Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite M45X-S331 15.4" Laptop (Intel Pentium M Processor 730 (Centrino), 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

After some research, I was down to Toshiba M45-S331 and Dell 6000. Finally got Toshiba although it was more expensive(especially considering Dell online deals). So far am very satisfied and love its built quality and feel as compared to others in the same price & specs range.

PROS:
1. Great specs for the price
2. TruBrite screen
3. Harman/Kardon speakers
4. Keyboard Layout
5. Bridge-Media Aapter

CONS:
1. PC2700 RAM instead of a DDR2
2. Relatively less Battery Life. (< 3 hrs on a full-charge)

I experienced the FREEZING/LOCK-UP problem on plugging the AC Power Cord and have seen numerous such topics online. Toshiba Support insisted its a hardware problem but was not convinced.

Was finally able to solve this problem by tweaking the Power settings of the Laptop...

1. Go to "Power Management Icon" from your system-icon-tray on bottom-right corner of the screen. (It gives information about Current Power Source, Remaining Battery and Power Profile)

2. Right-click it and select "TOSHIBA POWER SAVER SETTINGS".

3. Click "SETUP OPTIONS" button on bottom-left of the window

4. "UNCHECK" the box marked "Change Power Source Profile Automatically".

Once you have done this....you should hopefully no longer have the freezing or locking problem when you switch to AC Power.

I recieved my laptop last week and have been working it out ever since. I am an electroinc musician and I am running Ableton Live 3.0 on it with no problems so far (See www.myspace.com/kenjibeatbox for a sample of the music I've created on this thing). Transfering my files over from my old computer was no problem. I just plugged into my network router and downloaded all my files and mp3's. Installing all my music software was also no problem. I did have a little trouble installing the M-Audio Quattro software for my USB Audio module, but that was mostly because of the crappy instruction manual from M-Audio and not because of the laptop.

The thing is damn fast! I was previously running Ableton Live on a 750 mhz AMD Athalon machine. Often, my CPU usage bar would creep up to 70% or more. But these same tracks now only push up the bar to about 15%. I can tweek effects, pile on the reverb and do live editing with no gapping, no freezing, no crashing and no spontaneous restarts (all problems i was having with my old PC).

The battery life seems to be good. But so far, I've only been watching DVD's on battery power. I can run a 2.5 hour movie and still have 20 minutes of battery life or so. The real test will be producing music on battery power which will be much more CPU intensive.

The wide screen monitor is beautiful, and I had no trouble setting up my old CRT for using dual monitors for added workspace. It is very simple to set it up in the control panel. It seems though, that you need to set it up each time you want to use dual monitors, but I could be wrong. I haven't really figured out all the ins and outs of this thing yet.

So over all, this is a good, truly mobile, machine at a very fair price and I am quite pleased with it. If I have any problems with it in the future, I will update this review.

EDIT AUG/2005
Still very happy with my laptop. I have read about other people having wireless/battery lockup problems. At this moment, I am unplugging the AC adapter and switching to battery... Still typing. Now at this moment I am plugging back in the AC adapter... No problems.. This has not been a problem at all on my system.

I have competed in a Laptop Battle with this machine as well, running on batteries with no problems either. For a video of my battle performance see www.zebox.com/evolume.

There ARE a couple problems I have noticed after about 6 months usage:

1. I am not sure but it seems the display is 'bleached' out towards the bottom and right sides of the screen. It is only really visable if the image showing is very dark and I have the lights off, and only when viewing at an angle. Not sure what to think of this. I don't know how long it's been like this and it doesn't seem to be worsening. It is a little upsetting but like I said, it is barely noticable.

2. My wireless card does not always turn on after I switch it off. I have solved this problem by just never switching it off but again, it is a little upsetting.

Over all I am still very pleased with this machine. It is light. It is fast. And the display is (for the most part) beautiful. I am still producing music with it. I use it probably 50-60 hours a week and it almost never crashes. I noticed that Costco now sells an updated version of of this machine for about $1400 and it has a 100gig HD instead of 80, but I don't regret buying mine when I did. Computers will always get better no matter how long you wait to buy.

