toshiba M55-S3293

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Ok, I am hoping someone here can help me out...I recently bought the above model notebook, M55-S3293 at bestbuy. I was trying to search for some reviews online before the 14 day time period expires for me to return it by if I choose not to keep it but am having no luck. When I type the model number in google all i get are websites to purchase this model but no reviews, even on this website and cnet, etc. no reviews on this model specifically.....even on toshiba's site the only thing referencing this specific model is the M55 series but there isn't specifically this one only other M55's...I'm wondering if anyone can give me some insight into my problem....and if possible any reviews on this specific model would be great.....thanks for all your help in advance everyone.

 

Hi, I have the M60 which is very similar in appearance and features to your M55. I am guessing that you have the 1.86GHz Pentium M, 512 MB of RAM, DVD burner, GMA 900 integrated graphics, 100 GB 5400 rpm hard drive, and Intel wireless.

The M55 has better build quality than the M35X and some of Toshiba's lower end Satellite models. There has been much said about Toshiba's sub-standard quality of late, but the M55 has decent build quality. I like my dvd-burner, but I haven't burned any DVD's yet (now or ever) but it burns cd's nicely and isn't too loud. My M60 came with a 60GB 5400 drive that is the Hitachi Travelstar which is a well respected brand and much faster than the 4200 rpm drive in my old Satellite. If you bought this laptop to do any newer gaming (newer than 2 years old), you might as well forget about it with the integrated video. It will work fine for watching DVD's, surfing the net and pretty much everything that doesn't involve intensive graphics. Your 512MB of RAM is ok for general everyday tasks, but you may wishi to upgrade to 1GB (the "perfect" amount of RAM), as it is cheap and easy to do and will require less frequent reads from the slower hard drive (aka increased performance). All in all, I love my machine, decent build quality, does what I need it to do, and didn't break the bank either.

Matt

 

We have a review on the M55 on the site http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=2444

You simply won't find specific reviews for every SKU of a laptop out there, it'd be impossible to keep up with the number of reviews it'd take to do that. Just search for M55 reviews.

 

i understand, does anyone else have any further opinions

 

Well, I've heard that it has shoddy build quality, and I've heard that it doesn't - I'd assume it has so-so build quality, but nothing that can take a beating. I'd opt for the X600 GPU if you plan on gaming and wouldn't buy the extra RAM from Toshiba - get it youself and install it.

 

I too got 3293 from bestbuy. I actually had read M55 and M45 reviews and they were ok for me, except few issues some users wrote about the touchpad, the cover, etc.

My wife read a review that said this particular model gets heat. We bought it though. So far, we have not felt it getting hot.

Only things (I don't want to use the word 'problems') I noticed were: It gives some "click-tick" sounds when it stars reading cd/dvd, but not always. And, you may feel uncomfortable when the fan starts and stops in every few minutes - that is when you use it for too long or with big applications (but you can always change the settings).

 

Hey - nice user info.! What's your average battery life for your notebook and is you battery the 6-cell or the 4-cell?

 

And it is a real bummer. I got the last one from Best Buy and unfortunately the network switch wouldn't work. I just couldn't get it to turn on even after 45 minutes on the phone with Toshiba service.

So I had to return the machine. Best Buy was out of them & the item is discontinued so I will have to find something else.

According to the Geek Squad tech the machine was a good buy for the money, although I do find it odd that there are no reviews on this specific model & it isn't even listed on the Toshiba website.

At any rate, good luck with yours.

Wpaxt

 

Well, all the M50/M55 use the same casings, it's just different components (usually the CPU, amount of RAM and HD size) that make each model different. Sometimes they refresh the line as well. So basically you would could look at virtually any M50/M55 review that has similar performance to your's and have a good idea what build quality and performance will be like on that specific model.

 

Mine has no build quality problems whatsoever, just rock solid. Just a little bit on heat on the right side of the palmrest and bottom of the notebook and thats it, performs fast, great screen, love it so far!!