Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)I bought one of these 'devices' from a Best Buy because another laptop required repair and I needed it to use a computer immediately for travel. I will say that Toshiba will not receive business from me again, although it takes two to tango. In this case, the partner is Windows Vista.
If you are a generic user that doesn't need to use the laptop for major use, it may not be that bad. If you are someone like me who will simultaneously have AutoCAD, Excel, and other software open, don't waste your time. If I could find the decision makers for this laptop and the fine Microsoft persons who gave the green light to Vista, I would skin them alive and then dip them in vinegar to make up for one tenth of the frustration I've had with this computer.
When I restart, the computer has always gone into an endless boot where it looks to start with the hard drive, then goes to the DVD play... and back... and forth... and back... and forth... Enough said there. The laptop is massively overpowered by that dirty diaper full of programming called Vista. It is a 64 bit version, so realize when you buy it that A LOT OF YOUR HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE WON'T BE ABLE TO RUN ON 64 bit Vista. As a result of this purchase (here, we step into the Vista diaper deeper), I had to purchase a new printer, a new version of AutoCAD, a new version of Norton Ghost (which eventually won't run anyways), a new portable scanner... and the list goes on and on. My fine new $800 laptop cost me an extra several thousand dollars to run with modified soft/hardware. You would think that Toshiba would have been prepared for this kind of problem. Eventually, I paid a kid to swipe the toilet clean ... I mean the laptop, and replace it with Windows 7. While this does seem to have solved some problems, the laptop is still underpowered.
And Toshiba, thanks for putting a Labelflash drive in it. Unfortunately, although it does a great job, companies like Toshiba never supported it as well as it should have been supported and Labelflash has turned this into the Beta (of VHS versus Beta fame) when compared to Lightscribe. Again, I like Labelflash BETTER than Lightscribe, so don't get me wrong about that. It's just that Labelflash is going bye-bye. BEWARE - Finding Labelflash DVDs is getting tougher and will get expensive. It does a great job, but the market has collapsed for them...
Maybe I got a lemon? I can't say for sure, but I can say that Toshiba should be ashamed of putting out such a piece of junk. Microsoft should be ashamed... well, for the last 10 years of garbage they've put out. I hope you have better luck than I did if you get this 'device'.
Skip this machine and look elsewhere and make sure that you never buy a laptop/computer with a dirty diaper (Vista) installed.
-M-
PS - Strong letter to follow.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Toshiba Satellite M305D-S4830 (AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 Dual-Core processor 2.1 GHz speed processor, 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM, 250 GB hard drive, 14.1" LCD+Web Cam, DVD±RW DL Labelflash, ATI Radeon 3100)