Sleek notebook, but that’s the only positive. My absolute worst fears all came true only three weeks after I bought it.

Within three weeks the screen had died on me. Called the warranty service who advised me to send it to the Toshiba depot for repair, as opposed to taking it to a local service center. They assured me that the depot would have all the necessary parts, whereas a service center will have to order them and wait. They also assured me that I’ll have my notebook back in about a week.

Three weeks later, after countless phone calls, and many promises of delivery “next week”, they finally told me that parts are still not available and that it would take two additional weeks before they get them.

I called customer relations several times (get used to 45 minutes on hold, don’t bother leaving messages, they never return calls despite the promise of “within the hour”). Every time I was assured that this time they’ll get it right and that I’ll get my notebook within days.

Needless to say, two weeks passed, and the assurances turned to be meaningless. Customer relations’ only job is to get you off the phone, not to solve your problem. So here I am with a brand new notebook that spent twice as much time in the repair shop than on my desk. I called customer relations again, and asked to speak to someone who will actually do something to solve my problem, perhaps send me a replacement unit. I bought the notebook because I needed it, and I just can’t defer using it indefinitely. Guess what they told me? There’s not such thing as someone who could do something. There is no replacement policy. I’ll just have to wait for the part until it arrives – whenever that is.

A new notebook is not supposed to break right out of the box, but if it does, a respectable manufacturer should stand by their product and make up for the inconvenience to the customer. Toshiba has been utterly disappointing on all counts.

When my Sony GRX-550 laptop crashed, I took it to Best Buy in Boynton Beach, Florida, and waited seven weeks while the Geek Squad -- and I do mean Geek -- decided whether to repair or replace it under a Professional Performance Plan. SEVEN WEEKS! All those weeks of unanswered phone calls and e-mails made me mighty mad. When I finally got through -- by calling corporate and asking it to patch me through -- and threatened to tell my tale to local consumer reporters, the store managers miraculously and uncharacteristically made a smart move and gave me a brand spanking new Toshiba M45-S331.

This machine outperforms my GRX-550 by leaps and bounds, which I guess is to be expected in a newer computer. It has a bright screen, fast processor, plenty of memory -- 512 mb expandable to 2 gb -- dvd burner, and enough ports to satisfy the most demanding multi-tasker. There's also a built-in wireless feature that I haven't tried yet.

All that and IT'S QUIET! I mean it's quiet. My old Sony laptop clicked and whirred constantly. When I was researching machines to replace it after the crash, I listened to other Sony laptops in Best Buy and found they had the same annoying habit. I don't know exactly why my computer was so noisy -- it sounded like the hard drive was talking to itself -- but I do know that it could be heard from every room in my apartment and often appeared as the soundtrack to my worst nightmares.

After several weeks of heavy use, I can tell you I'm very happy with my Toshiba M45-S331. If it keeps on running the way it is now for the next couple of years, I will be a Toshiba loyalist. If it doesn't, Best Buy sweetened the replacement deal with another three year Professional Performance Plan, and you'll probably be reading about another horrible ordeal trying to get them to make good on it.

The only note of caution I have for buyers of the Toshiba Satellite M45-S331 is that it does not come with a parallel port, which means if you have a printer with a parallel cord, you will have to buy one with a USB end to plug it into the computer. This could add about 20 bucks to the cost of the computer.

Happy computing.

When I first saw this laptop it seemed perfect - great screen, thin, light, perfect keyboard, etc. But after placing it directly next to the new Sony VGN-FS550, I couldn't believe the difference. The screen on the Sony was MUCH brighter and the Sony seemed to be better built (no flex in the screen, nicer materials, better fit & finish, etc.)

