Toshiba Satellite A205-S5831 15.4-inch Laptop (1.73 GHz Intel Pentium Dual Core T2370 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 160 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium) Reviews

• Excellent machine for $ - some procs and cons

  
  By AJKT3JYBUBZE1 on 2008-04-23
  Bought it from Costco $599+tx+shipment.
  2 gm of ram, 4 usb ports, SD card reader, S video, builtin wireless card - all here. I was scared by reviews here that machine does not have all those components.
  keyboard is VERY COMFORTABLE by placement and by 'press feeling' for fingers, very good keyboard - perfect size of the buttons too. No comparison to terrible DELL machines Inspiron 1525 or HPs.
  
  The screen is SUPERB - bright, clear pixels, excellent sharpness of font. Again, I compare to machines that I have tried for last month - DELL, Sony, HP in range of 1000-1100$.
  I like color - silver and black - that 'feels' better than just black on black. I see smbd is smiling - color is not important...
  It also has the port for cameras' usb and PCI 2.0 card reader.
  battery life - first use from full charge - almost 3.5 hours and it is 50%.
  
  Cons
  I have tried many machines and most with Vista have kind of 'red shadow' for each letter on some web sites, dell.com for example. this screen does not have such defect. I'm not sure whether it had been caused by Vista and video card, or VIDEO CARD and LCD for other machines.
  
  It is a little bit 'bulky' in comparison with new machines that have the same characteristics and price range but it does not matter for me.
  There is no 'mouse bullet' on keyboard, as IBM or Dell Latitude have. I got used to it but from ergonomics it is not healthy and it might be good that this machine does not have it.
  It heated faster than other machines that I have tried.
  the screen is 15.4 but by height is lower than my Latitude Dell C830 (5 years old machine). However, on a positive note, it is very convenient to work with this screen as by design it is 'lowered' a bit - the screen goes lower than keyboard which creates better view from top to bottom for eyes.
  Vista - so far it did not 'bluescreened' on me which it did for DELL and HP, and I have to mention - many times.
  
  I am not sure about Toshiba support. I have heard it does not exist...
  But if something goes wrong with this machine in a year or so COstco supposed to take care of repairs for first year. For me it is sufficient.
  I don't want to put 500$ or so for support that DELL or IBM are providing - better to buy another machine for such price...
  Really like the machine.
  SCREEN and KEYBOARD are the best that I have tried so far.
  Great powerful machine for only $649(total cost).
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Toshiba A205-S5841

  
  By A2XVMX180X14QA on 2008-05-12
  I actually bought this laptop in April of this year (2008) but my original review never made it on Amazon.com.....sooo,I guess I'll try again.
  
  Anyway,if you're looking for a gaming laptop,Keep looking.This computer wasn't designed for that purpose.If you're looking for a inexpensive general purpose laptop then this is it.In the five weeks I've had it,I have had NO problems with it whatsoever.
  
  I have always considered Toshiba as one the better laptop brands,and this one shows why.Yeah,they have higher models (with 17" screens,dual hard drives and gaming video cards),but I didn't need any of that.
  
  Long story short:I like this laptop computer alot.
  
  

• The worst product experience I have had as a consumer

  
  By A3THM5CUE1IAEY on 2008-06-19
  It is now June as I write this product review. I purchased this computer brand new at Christmas for my 11 year old son. It did not work out of the box (could not connect to the Internet), and after 6 months, over 20 hours with Toshiba tech support on the phone, and 3 trips to be serviced by Toshiba, it still does not work. Toshiba has told me that they do not have a replacement policy as long as they believe the product might possibly be able to be fixed. While they have not been able to fix it, they certainly haven't given up hope! I'm sure that if the product actually works, it would be a fine investment. However, if it should have an issue, Toshiba is so unaligned with customer satisfaction that perhaps you will do what I did--give up. I am throwing the $700 down the drain, giving up, and buying a Hewlett Packard.
  
  

• They simply don't work for long.

