Customer Reviews
good but not good 
2008-05-15
this model is perfect for office, surfing, playing audio & video but not good for gaming. planning to sell this and buy a gaming laptop
Toshiba sucks 
2008-04-21
I've used several and owned one Toshiba notebook and they were all cheaply made, cheap parts and terrible performance. After a years these notbooks are garbage, malfunction and freeze like they were 10 years old. Get a Macbook/Macbook Pro/Compaq/Dell or ever a Sony Vaio, all perform better than Toshiba notebooks.
Warning about labelflash 
2008-04-16
I love my present Toshiba Satellite, which I use for everything (phone, tv, work, school, etc.), so I ordered this Satellite as an exciting upgrade. I use Lightscribe a lot for labeling my cdr's and dvdr's, and I thought "Labelflash" was the same thing. If this is important to you, you should know that it's not the same thing -- like VHS and Betamax, they are competing standards. Unfortunately, since Labelflash is pretty rare, the blanks are around 3x the price of Lightscribe blanks, and are only available at a handful of on line vendors. In addition, Labelflash uses the dvd laser so there are no cdr labelflash media. I found out just in the nick of time and cancelled my order. But if labeling your media with something other than a Sharpie isn't important to you, then don't worry about it.
Lots of bang for the buck 
2008-07-21
I've been around PC's since they began, and am constantly amazed by advances. For the price, this laptop is top-notch. My wife and I bought it for our daughter's high school graduation. She watches lots of movies and "hangs out" in all the usual teen places without a complaint. The picture is quite good (and big, which is extremely nice for movies and multiple screens.) Everything is balanced, too. The processor, hard drive, sound system, graphics card, etc. all fit comfortably together in the "mid-range." Too often something lags behind and makes a product worth no more than its weakest link, but Toshiba got this one right.
If I had to include negatives, the only glaring one comes from its best feature: it's hard to find a case that fits the big screen and still has the style and character that a teenager wants for cheap. We wound up with a run-of-the-mill case, but had to pay nearly $50 to get it. Alas, but our daughter is happy.
A Big Bang For Your Buck! 2008-07-17
I ordered this laptop computer on Monday and received this on a Wednesday. I must say, for the great price, this computer really does offer a lot of power and ammenities. For the past 4 years I have had a Sony Vaio lap top that I paid around $1200. I've made the switch to this Toshiba Satellite for the bargain price of $749 and I do not regret it one bit. This is an excellent lap top for those like me who are going back to school for graduate work. I can use this on the go from home, to work, and to school. This is not a gaming computer though.
I was also pleasantly surprised of how quiet the fans are. I've had it on for about 6 hours now and it still hasn't over heat. The 17 inch screen has a beautiful and crystal clear picture. Unplugged for about 2 hours now and still the battery is still running good. It doesn't have the fastest speed or the biggest memory, but I can honestly say that Toshiba, for this price, has made a good lap top. I highly recommend buying this.
Great Computer, Slightly Difficult With Linux 2008-07-12
This is a great computer for the price. I did not ever boot into Vista, but instead immediately installed Ubuntu Linux on it. The installation was somewhat difficult, but turning off the Ethernet card in the BIOS during the install fixed the problem. Once Ubuntu is installed, grab the kernel 2.6.24-19 update and install it. You can then re-enable the Ethernet card in the BIOS without problems. The computer runs extremely smoothly and 3D applications, games, and desktop effects work without a hitch. The speakers are quiet and the audio tends to have a background hiss. The microphone pickup is so noisy that it is almost unusable. External microphones do not share this problem. The integrated webcam deals nicely with varying light conditions and has good contrast without washing out colors. Only 4 stars because of crap sound chipset.
Great Toshiba Laptop for the Price, minor problems 2008-06-29
This is a great 17 inch laptop for under $1000, with some minor problems that may frustrate less technically oriented users.
PROS: Great value for price, 17 inch bright monitor, 200 GB HDD, 2 GB RAM
CONS: Vista Home Premium (for those who don't like Vista OS), Labelflash drive, only 3 USB 2.0 ports, no PC card slot (Expresscard slot only), driver for Atheros wifi needs to be updated before you can connect to wireless network.
This is my second Toshiba laptop, so I am fond of the brand. I was happy to get this laptop for under a $1000 with all the features it has. My first Toshiba laptop was more expensive and came with a smaller hard drive (60 GB), 500 MB RAM, 14 inch monitor and 3 USB 1.1 ports.
Now for the wifi problem. This laptop comes with Atheros internal wifi card. The wifi card could not detect my wireless network. I had to connect the computer to a Ethernet cable to download the latest driver from the Toshiba support website. After that it still took several tries to get it to find the wireless network and enter the encryption code for my network so I could connect to the web. I found the experience frustrating enough that I considered packing the laptop up and returning it if I could not get the wifi to work (which is the main reason I wanted a laptop).
So far I have had no other problems with this laptop. I don't really care about the labelflash drive issue because I have a printer that can print directly to CDs and DVDs. As for the Vista Home Premium OS, I have not had any problems with it except that drivers need to be updated for Vista. I already own a desktop PC with Vista Home Premium, so I am used to it.
I do wish this laptop came with more USB 2.0 ports because I have more than 3 peripherals I want to connect to and they require powered ports. I have a USB hub, but the portable hubs do not come with AC power cords to power the ports so they are mostly useless.
I was interested in what was available for the Expresscard slot. There are wireless network cards, high speed ethernet, USB 2.0 (unpowered only), firewire, SATA and flash memory. None that I find very useful.
Please note as another reviewer has already stated: This is a not laptop for hard core gamers. If you want a gaming laptop you will need to spend a lot more money to get a faster machine with the top notch graphics needed for gaming.
I still recommend this laptop because of the great value.
Toshiba PCs are among the best! 2008-06-03
Toshiba has a solid build; they are tough & reliable. As a computer professional for over 30 years,
I've owned & worked with all major brands, including 'clone' PCs. The top corporate choice in
portable/laptop/notebook PCs is TOSHIBA. With new lower prices - especially the current deals on
Amazon - this, and many other Toshibas, are an excellent choice.
The only concern that I & my employees have is the OS: we prefer MAC OS, but we also use MS-XP
and MS-Vista. (the problems with Vista, although some still remain, are largely over-hyped) So, if
you're going with the MS operating system, then you might consider getting your new Toshiba with
MS-XP and upgrading to MS-Vista later. (Toshiba offers this option.)
