I am going to sell my MacBook Pro and get a non-Mac laptop. I only got a Mac because I was majoring in graphic design… but now that I’ve switched to painting I really don’t need it, and I HATE Macs so why torture myself?
Anyway, one of my requirements is a 17" screen. Even though I won’t be pursuing a career in graphic design, I still do a hell of a lot of graphics work and anything smaller is just too frustrating to use for things like Photoshop. Unfortunately, there are still relatively few 17" laptops out there.
I’m leaning toward a Toshiba Satellite because some people have told me they have gotten better and two people I know have and like Toshiba laptops. I had one ages ago and it sucked. My mom had a few ages ago and they sucked too. So I’m nervous.
Is it true that Toshiba laptops are better now? Has anyone got any anecdotal stuff to help me decide? Either good or bad?
Toshiba makes a decent machine, the only thing I dislike about them is IMHO they seem to have more proprietary software like power management and exotic drivers for unnamed devices that upon a clean reload are staring at you with a yellow error in the device manager with no clue what they might be. I’m still liking on gateway of late, I hardly ever see them for repairs. If they have a problem its virused out.
Perhaps they have gotten better, but I did not have good luck with their computers or customer service. I bought one in 2002 or 2003 and the harddrive died one day after the store warranty ended. I took it to an authorized repair shop, who sent it to Toshiba, who lost it. The computer was sent to Toshiba in early June. I finally got the replacement in August. By the end, I was calling every day (usually never getting anywhere). On one occasion, I was told that it wasn’t Toshiba’s that the computer was missing, and on another, to quit calling so often. The replacement has been a headache too.
Well, FWIW I have a Toshiba Satellite that I use for work (I do medical transcription) and for regular home stuff and I am very pleased with it. I’ve not needed any service or anything, so I can’t say how that is either way. It performs well, I find the keyboard comfortable, and I have zero complaints.
I had one, it sucked. The plug for the power cord broke, so I couldn’t charge it, and it was slow and eventually became so fucked up that I couldn’t use it anymore.
I’m banging on one now. It’s about 1.5 years old, pre vista. It’s fine, but I had to have the dvd drive replaced (warranty) after a few months. I don’t use it for graphics, though so salt, grains, etc.
I have had 3 Dell laptops, all of which had power source failures. My mom has had several as well, and had constant problems. She has had her current one’s motherboard replaced by warranty twice, and I believe the entire laptop itself is a warranty replacement of the one she actually bought. I love their desktop systems, but their laptops suck.
I thought HP was all full of proprietary hardware and so it was really hard to upgrade them?
I have no experience with Toshiba notebook systems, but a fair amount with Dells. The Dell Inspiron 1720 notebook starts at $799 with a 17" screen. But assuming that your MacBook Pro is recent enough to have an Intel processor, you should be able to install Windows on it (either exclusively or dual-booting). It might be the cheapest option.
I am already running Windows on my MacBook Pro using Boot Camp. I only go into the Mac OS about once every month or so when I need to use some program I only have a Mac version of (not many). Thing is, I have had three Dell Inspiron laptops. All three died tragic deaths based on hardware failure. I try to learn from my mistakes–will not buy Dell laptops in the future.
I dislike a lot of things about this laptop physically–I’m not just trying to get away from Mac OS. Running Windows on it is a little iffy with hardware driver issues and such, and it’s not very stable in general. There is no Print Screen button (it’s a huge pain in the ass to do screenshots). Some buttons are placed differently and so I tend to click the wrong one. There is no point in having this computer when I could have one that ran better and wasn’t as clunky for less money.
I have a several-year-old (seven or so, don’t remember exactly) Toshiba Satellite.
It’s been a decent machine: good performance, fairly reliable, no significant issues, average responsiveness and service from the manufacturer on the rare occasions I need assistance. I’ll echo what drachillix said about the proprietary software; it’s got a lot more wonky manufacturer tweaks than the Dells and HPs I’ve also used. It took a fair amount of tinkering to disable Toshiba’s “helpful” features and get the machine working the way I want. Since then, though, the environment has been stable; the system has made no effort to undo any of my customizations or restore Toshiba’s features to front and center.
As with any machine, the older it gets, the slower and more troublesome it becomes, but I wouldn’t say it’s any worse than another laptop of the same age. The one fairly serious issue that’s been bugging me is an increasingly unstable wireless receiver, but given the range of problems I could be having, I’ll count my blessings.
I’ve had a Toshiba Satellite for about 4 years now. I’ve had problems with the hd, but other than that it’s been solid. I suppose the battery is pretty much shot, but this laptop is pretty old… I would google comparison grids on current model laptops… the reliability and overall quality of laptops seem to vary greatly from year to year.
I have a 3-year old HP Pavillion (15.4"). I’m not sure what you mean by “hard to upgrade.” The OS? I haven’t tried (not interested in Vista at this point.) I will say that they don’t seem to push out many patches, but on the other hand I haven’t needed anything.
I don’t see much proprietary software on here. I got rid of most of the standard trial-version crap that came with it, but other than that there’s only an “HP Update” program that looks for patches.
I’m not espousing HP as the best or anything. I’ve used IBM, Dell and Acer too. IMO, IBM (Lenovo) has always made the best laptops, but they’re geared more for office environments than home users.
I have a 2-month-old Satellite - one of the cheaper models - and it’s just fine. My one technical problem was completely my fault (it involved a DVD and my three-year-old son) and the service center fixed it on the spot.* In fact, the service was the reason I bought a Toshiba in the first place: they were the only laptops available here with a 2-year international warrenty included.
Actual quote: "How the hell did you manage to stick a DVD in there?
I bought a new Toshiba Satellite in December. I figured any functioning new laptop I could get for $500 (it was remaindered, or whatever the appropriate term might be) would be pretty good. I have no complaints except that it’s a bit heavy.
This is true of ANY laptop computer. except for hard drives and some ram pretty much everything in a laptop/notebook PC is make and model specific. Granted some components may fit a range of models but even then is usually brand specific.
No, I said proprietary hardware. Stuff like RAM and other things that one might want to upgrade physically. I agree that IBM laptops are probably the best, but they only go up to 15" screen, and I really need 17".
If what drachillix says is true then I guess I can’t count that against them…