  
  By A20DZX38KRBIT8 on 2008-05-14
  These notebooks do not last any amount of time, maybe a year, and they constantly overheat and fail. I've had 3 before switching to MAC.
  
  

• great buy!

  
  By A3KQAXNVQMG3VN on 2008-05-22
  This is a great performance laptop for the price! Toshiba is a long lasting brand if used under normal circumstances. this is my second Toshiba laptop.
  If you are not looking for many extras a Webcam or bluetooth..etc..
  this is the best performance for the price!!
  
  
• Great Machine! Toshiba Quality. Intel Chip
  By A20P8TL8I3P87U on 2008-07-19
  I am hypercritical about the quality of everything I buy so this basic laptop exceeded my expectations. I never play video games, so this is a perfect home use machine. I was encouraged by a computer tech friend to avoid the AMD chip, and was pleased to see that this model uses Intel.
  
  ~ On sale for $429
  ~ Super bright screen
  ~ Fast boot up time
  ~ Very good DVD playing quality
  ~ Intel dual chip
  
  
• Good Price
  By A2O18A9EV80G9J on 2008-05-20
  Video and graphics is good. Good PC for the price. Processing speed is super. Be sure to delete the unwanted free software that comes with the unit
  
  
• Good for price!
  By A2YCI67CJ80W3Q on 2008-07-19
  i bought the computer a month ago, and no problems so far. I use for internet, email, word processor, and when I travel, so for that is an excellent computer, and the price is one of the lowest.
  
  
• Toshiba laptops are a piece of junk
  By A26RMIL4VZZP28 on 2008-08-10
  I purchased a Toshiba Satellite computer for > $1300. It had all the bells and whistles including fingerprint reader. Within six weeks after purchase I started having problems with it. It wouldn't boot up, it would crash, monitor would fail, etc, etc, etc. I called customer service after the first occurance and was told it was a software problem and they would do nothing about it. I repeatedly called, after each occurance, and was repeatedly told by customer service it was a software problem. Nine months later the entire system dropped dead. I called customer service again. Turns out it was a bad hard drive, not a software problem. This time I was asked to send it to one of their service centers (at my cost, $55 each way). Now, this product is still under warranty. They (Toshiba) charged me $250 dollars to retrieve all the info off the old drive, $200 labor, $250 to reinstall all the software and info that was on the old drive and of course, shipping and handling and insurance charges. When I shipped the piece of crap to then it had a 120 GB hard drive. When they returned it, it only had an 80 GB hard drive because they were out of the 120 GB hard drives. Nine months later the very same thing started happening again. This time, since the piece of crap was out of warranty, Toshiba would do nothing and I was treated VERY rudely by their customer service management team. Needless to say I didn't replace the hard drive, again. When I purchased my new computer I was told by the store manager of a major chain that he won't reccommend a Toshiba product to anyone because they are a piece of junk. He says the only reason he carries them is because the store chain tells him he has to. PLEASE, don't waste your money on any Toshiba products. They are JUNK!
  
  
• I like it, it's inexpensive yet powerful
  By A2RJ1KWCIQN739 on 2008-07-20
  I wasn't quite sure what I was going to get with this model. I was impressed with the overall quality for the price. It has a crystal clear display with a cool running processor. It has plenty of power and the computer itself is quite quick. The only drawback is that it did not come loaded with much software. It had very little programs to start with on it. I recommend buying microsoft office or something similiar along with it.
  
  

• Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 Standard [OLD VERSION]
• Microsoft Office Standard 2007 FULL VERSION
• Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007
• Norton Internet Security 2008 up to 3 Users
• Nero 8 Ultra Edition

• Targus TCM004US Messenger 15.4" Notebook Case
• Kingston DTI 4 GB USB Flash Drive
• Western Digital My Passport Essential 320GB USB 2.0 Portable Hard Drive (Midnight Black)
• Microsoft Wireless Notebook Optical Mouse 3000 -Slate
• Toshiba Satellite A205-S5823 15.4-inch Laptop (Intel Pentium Dual Core T2330 Processor, 2 GB RAM, 200 GB Hard Drive, Vista Premium) Onyx Blue