Protip: Avoid Toshibia Satellite laptops

"No, I don't thank you for the fish at all" (notindetroit) 07/09/2015 at 11:22 • Filed to: None

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I’ve owned two of them and they’ve done nothing but raise my blood pressure. They legitimately cannot be called anything but absolutely fucking terrible pieces of shit.

The first one was purchased back in 2008 and started fine except that the screen kept deteriorating and it would constantly overheat. A cooling pad and careful use and cleaning solved the latter problem but the screen just kept deteriorating until it just became unusable and then I bought a second Satellite because the guy at the Staples store said they are a lot better now and I believed him. Big mistake. It runs cool at least but it freezes and crashes randomly (especially at startup) and the actual touchpad is misaligned with the bits underneath so not only is the touchpad wonky to use but when you type things the movement of your palms will cause random commands to happen including selecting and deleting the text you’re working on. It’s nothing short of a nightmare laptop and I seriously regret buying a higher-end, more reliable model used if I needed an absolute bargain laptop that badly. Really it’s no good for anything but media streaming and web browsing, if that.

In short, I want to throw it out my second story window, stomp on it with my motorcycle boots, run it over with my SUV until there are barely any recognizable bits left and then go down to Staples and punch the guy who said “oh no they’re reliable I use them all the time myself.”

Also, Satellite is a stupid fucking name for a laptop, don’t care if it’s also a Mopar or not.

Nibbles > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:24

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Save your pennies and buy a Lenovo

deekster_caddy > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:25

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You get what you pay for, this applies to all laptops. The cheap laptops have cheap components, which translates directly to slower. To get a laptop that performs well, you need to pay for the good chipsets and an SSD. People have the same complaints about Dell Inspiron, etc.

Bad Idea Hat > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:25

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Toshibas were running hot as far back as 2003-04. They were fairly solid then, though. I don’t know, cycles of reliability I guess. IBM/Lenovo still kills it, but they’re sliding a bit right now as well.

CalzoneGolem > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:29

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Cheap Desktop > Cheap Laptop

CalzoneGolem > deekster_caddy 07/09/2015 at 11:30

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Ugh! This really cheap thing is actually not very good!

Stapleface-Now Hyphenated! > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:31

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I’ve had my Satelite going on probably 4 years now and it does pretty much everything you describe. It’s infuriating when it will just hang for about 25-30 seconds at random and not do anything. And for the past 6 months or so I’ve been getting the random cursor thing as well that will delete or copy/paste stuff. I’ve maxed out the RAM and have an SSD in it, but it really didn’t seem to help my Toshiba at all. I actually much prefer using my chromebook over my laptop, but use the laptop because my blind ass needs the 17" screen.

JQJ213- Now With An Extra Cylinder! > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:32

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I have a Satellite Ultrabook now. I only have it because I won it for free in a contest. Holy Fuck the thing has an aluminum body that gets so hot I could actually burn myself. And lately all it has are hard drive errors which make it blue screen at least twice a week. The quick load is bs and is slower than anything else. And the chickletkeyboard is kinda falling apart. This was an $1100 new computer.

deekster_caddy > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 11:33

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Save your pennies and buy a good laptop with good components. HP, Lenovo, Dell, they are all the same motherboards and chipsets inside. But you have to get the good stuff inside, and they are more expensive.

georgechristensen > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:34

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Buy a used Thinkpad off of ebay. They’re usually ex-business and well maintained, also dirt cheap. I recommend the X201, T410 and T420 models. Just make sure you get the 1440x900 screen in the T410 and the 1600x900 screen in the T420.

Nibby > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:35

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Give me a budget to work with and maybe I can help you find something much nicer.

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:37

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My first laptop was a Samsung R540 with an i3 and 3gb of ram... that thing was TOUGH. It always started up, never overheated (even with a tiny fan being the only thing cooling it) and the screen always stayed in good health (up to the point that I dropped it 4 feet onto a tile floor). Even then all I did was replace the LCD panel for $60 and it started right back up.... It still soldiers on today with a friend of mine somewhere...

Nibbles > deekster_caddy 07/09/2015 at 11:46

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Chipsets, for the most part yeah, because Intel kinda has the market cornered on those. Laptop motherboards are proprietary but when it comes down to fit and finish, which is where the money lies, Lenovo has both HP and Dell beat. Even in their low end models.

(If this comes off as fanboyish, I do apologize. I’m quite agnostic though, after working in R&D for HP, I’m surprised I’m still partial to their units over Dell)

spanfucker retire bitch > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 11:58

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Toshiba hasn’t made a good laptop since the second-gen Portege. They all suck.

carcrasher88 > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 12:09

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I’ve got a Satellite C655 that was built in 2010, and I’ve had nothing serious go wrong with it.

Of course, the reason mine hasn’t overheated is because when I use it, it’s on one of those desktop keyboard shelves that’s been removed from a desk that’s otherwise been recycled already.

With the two portions that would keep a desktop keyboard from falling off, I can sit the laptop on it, and there’s nearly half an inch thick of breathing room between the plywood and the laptop.

Plus, it allows me to have a wireless mouse next to it wherever I’m using the laptop.

Of course, mine might be one of the only decent Satellites built, but this one’s been nothing but reliable since it was brand new, even though I’ve only been using it myself for almost a year, as it was given to me after my last laptop, an Asus, failed.

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 12:13

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Save more pennies and buy a Macbook.

