Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite A25-S279 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

Before buying this laptop, I compared just two non-widescreen models, HP ZE5570US and this Toshi. The HP has too much silver plastic and it's just not my taste thought the HP is not that bulky as Toshi. For nearly one month ownership, A25-S279 is overall a good laptop as expected. The performance of 2.8P4+480M (512M-32M video) is more than enough for programming and some graphics s/w. Harddrive is very quiet. 54G wireless is no problem with my D-Link DI624 router. Not sure about PC game though.

However, you should notice there's no free CD burning s/w bundled but a trial one. Also the depth is a bit larger than a regular laptop. Be sure it'll fit your notebook case. They are the reasons I bought a Nero 6.0 Ultra and Samsanite carry case.

I just got my Toshiba A25-S279 yesterday so I can't say if it will last years and years like my buddy's did. The thing that jumped out as soon as I opened the box was how ugly the notebook was. Its large size is also a bit of a problem. At 13.4" x 11.6" x 1.9", it's very hard to find a bag that fits. Most "large" bags only fit up to 13" x 11". You have to go for an "oversized" bag. This notebook looks cheap when compared to other notebooks. And I don't mean Sony which is light years ahead in term of looks.

Here are the reasons why I bought this ugly duckling anyway.
1. It's the most reasonably priced notebook among other major brands. You can't find a better deal on P4 2.8, 60GB, 512MB, DVD-CDRW, built-in 802.11g than this one. Toshiba also gives out generous rebates. Check out their website for details. The store I bought mine from didn't advertise it. Lucky I found a $100 rebate on the Toshiba website.
2. Built quality. All of my friends who bought Toshiba never had problems with theirs. The battery stopped holding charges after over a year, but all notebooks have this problem.
3. It comes with a restore disk. If anything goes wrong, you don't have to scramble for a boot disk and install all the drivers. Just pop in this disk and click OK, OK, once in a while. Your notebook will be back to its original factory installed condition in an hour.
4. It runs directly off the A/C. To preserve the battery life, when I'm at home which is most of the time, I take out the battery completely. Plug the notebook into the UPS and let it run directly off the A/C plug. You can't do that with Dell's. The Dell's circuit isn't completed without a battery. My sister's Dell's battery is completely dead (doesn't hold charge for even one second) but she still need to put her battery in its slot anyway just so the computer would turn on. Very annoying.
5. Built-in wireless. At this price range, it's very hard to find ones that come with built-in 802.11g. Some come with 802.11b, yucks!
It's a lot nicer not having to haul around a wireless card that you may lose or forget to bring with you. Being built-in also means that it frees up the PC card slot for something else you may need.

I highly recommend this notebook to anyone who's going to use this laptop as a replacement PC, who's not travelling a lot, who doesn't mind the ugly look knowing that its the inside (P4 2.8, 512, 60GB yada yada) that counts.

I have bought this model in oct 2003, so it will soon have 3 years. Despite the fact that it is so bulky, I have been quite pleased with it. I would have continued to do my jobs with it if the lid had not succumbed just recently. Now it can no loger be fixed in a certain position. I have to place a book to tilt it, which is too bad.
I guess that after so many closings and openings, the parts which hold the lid have come loose.
I will try to see if I can get it repaired.

Emanuel

The thing I like best about this laptop is the fact that it just keeps on going. I bought it back in 2003. It doesn't shut down unexpectedly or freeze as other computers have. It is a little heavier and I have to put it in an older, larger notebook carry case but I still move all over the house with it's wireless internet connection. I love the 2.8 GHZ speed. It's faster than my old towers which is why I finally switched. I've never had problems with it so haven't had to deal with any tech support problems. I've had to buy a separate DVD burner and still have to use other card reader attachments but this works fine for now.

I was a little hesitant initially about buying the Toshiba Satellite A25-S279, but once I got it and started using it, I loved it. The processor speed, the 512 RAM, 60GB hard disk, and the wireless 802.11g network compatibility are all a huge plus. The only downside is that it's a little heavy, but that is common with any other laptop with a 15 inch monitor. Compared to other laptops such as the Sony VAIO, Compaq, and HP, I would definitely recommend the Toshiba Satellite.

an amazon merchant under the name electrophreaky has advertised to sell this item as a new product. I have purchased it and the item was never shipped to me in spite of my numerous attempts to contact seller though his posted email on amazon.com. Tgeseller later dissapeared from the amazon website. Amazon.com has not made an attempt to chased down this lousy seller or provide contact ph no fo him. they insisted on applying their 30 days policy of do nothing and another 30 days and we may refund you. thats 60 days and i am out $1300 which they're banking. people stay away from amazon and its merhcants. no wonder they're losing their ass off as a company.

Toshiba may make good products, but their support is the worst i have ever come across. They have lost my laptop for over a month now and do not care a lick about it. They're tech support team is in Turkey and they dont care a thing about anybody. They kept hanging up on me and refused to help me saying it will take some time. When i called back- no one knew anything and had zero updates. DO NOT BUY TOSHIBA PRODUCTS! Get a Gateway or Dell instead...two companies that actually care about their customers.

Toshiba may make good products, but their support is the worst i have ever come across. They have lost my laptop for over a month now and do not care a lick about it. They're tech support team is in Turkey and they dont care a thing about anybody. They kept hanging up on me and refused to help me saying it will take some time. When i called back- no one knew anything and had zero updates. DO NOT BUY TOSHIBA PRODUCTS! Get a Gateway or Dell instead...two companies that actually care about their customers.