Customer Reviews
great buy! 
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!!
Good Price 
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
They simply don't work for long. 
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.
Toshiba A205-S5841 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.
Excellent machine for $ - some procs and cons 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).
LOVE IT. 2008-07-24
Cannot beat this laptop for the money, though it is a bit bulky. Other then that, great.
I like it, it's inexpensive yet powerful 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.
Good for price! 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.
Great Machine! Toshiba Quality. Intel Chip 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
The worst product experience I have had as a consumer 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.
