OT low end Toshiba laptops

Are Toshiba laptops robustish nowadays? I seem to remember a conversation
with Verdi a few years ago saying they were one of his preferred brands.

The sprog wants a portable computer so that he can take do his coursework
at his grandparents house as well as home. His grandfather is a retired
English teacher so he gets a lot of help/encouragement there, which is
handy.

Sprog is very bright but, as a humanities student, is a total fuckwit where
technology is concerned. So, I'm bound to be called in to fix it when he
deletes or alters something important.

Sprog has Tourettes Syndrom. Whilst he does not swear any more than his
fucking dad, he does have issues with OCD and ADHD. These can result in
comedy conversations about how the **** did it get that shape.

So, buying a laptop is counter intuitive. A desktop with easily replaceable
USB ports and DVD drives would make more economic sense. But, hey, he's
just done really well in his GCSEs and is about to embark on a new college
course.

So, this Toshiba, available from Ebuyer and PCWB, for under £300 seems to
fit the bill. Apparently, if you spend another £27 on a 1GB RAM upgrade it
actually runs Vista.

Oh, and if I was to buy it. Ebuyer or PCWB?
http://www.pcwb.com/catalogue/item/TOSAT352
http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/129484/rb/0

FOAK?

--
wessie at tesco dot net

BMW R1150GS

"Wessie is a lovely man with many wonderful qualities" TM Blaney

 

Never, ever buy anything from PC World. Ever. Why Trading Standards
haven't shut the whole company down yet is completely beyond me.


--
Krusty
www.MuddyStuff.co.uk
Off-Road Classifieds

'02 MV Senna '03 Tigtona 955i '96 Tiger '79 Fantic Hiro 250

 

They were shit a few years ago, I dunno about now.

 

Oi, it's an ology. You'll have Auguste Comte turning in his grave.

Oh, and another thing. Never let your 19 year old flat mates know you fixed
electronics in a previous life...

--
wessie at tesco dot net

BMW R1150GS

"Wessie is a lovely man with many wonderful qualities" TM Blaney

 

Post corrected.

 

I had a satellite pro a60 that was a piece of crap - cost a bit over
£400 about 3 years ago. The screen hinges were terrible (first set
cracked, the extra stress after the crack caused the retaining screw
on one side to fail through metal fatigue, basically leaving the
screen hanging off). Replacement hinges were for wrong size screen
but managed to fit them with the help of a hacksaw and generous
swathes of strong double sided sticking tape (for fitting floor
tiles). Very much prone to overheating and very underpowered in
standard version. Battery life was crap, starting at quoted 3 hours
but meaning 1.5, gradually reducing to approximately 90 seconds after
a hard 3 years of heavy use.

I now have a Toshiba Tecra now - bought second hand/refurbished from
dabs.com (I think). A fairly high end business machine 3 years ago,
it is rock solid and battery life is still well over a genuine 4 hours
although the ACPI is screwed and % reportedly remaining goes straight
from 33% to 3%, and stays at 3% for a very long time - I still get 4
hours life however it does cause problems with power saving features
(eg going to standby when 1 remaining is low - I still get about 15
minutes life at 1%, although it can get annoying when it just shuts of
with no warning if standby is disabled when power is low!

 

wessie wibbled:

BIL worked for Tosh - they all used Sony laptops - hope that answers
your question . . . . .

 

Do not buy from PC World.

Older Toshibas were the dogs bollocks. On a par with IBM Thinkpads. AFAIAC
the modern Toshes are trading on past glories. They just don't seem sturdy
anymore. I still own a Toshiba 486 laptop, it still works. The battery is
shagged but everything else works faultlessly. My less than careful teenage
son has been playing about with concurrent DOS and Linux on it for a couple
of years. Even that hamfisted lurch can't kill it.

Personally, I'd go for a second user Panasonic Toughbook or some other
ruggedised portable. Win XP or even Win2k is adequate for running Office or
Works. Bit shit for games, but thats why Playstations were invented.

Failing that, an IBM, or as someone else has stated, an Acer. I'd advise
against a Toshiba if you have many 'How the **** did it get that shape '
conversations. I have them regularly with my eldest. I'm almost grateful
sometimes that he has no passion for bikes.

 

Like this?
http://www.laptopshop.co.uk/acer-travelmate-travelmate_2486wxmi-laptop-4-n2.htm

They list the full spec. Play.com have it at a cheaper price.

 

Never, ever buy anything from any part of DSG. As for Trading Standards,
because they're a bunch of good for nothing lazy cowards...

 

Are non-Travelmate Acer's as robust?

I can get a dual core Aspire 5710WLMi Gemstone for a similar price

 

Yes. I went off Toshiba after some research.

Can't be doing with the Dell delivery issue. So, I've ordered an in stock
Acer Advantage 5710 Gemstone from laptopsdirect