Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite A25-S307 Laptop (2.80-GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 60 GB Hard Drive)

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

 

 

Well, I just bought the A25-307 and absolutely love this computer. I have installed Windows Office 2000 and many other business programs, and the machine runs beautifully and quickly. In addition, I've also installed video editing and DVD burning programs, and everything functions smoothly. I'm not a gamer, so I can't comment on that facet of the computer's performance. And when I view a DVD, it is displayed with clarity on the screen (no shadows, either). And the DVD burner is a great plus! The wireless function is really wonderful, too, and 60 GB on the hard disk is plenty of memory!

The Karmon speakers emphasise the treble more than the bass, but when I hook up external portable speakers (Phillips, in my case) the sound is, of course, wonderful. My only wish is that the screen, while of good resolution, would have yet a higher resolution for extra crispness. However, this is just a small suggestion. The current resolution is perfectly fine. The A25-307 is a marvelous computer that I would instantly recommend to anyone!

I just got this last night. It was at no cost to me and I am glad of that fact, because the video/graphics card alone would deter me from buying this computer. For everyday applications ( surfing, e-mailing...) I can safely bet it's about the same as any other computer on the market. The speed is an improvement over my desktop (800mhz PIII), but that's not saying much.

I am pretty impressed with how comfortable the full size keys are. I have used an Acer in school and it makes me feel like I am typing with Italian sausages. I have no problem with double-keying on this. The layout took a little getting used to since I have grown accustomed to having the Windows shortcut keys at the bottom as opposed to up in the right corner.

The display is decent as well.

I have yet to try any DVD burning, but since it only comes with one drive any hopes of copying DVD's are squashed unless I buy an additional external drive. Same goes for the lack of a floppy drive, which, while getting phased out, still has a use and therefore should be left in until they have gone the way of the 5" floppy drive.

The sound is weak... but I haven't seen a laptop with sound comparable to regular speakers... yet.

I do like the scroll touch pad software that comes with the system, as it's very customizable and fairly easy to figure out.
Same goes for the Toshiba Console software, which helped a lot when establishing my Wi-Fi connection.

Overall it's a decent laptop computer, but if you are looking for a mobile gaming platform stay far away from this and look to Sager. Would I have paid money for this... No. I'd put toss away the additional $1,000+ for a mobile gaming system, because it'll take that much longer to be outdated. (which I intend to do)

I use only laptops and I got this one as an emergency replacement when the motherboard failed in my old one during a big job. It did the job through very hard use for a year or so, but it didn't survive nearly nicely as my others.

The CD drive quit burning CDs right just after the warranty was up though for some reason it still burns DVDs okay. The keyboard didn't hold up well at all, even beyond my usual problems with scratching off all the letters with my fingernails. (Seems no one can make a laptop keyboard that can survive my talons.) But several keys broke completely which was never a problem on any other laptops I've had from other manufacturers. I already knew better than to call Toshiba support. For quite a while I laid a cheap usb silicon keyboard over the existing keyboard (with a piece of thin cardboard underneath). Fortunately it's only about $25 for a new keyboard if you can do it yourself.

I also outgrew it. I needed more disc space and a better processor for some heavy duty programs and have now replaced it as my main computer. Regarding the previous review, when push comes to shove, the Core Duo is much faster. I still use it for some projects as beat up as it is, but I would not pay this price again for a new one. It should be a few hundred dollars less, especially with the Home edition of XP.

So I've toted this 8 pound beauty from kuwait, to qatar, to iraq, and all over the united states. I've had a few problems along the way but only one which was really difficult to fix. Don't bother calling toshiba to help you with anything. I didn't get to use it for about 8 months a while back... no problems would have started if my mother in law's cat didn't eat halfway through my power cord. Couldn't figure out why it would freeze up when it was only bumped. Then when I was moving it from one TV tray to another, I noticed a crackling noise coming from the outlet behind the couch... well, long story short, the only thing damaged was my internal wireless card. Had to completely disconnect it from EVERYTHING. Don't call toshiba for help, EVER. Go to geek squad or fire dog, or your local PC guy. Nonetheless, I'm using it to write this review, and I think it'll probably last me another year or two. Only down side of this computer is the weight, and poor tech support. But knowing I can use it as a lethal weapon to beat someone to death with makes me feel better for some reason. Weather it will out-perform these intel duo core 2 processors... I'm not sure really. It seems to be just as fast as my wife's computer which we just bout about 9 months ago, and I'm thinking about upgrading to a gig of ram. Still, no big problems or headaches other then 1: viruses. 2: mominlaw's stupid cat, 3: the spring broke to keep my screen up, so now I have to lean it on something. 4: theres one kind of blank DVD that I can't burn to or watch burned movies on. And of course, 5: Hulk hogan has asked me if he could borrow it for his bench pressing sessions. Really though, this baby is a tank. I've dropped it over three feet a couple times from a backpack, spilled beer on it, and done half a million dreadfull things to it. This baby will last you quite some time.

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.