Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite P25-S526 17" Laptop (3.20 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD+/-RW Drive)

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The Satellite P25-S526 notebook computer has never worked properly -- it gives a fatal error message and the blue screen appears. The computer techs could not fix it, so it was sent back to Toshiba for repairs. They apparently replaced the hard drive, but when it was sent back to us, it continued its previous behavior. Toshiba refuses to exchange the defective computer for a new one that works. They claim that their warranty policy only covers the repair of the original computer. So far, we have wasted a month on this computer, and it still doesn't work. Plus, Toshiba wants us to send the computer back to them for more repairs. We may like the computer once it is working, but the hassle is not worth it. Buyers beware!

I've had my PS -S526 for two years, and it has been used as well as abused heavily.

In the past two years, there may have been one 18 hour time span where the computer wasn't in use, other than that, it is on a minimum of 12 hours a day. I have lost count of the number of times I have fallen asleep on the keyboard (with the 526 on). When I fall asleep at the keyboard, I seem to be incapable of turning it off, and usually shut the lid and fall asleep on the lid (with the computer on).

My 26 lb MaineCoon Cat takes care of the abuse. He has taken swan dives from an eight foot shelf on to the keyboard when I'm using it. Plus, the jealous 7 lb female cat has, on numerous occasions, peuked on it. The MaineCoon won't let us brush him, and our silly country town outlawed outdoor cats. Meaning...they are always indoors. No matter how often I clean, we constantly have two inches of fur dustbunnies hanging off of everything in the house, including the 526.

I play many games with it, watch movies on it, burn cds and dvds. I have many add ons attached...printers, mice, game controllers, keyboards and pads, and speakers.

I have upgraded my RAM to 1GB. I also have many other upgrade options with my harddrive and multidrive.

What I do is cool my laptop continually. These compact desktop replacements pack as much power as their big brother case equivalent CPU's do, and they create just as much heat.

Nothing will kill a computer like heat. If a person runs these 17 inch notebooks flat on a desk, facing a wall, or worse yet, in an armoire, they are frying the chips.

When I first started using my 526 I noticed the back of the 526 and the table it was sitting on was very warm. Without reading or going to support I ran out and got a chill pad. I knew enough to know that any electronic device without access to ventilation would die and early death. With the chill pad the 526 is slightly warm around the multi-drive (barely noticeable) and almost cold to touch through out the rest of the computer, and it has been on for over six hours.

Why my 526 still works is a miracle. Never a problem...not once.

As far as the heat of the P25, all notebooks create a lot of heat. All of them need to be cooled. The companies should include a cooling pad for every notebook sold. Obviously a Pentium 4 3.2 GHz 80 GB Hard Drive with a 17 inch screen will create more heat than a Celeron 20 GB hard Drive 12 inch portable.

This computer got a bad rap because most purchasers didn't understand the ramifications of the power they were buying. It's convieniently and affordably terrific. Marvelous, simply marvelous.

I paid $2000 for this computer in 9/2004. Not a bad computer for the first 31 months. Then it suddenly died in 3/2007.

Toshiba referred me to the nearest authorized service center for an out-of-warranty repair. The repair center told me:

* P25 parts are being phased out.
* No NEW parts are available.
* There are scarce USED parts.
* These have poor reliability. (The last time they serviced this model, they had to order FOUR main boards before receiving one that worked!)
* These used parts carry only a 30-day warranty.
* The cost for the main board is $560 plus $110 for install. $670 total.
* Even though they were giving away their own profit, they told me that they thought it would be unethical to recommend that I repair it.

The service center appealed to their Toshiba rep. No help at all.

Leaving out the gory details of the long phone calls to poorly trained personnel, the end result is that I bought a new HP laptop with a 4-year extended warranty for a few hundred more that the repair bill that included a 30-day warranty.

Toshiba's refusal to stock adequate new repair parts, and their abysmal warranty on USED parts should make any consumer considering the purchase of a laptop think long and hard before buying one from Toshiba.

After my $2000 investment in a top-of-the-line Toshiba has turned into a useless paperweight, I won't make that mistake again. And a Google search on the usual suspects (such as "I hate Toshiba" and others you can guess) reveals that I'm not alone.

This is a great laptop...if you're planning on using it for only two years. If that's the case, feel free to pick this one up. It has great display and performance, though it's a bit on the heavy side.

But after two years of use, expect to see problems crop up everywhere. The battery life is just the tip of the iceberg. I'm always very protective with my electronics, but this thing simply defies belief. After two years, the hinges for the lid deteriorate and it was projected at $200 just to acquire the replacement parts; repair would've been another story. The fans begin to work improperly, allowing the laptop to overheat, shut down, and--if you happen to be working on a file saved on a flash drive--you lose all your work. The AC adapter will also arbitrarily decide to die, and the cheapest replacements I've seen are $60 (and don't every buy those from Toshiba; they're overpriced and have extremely poor perfomances). By the time your ac adapter goes on the fritz, or your fans stop pulling their weight, your battery life should be down to about ten minutes--if you haven't replaced yours yet.

As I said before, if you plan on having a short-term stand-in for a desktop, this one is well-suited to the task. Beyond that, you're better off saving your money.