Pros:
- TruBrite screen (better than average, but not as bright as Sony FS)
- relatively thin and light considering specs
- placement of speakers ABOVE keyboard rather than below on M35
- great keyboard
- very quiet, runs cool (if properly ventilated!), still haven't heard fan
- exceptional price ($1250 online)

Cons:
- lots of pre-loaded and worthless software
- DDR memory rather than faster DDR2 memory
- slower 4200rpm hard drive
- Toshiba reliability is better than average but not great
- wireless performance is average

The keyboard has a very weird layout. So weird, in fact, that I decided to return my m35x-s349 - very similar to this one - and pay a 15% restocking fee at Best Buy (Amazon doesn't have a restocking fee for laptops as far as I know). The biggest issue I had with the keyboard is that there is no Ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard. If you use computers throughout the day you would likely use this key with the arrow keys and your right hand to jump around text and spreadsheets, among other things (pasting, copying, etc). Also, the Windows button is on the top - for me not as big of a deal but other reviewers had an issue with that.

However this laptop is a very good laptop other than this, and at a very good price... lots of memory and hard drive space, DVD burner, awesome widescreen screen, and Toshiba is one of the most reliable laptop brands according to Consumer Reports (Apple is by far the most reliable, followed by both Sony and Toshiba).

After returning the product I purchased the Sony VAIO VGN-A250 from Amazon. Almost identical features - the only differences are that the Sony DVD burner is a double layer drive (not super important for the majority of the public), and the Sony memory card reader only accepts Memory Sticks (which Sony cameras use) whereas Toshiba's memory card reader accepts 5 different types of cards (including SD, the most popular). Additionally the Sony turns out to be $100-200 more.

Lastly, Toshiba appears to be replacing their M35X line with M45 at the moment, which at a first glance is even cheaper, so keep a lookout for those.

I love this laptop! I've been using it heavily for several weeks and I haven't had any problems. It hasn't locked up once, and I've used it for hours with 5 programs running(excel, word, onenote, firefox, acrobat reader), several windows each, and it didn't even slow down a bit. I use the wireless connection on battery, on AC, connecting it and disconnecting it while surfing the web, and no problems.
And the trubrite display is great!

I went to buy this laptop and I'm still struggling to hear its fan as it's really quiet. When I tried to lift it I was surprised to realise how light it was and I'm still waiting for its battery to end. When I compared its TruBrite screen next to M35X S309 I no longer had a doubt - the screen really makes a difference. Given that my old toshiba laptop - had it for 2.5 years - never presented an issue despite turning it on and then putting in to standby 10 times a day, this laptop looks like the best investment one can make at this period.

OK, I'll say a negative thing so that I don't sound too positive. The keyboard could present greater resemblence to a desktop but this is not something that cannot be used in longer than a week.

This is the first time I purchased a laptop and cannot really compare to other laptops. However after a few minutes using this laptop, I realised that there was absolutely no noise coming from the laptop .. incredible .. very quiet! I was annoyed by the tons of software which were installed on it (most of them as trial) .. it took me a whole day to remove everything and install my software.

Screen is wonderful and you have to get used to work on a wide screen. The touch pad is excellent.

Edit - I have been using the laptop for over 5 months now .. great piece of equipment. Battery life is not as good as other laptops but the screen is bigger.

I purchased a Toshiba M45-S331 on Feb. 2 at Office Depot for $1299.99 after rebates. I got it home, and fell in love with it instantly...until I decided to try out the wireless. I had my power features set so that when I was on battery it switched to the maximum life mode and when I was on AC it was the Maximum performance mode. I was walking around the house wireless surfing the internet - no problem....until I plugged my AC back in. The machine locked up hard. No ctrl+alt+del...no nothing....it was froze. I called it a glitch and cut it off and back on. I was working on battery, and plugged it up again while surfing the net and it hard locked again. I assumed I had a bad laptop, so I returned it to Office Depot on Feb 3. I took another one home thinking surely that it wouldn't do this....but it did. I was also able to duplicate the problem on the one on display at Office Depot. It seems as long as you don't have your wireless turned on...it will do fine going from battery to AC. As long as you don't plan on wirelessly surfing the net and plugging up to AC at the same time, it should be a great laptop. One side note - this was the only toshiba model that had this problem that Office Depot had on display. But...I decided to try my luck with Sony so I ordered one today.