m50/60/70 vs a/p/m100

i've never actually owned any of these laptops, but i've always kept up with recent releases from most companies to keep in mind for a future purchase.
one thing i've noticed throughout the most recent generation of toshiba satellites and the previous, is the build quality.
(i imagine the performance between 2 generations, given the same specs, would be negligible, and the screens seem to be equivalent so these are not on trial here)

when i first saw the a/p/m series i was impressed by the aesthetics (although the m70/60 weren't a bad design either), however the build quality seems to have taken a major hit with the new series. the lid protecting the rear end of the screen is extremely weak and thin, as well as the otherall frame of the lower half of the notebooks. whereas with the m series, i could push quite hard behind the screen i could barely get any ripples, the a/p/m100's seem to have little to no resistance at all with rippling being quite common amongst every demo model i have tested.
now according to the specs both generations are almost identical in terms of weight (given the same screen size), so i must ask, why have toshiba reduced the weight of the frame and consequently its build strength, if the newer components are not heavier to compensate for the reduced frame weight?
puzzling...
or is this just in an effort to increase profits (which it most likely is).
anyone have any ideas?

 

I can tell you that I'm quite pleased with the build quality on my Toshiba Satellite M55, despite having heard many complaints about its build quality from its owners, though these complaints were from summer 2005 so Toshiba must have addressed the complaints.

I've noticed that the M50 and P100 series at least have the exact same keyboard, down to every single key.

 

Just as a side note, all Toshiba's have the exact same keyboard layout, except for the Libretto series.

 

I know pratically every Toshiba has the same keyboard layout, but the M50, M40, M70 and P100 at least have the EXACT VERY SAME keyboard.

I think its a good thing, less parts and makes replacement easier if you ask me.

Here's some pics

Satellite M50


Satellite P100


Satellite M70


Satellite M40

 

Hmm...

My older Satellite (this is way old, 5105 series) has the exact same keyboard layout as my dad's Qosmio, which is quite strange. You'd think Toshiba would change the layout of the keyboards over a period of about 4 years.

EDIT: Still, looking at the pics they look the same - maybe it's just me.

EDIT#2: Wait, are you talking about the multimedia buttons/design too?

 

I'm not talking about the media buttons but aside from those, the keyboard on these models I've mentioned are the EXACT SAME.
Once again, I think thats a good decision as less confusion and complexity, you can just make the exact same keyboard for a lot of models.
Manufactueres should work on making more interchangable parts in their products, especially notebooks.

 

i have noticed the identical keyboards as well, and although it didn't hinder performance at all on most of the models, i must admit that it caused the m50 to seriously shrink the palm rest area.
as i mentioned, the older generation toshibas were built much stronger...that's not what's on trial here.
the m40/50/60/70/40c are all superior to the a/p/m100 series

 

Here's my M100 keyboard if anyone is interested:

 

Yep, thats the very same exact keyboard as on my Satellite M50, only difference is that my media buttons are directly right of the keyboard instead of above it like on yours.

 

I haven't done a ton of typing with it but I've noticed the lack of a right ctrl key is inconvenient. Maybe this is the norm with laptops, this is my first one.

 

The only major difference I notice with Toshiba notebooks are their unique placement of the Delete key - other than that, they're pretty generic.

 

And the placement of the "Windows" key as well, on my Satellite, its at the far top right corner instead of the bottom left corner between the "fn" and "alt" keys like on most notebook keyboard's I've seen.

 

I tried pushing on the lid of my m100 and it didn't make the screen do anything. It was hard and didn't push in.

 

The layout remains the same, but the key mechanisms have been changed frequently. Unfortunately it appears to be optimisation of the profit. Five years ago, Toshiba was known to offer very good keyboards, nowadays they are are acceptable at best. I have a M60 with a nasty keyboard problem that they haven't been able to repair in several months!