Nibbles > mcseanerson 07/09/2015 at 12:16

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No.

deekster_caddy > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 12:20

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I do all the computer orders at work, and we’ve gone all Dell for a long time. I really like their ‘Latitude’ lineup, but again only the higher end models. It pays off in the long run to buy the better machines. Most of them are very reliable and last a very long time. Nothing wrong with being fanboyish - we have often looked at switching to Lenovo but never found a justification to do it. The high end Lenovo laptops are on the same price range as the Dells, but we have lots of the Dell docking stations and such around so it would cost a lot more to make the switch.

Alan > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 12:23

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I tweaked my satellite from 08’ and upgraded the fan removed part of the thin plastic fan half cover. It is overclocked to 4ghz from 2.1 on a AMD Trion x2. Fast as anything you can buy today.

Nibbles > deekster_caddy 07/09/2015 at 12:24

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I hear ya. I started my new position when the company was considering switching from Dell to Lenovo. Given my extensive experience with Lenovo products, I got in on the beta test. Now everyone’s running around with ThinkPads and three screens :)

I only wish I could’ve got the T540 instead of the L440 because I really miss my 10-key, but even the L440 is a nicer lappy than the E6430 they’re replacing

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 12:36

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Care to give a reason why?

deekster_caddy > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 12:36

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Ugh. Dammit, Lenovo’s site is kinda like Dell’s - no way to show all of the laptop models without first choosing “work” “home” “professional” “Gaming” etc. Just show me all the damn computers!

Nibbles > mcseanerson 07/09/2015 at 12:42

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I don’t care for paying a premium for a name
Non-replaceable components are not a thing I’m interested in owning
No 10-key option
Not enough ports
I run a minimum of 3 monitors at a time
I’m also a Microsoft Systems Engineer, so there’s that too

Nibbles > deekster_caddy 07/09/2015 at 12:43

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Yeah their site is shit. At least it’s working today

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 12:54

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Look at used Macbook prices and realize that the premium can work in your favor.

Laptops aren’t well known for replaceable components in general.

Here’s your 10 key and your extra ports right here.

Here’s your multiple monitors right here. Although there’s been arguments that single higher resolution monitor are more efficient from a productivity standpoint.

I was fiercely anti-apple products until the 2010 Macbook Air came out. I was overwhelmed by the weight and the design and the instant on capabilities. I bought one and fell in love. When I bought it my original intention was to wipe OS X and install Windows but instead I dual booted for a while and actually came to really love OS X for basic computing needs. I’m not saying people have to buy apple products or even should buy them but don’t just rule them out. I have many friends who like me were die hard PC guys until I let them use my Macbook Air and they were instantly converted.

Nibbles > mcseanerson 07/09/2015 at 13:03

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Used, fine. Yeah I sold my old MBP (2011 model) in 2014 for $1200. That wasn’t too bad of a deal

My L440 has user serviceable battery pack (thank god because I got the 12 cell unit for 14 hours operating life, has saved my ass MULTIPLE TIMES), RAM, HDD and CD/DVD (or in my case, extra HDD now). It also has a clitmouse which is leagues better than any trackpad.

Arguments about productivity notwithstanding, It’s quite nice to have one monitor dedicated to my ticket queue/email, one dedicated to monitoring and another dedicated to the myriad remote sessions I have going at any time.

Like I said before, I’m quite agnostic. I’ll give everything a try to formulate my own opinion. I’ve had multiple Apple products. They’re quite nice, very well designed and functional pieces of equipment. For my use, however, A Microsoft-centric machine is better utilized

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 13:06

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Ok, that’s cool. I know a lot of people who are diehard one way or the other and I get hate from all of them because I’m pretty much agnostic myself. I’ve never cared much for replaceable components on a laptop just because I feel if that stuff is that important you should be on a desktop anyways.

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 13:08

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Also I forgot to mention: I FUCKING HATE CLITMOUSES CLITMEECES CLITMICE. I have one on my work laptop with a tiny tiny trackpad and I hate both of them.

Nibbles > mcseanerson 07/09/2015 at 13:11

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Nope. Although I make my money off Microsoft’s products, that doesn’t mean I fanboy

Though our household tech consists of three 360s, an XBone, two Win7/8/10 laptops, three Win 98/XP/7 desktops, three Windows Phones, a Surface 3 and an Android tablet :\

As for the replaceable components on laptop stuff, I work remotely often. Whether it’s home, the bar, the baseball game, I am accountable for many products 24/7. Lugging a desktop around is counterproductive and I ain’t gonna do my work on a personal machine, so I make sure I get the most robust laptop I’m allowed to order at work :)

Nibbles > mcseanerson 07/09/2015 at 13:12

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Clitmice are the best

I don’t know about other manufacturers, but Lenovo (nee IBM) has done ‘em the best for ages.

mcseanerson > Nibbles 07/09/2015 at 13:17

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I just hate them so much. Feels like trying to control my computer with a pencil eraser.

BJ > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 13:46

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A long time ago, in a far away land... we had a Satellite laptop and it was, at the time, one of the best portable computers you could buy for reasonable money. It had a Pentium 100MHz processor: http://www.computinghistory.org.uk/det/8728/Toshi…

Birddog > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/09/2015 at 14:13

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I have a Satellite from 2004. Oddly it runs well but it will get hot. Reeally damn hot.

I was thinking of getting a newer Toshiba up till now.

edu-petrolhead > georgechristensen 07/09/2015 at 16:00

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I have a T420. This thing is a f**** tank

pip bip - choose Corrour > No, I don't thank you for the fish at all 07/10/2015 at 05:16

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Apple.