went to Toshiba, and did the search for driver updates and such for this model, did the updates.. hmm.. not only did it not solve the issue, but now it starts up in high performance, the fan runs nearly constant, sucking the life out of the battery, what the heck Toshiba? Brand new computer needs a work around?

 

sorry you guys are experiencing this....strange thing is, is why does toshiba let this go...?
Fujitsu, Hp, and others use AMD processors with ATI graphics cards and have no problems...I have to wonder if that is even where the issue is....
the 3rd generation is out and it's as buggy as the 1st.....it's a shame, I really liked this model. Any one else?

 

Haven't had any issues at all out of my A215-S5808.