<p>Anyone have any experience with Toshiba laptops? I've seen a lot of great deals on them lately. Son was considering buy an HP until he read so many positive customer reviews regarding Toshiba's.</p>
<p>I've got one. Everything about it is great except:</p>
<ul>
<li>it overheats like crazy (both the part that connects the screen to the base, and the battery charger)</li>
<li>the battery life is pretty awful (mine went from about 2.5 hours to 17 minutes; then I got it fixed, and now it's around 2 hours)</li>
</ul>
<p>That battery life is terrible. I've read customer reviews comment that they've had pretty good battery life with Toshiba--4hrs. </p>
<p>He pretty much narrowed his choices to HP or Toshiba and he was leaning more towards Toshiba. He's sick of Dell and doesn't want a Mac (I have one and does his brother but it doesn't suit his needs). He doesn't want to spend the extra money for Lenovo. </p>
<p>Anyone else who can compare the quality of HP and Toshiba?</p>
<p>i think HP edges out Toshiba in build quality and reliability. however, he should go out and try using one if he hasn't already. personally, i don't like HP's touchpads and i don't like Toshiba's keyboards, so i wouldn't buy either if i had a choice.</p>
<p>Thanks toxic. I think the keyboard feel would probably be his priority. He's constantly typing papers and I suppose if the touchpad is really bad, he could buy a mouse.<br>
Well, the more comments the better. I'll forward them to him. HP's are everywhere so a lot of people must be OK with them. Toxic, what kind of laptop do you have?</p>
<p>I've got no problem with my Toshiba's keyboard and touch pad. I suppose, what it really comes down to, is how often he'll be away from a power source (aka, will he need to use his laptop for more than 2 hrs at a time before being able to charge again?) and perhaps the weather (it's more likely to overheat in a warm place like Southern California, which is where I live). If he's not worried about it overheating or not being able to last more than roughly 2 hours without charge, then my laptop has been quite reliable and runs fairly smoothly.</p>
<p>Thanks for your responses.</p>
<p>I have a Compaq (which HP owns) and I love it. My mom just bought a new HP Pavillion and loves it. She had a Toshiba a while ago and had all sorts of problems with it...what really turned her off, though, was Toshiba's horrible customer service when she tried to get her problems fixed and they were reluctant, even though her laptop was still under warranty.</p>
<p>That's very good to know. Sounds like I should steer him towards the HP.</p>
<p>I have dealt with a lot of HPs in recent years, 6 at my workplace and 2 of my personal machines. Of those:</p>
<p>1). 1 failed completely in 6 months
2). Another had to be returned due to hard drive clicking badly
3). My current one had a battery life of 30 secs after 1 year (battery replaced at 6 month mark) and has recently started to refuse to hold a charge. I've also had to have the LCD replaced at the one year mark. </p>
<p>Regarding the first failed laptop, it took HP two months and me calling everyday for 2 weeks for them to finally say they can't repair it and to replace it. And this was in the middle of my school year.</p>
<p>Those are my personal experiences.</p>
<p>IMHO, HP is slightly below par in terms of quality and middle of the road in terms of customer service. If I were buying a laptop today and I have a little more wiggle room in terms of budget (an extra $200-300), then I would buy a thinkpad. Indeed, my second laptop right now is a Thinkpad X61 and I love it. Thinkpads have good battery life and an excellent rep for quality. Also, it is generally acknowledged that thinkpads have the best keyboards in the industry (an assertion with which I wholeheartedly agree).</p>
<p>But if you are set on buying an HP and you are a costco member, you can buy a custom or preconfigured HP laptop from Costco's website or store for about the same price as direct from HP online. Except with costco, you get a 90 day return window, an extra year of warranty, and you can return at stores if there's one nearby.</p>
<p>up until about a month ago, i had an Acer as5670. it was fine, except that it ran pretty hot, and the plastic wasn't all that strong since it was a consumer-line machine. which brings me to another point: if there's a business line, buy that, unless he's intent on getting great graphics. MUCH better construction.</p>
<p>right now i have a macbook pro.</p>
<p>He's open to suggestions and not set on buying any particular brand yet. He doesn't want a Dell. HP and Toshiba seem to be having some great deals lately. Lenovo is a bit out of his budget right now. Sony's seem a bit overpriced. This is why he kind of narrowed his search down to HP and Toshiba. I've read other comments about HP's not being up to par but some people seem to love them. Toshiba's look like they're well made but I don't know anyone who has one. He's not a gamer so that's not an issue. I have a MacBook but he needs a Windows laptop.</p>
<p>Try your son's school computer store. I know mine usually has special laptop purchasing programs for incoming freshmen where they bundle business line machines from dell, HP, and lenovo and offer a 4 year warranty that's serviced onsite at the OIT department of the school. Some schools also have special relationships with these companies where they get institutional discounts. </p>
<p>As for lenovo being out of your son's budget, check out their outlet store online. They have new computers there that people have custom ordered and returned unused. Lenovo usually sells those for around 20-30% off the MSRP with the regular warranty and everything. The only downside is that you can't customize it. That's actually how I bought my Thinkpad X61. When I bought it, the model started at around $1200 and the outlet had my machine for around $900.</p>