Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite M45-S165 15.4" Laptop (Intel Celeron M Processor 370, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Dbl Layer Drive)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

My laptop had broken down within the one-year warranty period.
I was not getting any video output. I had received authorization from Toshiba to return it. The laptop returned from Toshiba broken!
The keys were falling off. The back of the screen had pieces missing! The case was severely damaged. Toshiba claimed that this was caused by the user, and REFUSED any service to the DAMAGE THAT THEY CAUSED. There was NO VISIBLE DAMAGE when we sent it. I am a University Professor, and had no reason to lie them (I could have just gotten another one!). Despite several phone calls from people who confirmed that there was no physical damage prior to us, sending it to them, all we got was very rude handling of the complains. I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ANY TOSHIBA LAPTOP TO ANYONE.

I found this at Best Buy for $799 after a $200 instant rebate and was generally impressed.
This machine had some problems with freeze-ups when it was first introduced earlier this year, but it appears that Toshiba has finally worked out most of those issues. in addition, the new 100gb 5400rpm hard drive is impressive!

Pros:
- Attractive design - thinner and more eye-pleasing than M35/M35X predecessor
- Exceptional sound from built-in speakers, though deeper bass is lacking
- TruBrite display produced excellent images
- Touchpad is smooth and has good tactile feel
- Solid WiFi performance
- Toshiba power management and system management software: Touch and Launch, Acoustic Silencer, graphical WiFi utility

Cons:
- TruBrite display exhibits lots of glare, though this is common on nearly all glossy LCD's
- Display exhibits too much flex and seems fragile
- Poor 3D performance due to integrated graphics and shared memory
- Below Average Battery life
- Keyboard seems slightly cramped and is shifted to the right rather than centered
- Keyboard on this model feels louder and cheaper than other M45's (I compared all three at Best Buy)
- Relatively low-resolution 1280 x 800 display (98 PPI), though TruBrite has good color & contrast

I bought a Satellite laptop from ToshibaDirect, and my experience was very unpleasant. The laptop started overheated within a year, and I had to send it in for repair repeatedly (3 times so far.) Every time the laptop would work for a couple weeks and then the same problem would happen again. And the third time I sent in my laptop I had to wait about 3 weeks to get it back. But the thing I'm most angry with is that every time I call customer service or tech support, they always say "I don't know" or "we can't do anything about it."

I had my Satellite two years before it died completely, but it had problems from the beginning. It would overheat and randomly shut off. I brought it to Best Buy, where I had bought it, and they said they couldn't do anything. I later found out through an online forum (I don't remember the website, sorry), that some Satellites have had manufacturer's defects, causing them to overheat. I read reviews from many, many people who had the same problems! But Toshiba hasn't done anything to correct their problem. And when you do contact their customer service, they are unhelpful and unwilling to take responsibility.

I bought this laptop for my husband less than a
year ago. He carries it back and forth to work in
a rigid case. A few months ago, the LCD screen began to fail,
with a line of dark blue running
across the screen diagonally.It has spread to where
the screen is unusable. Toshiba refuses to replace
this piece of hardware, despite it still being
under warranty, because it is "damaged."

Isn't the point of having a laptop to be able to
carry it with you? How can general use of the
screen be damaging to a computer? Clearly, the cover
to this unit, while very thin and attractive, is
way too flexible to support the screen properly
when opening and closing it. Less than a year old,
and Toshiba won't replace it.

I spent a total of 2 hours trying to speak with a customer support person,
and when I finally got one on the phone,
she was the rudest person I've ever dealt with.

Toshiba flat out refuses to honor their warranty. Don't buy from them.

I just got this laptop for a month and it always shut down all of a sudden every few days without advance warning. It really pissed me off. I brought it to the TOSHIBA repair center and after a week of inspection, they said there wasn't any problem. So I brought it home thinking that it was alright but the auto-shutdown happened again and again :( Then the DVD-drive make such a loud noise once in a while and some of the function button just don't work (I still don't know how to change the brightness of my display until now). The battery also doesn't last long. Nothing is right with this laptop. It is such a disappointment. ARGH!!!! Driving me nuts....

I bought this from the local Best Buy for $1099.99 with a three year service contract for $249.99. I had to wait for a few days for a new shipment, so evidently these models are selling well. It seems like a good idea to buy from a local store so if it does need service you can carry it in rather than trust it to the mail. In the two weeeks I've had it I've tried out many applications and ran all the diagnostics I could find. There have been no problems so far. DVD movies are beautiful with this display but just remember to tilt it almost to the vertical so you are looking at it at 90 degrees.

The initial version of AOL that loads is 9.0 but without the security edition features; don't worry though it will quickly upgrade itself. Likewise the Widows XP latest upgrades will install themselves automatically in short order. All in all, I am completely satisfied so far.

This laptop is less than a year old, and it has already needed the hard drive replaced. Even though it's still under the 1 year Toshiba warranty, I opted to have it replaced by my trusted computer repairman. I upgraded to a 100GB hard drive from the 80GB that it came with. Since then, there has been NO problems and it's quite a fast machine. One other bad thing, is the battery life. Included is a 4 cell battery that comes with it. Make sure there is less than an hour with of work if you are using it without an AC adapter. I have searched and there are replacement batteries with 6, 8 and 12 cells. So I'm sure a new battery would correct the problem. Other than the hard drive and the low battery, this has been a wonderful laptop. It's easy to use, has a great 15.4" display with wonderful color. If you can find it on sale at 'Better-Buy' or 'Circuit Central' I'd take advantage of the weekly sales flyers. But for the money it is an average price for a few more than average options on and slightly better than average laptop. Just make sure you know a little about processors, RAM and GB to do an accurate comparison. Good luck.

I purchased this laptop in August 2005 with the understanding that it came loaded with Windows XP home edition.
I found out that the software loaded was a trial version (good for 60 days)and when I attempted to enter the software's "permanent" keycode, I got an "invalid keycode" message.
According to Toshiba's tech support, I have to purchase the software at an additional cost of $200.00.
I could have saved some money and aggravation by buying a different brand. I would not recommend the Toshiba.

Where oh where to start? I'll list the good things first, because honestly, the list is shorter.

-The screen quality is great
-A number of useful programs come factory installed

And, that's about it. Now, for the bad:

-The Motherboard crashed irrepairably and needed to be replaced after just over a year.
-The memory installed was neither enough, nor was long lasting, as it also had to be replaced.
-Several keys on the keyboard (including backspace, all arrow keys and the shift keys) have broken just beyond the time of the one year warranty.
-The Left mouse key also has broken
-The speakers fade in and out at will and crackle upon changing the volume. If you turn it up one speaker will kill completely.
-The system shuts down/freezes at random intervals
-Over time, the battery life will continue to shorten. After one year, disconnecting the battery charger(which also had to be replaced!) will give you a battery life of about 3 minutes.


Shall I go on? There are more replaced parts on my comupter than factory ones!! Both a sibling and myself got the same computer and experienced NUMEROUS serious problems. Never before have I had so much trouble with a computer! I suggest you RUN AWAY and never look back. I personally spent more FIXING this computer than I did on purchasing it.

I wish I could give it negative stars!!