Customer Reviews

Toshiba Satellite P25-S676 17" Laptop (3.40 GHz Pentium 4, 512 MB RAM, 80 GB Hard Drive, DVD Super Multi Drive)

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

 

 

I bought this as a desktop replacement, and so far this notebook has surpassed all my expectations. Fit and finish are top-notch, this laptop is gorgeous even without turning it on. This thing is big though, I mean big! I live in a smaller town and have yet to find a store that has a bag big enough to fit this notebook. So if you're a road warrior you might want to consider a smaller choice, not to mention this thing is pushing 10lbs without any accessories. Comes with two remote controls, one for XP MCE and a small credit card sized Toshiba brand remote used exclusively for movie watching or listening to CDs, not sure why they included two since the Media Center remote will do all that and a lot more, but oh well. Also comes with a trial version of Office 2003 student edition, a nice touch that wasn't listed in the specs. Has quick launch buttons on the right for internet, mail and a tv-out feature for displaying on a TV. The LCD is extremely bright and the picture is uniform from corner to corner. Best features by far are the component out video ports and the 5.1 surround digital out for surround sound. If weight and size aren't an issue I would definitely recommend this notebook.

Update!: Finally got around to using the component video out ports and hooked it up to my HDTV, you can set the output all the way up to 720p if your tv supports it, incredible picture! If you want to take advantage of the surround sound capability of this laptop you will need a toslink adapter for the headphone jack, you can find them for a few dollars. This will allow you to plug in a digital optical audio cable. Once I got that hooked up and put a dvd in it looked and sounded just as good as my sony home theater setup. The only drawback is having to figure all this out myself, the toshiba user manual is not very friendly.

I will never buy another Toshiba Computer again. I've owned 3 laptops made by Toshiba (P25-S607, M30 and P25-S676) and am impressed with the machines. However, Toshiba's support is by far the worst that I've ever encountered; in fact, I would go so far as to say that they have NO SUPPORT!

One day I was working on my P25-S676 and I shut the lid of the computer, which would obviously put the system on standby. When I opened the lid again and tried to turn the computer on, it wouldn't give me anything but a blank, black screen. I found out that the motherboard was fried (???) and that it needed to be sent into the Toshiba Support Depot. I sent my laptop to Toshiba on 1/15/2005 and here it is 2/25/2005 and it is still not fixed. It's not the fact that I've been without my laptop for over a month that bothers me; it's that I was promised EIGHT different E.T.A.s! If I was told that it would take two months to fix my laptop, I would've been disappointed, but respected the honesty. However, it really ticks me off when a company lies to me eight times and counting!!! I have no faith that I will receive my laptop back in the next month, or maybe even this year. I've contacted the Better Business Bureau and I'm hoping that they can light a fire under Toshiba, since Toshiba's customers can't.

When shopping for a laptop, shop for support first and performance second.

I bought this PC is 2004. I've NEVER had a problem with it. It has an Nvidia FX5700 card (not a 5200!) with 128mb of dedicated video ram; it will handle Vista and it's a splendid machine. However, it weighs 9 pounds, 9.5 ounces. It's heavy. I've taken it all over the country (as I am a musician) and logged in thousands of hours typing (as I am an aspiring writer). It has NEVER given me ANY problem. I've upgraded the ram to the full amount and, out of personal preference, swapped the DVD drive and the battery module. They're on opposite sides now (because you can add two batteries or two drives, if you like).

The ONLY foreseeable problem is that there are THREE heat fans on the bottom. They draw air in to push heat out the back. PLEASE do NOT sit this monster down on a bed, an ottoman or a carpet. It will dramatically shorten the lifespan of your machine!

Also, it wasn't built with modern heat-efficient technology. What this means is, when I play Battlefield 2 ONLINE with this machine, I need to remove the battery (or whatever modular bay is on the right hand side) and put in a "COLD COMPRESS" ice pack (used for bruises and such), wrapped in two ziplock backs (to reduce condensation), because the video processor (a chip, not a card like in a desktop - the cooling method is different) will get hot. How can you tell? the palm rest on the right will get HOT when you try and play DOOM3 for an hour. If you overclock the chip, you're going to shorten its life span, so be careful! It took only 20 minutes of gaming to thaw an ice compress so I had 3 on hand, swapping them into my fridge for a new one, every half an hour.

WHile this machine CAN handle games, I don't suggest it for this very reason.

This laptop is a tank. It's a road warrior proven tank. Toshiba has given me GREAT and HORRIBLE service since 1998 when I bought my first 233mhz satellite - a Penitum - 1 with MMX technology. Over the years it has steadily gone from OUTSTANDING down to HORRIBLE. But it depends on what you need help with.

Their tech center (Call center for phone help) is amazing. They're intelligent, quick and knowledgable. They help and you won't have to call them back a second or third time because they fix the problem and follow up with YOU (call YOU back) to ensure everything is taken care of.

However, if you have to SEND a machine to them, your best bet is to use the Internet, find the nearest service station, and HAND DELIVER your machine. Why? Because then you have someone to slap if they get out of line. I'm serious. DO NOT send Toshiba your machine through the mail; I have friends who made this mistake. They'll take weeks just to replace a motherboard and return the thing. They'll wipe your drive and return it to factory standard, minus all the recent drivers, security measures - etc. You'd sooner want to set yourself on fire than to deal with them, should you have to send your machine in through the mail. In Canada and Japan, their customer service department is outstanding but not in America.

However, in America, their phone tech service is amazing. If you somehow accidentally turn your video into standard VGA and accidentally EAT your hard drive for dinner while drunk, they will get you into DOS, have you type in some commands and return your hard drive to the way it was the last time you turned it on, 24 hours before you snacked on it. Beautiful.

This machine may be a few years old, but it was a powerhouse in its day. It's also a workhorse, so long as you keep it cool. You can add 250 and 500 GB hard drives in the modular bays (if you wish to remove the DVD drive and the battery - everything is hot-swappable).

I've ONLY JUST sold this laptop after over 3 years of intense (8-12 hours almost every day) use. I gave it to my son's mother and she used it as a television to save electricity. With the included components, it's QUITE an awesome DVR unit. I had it locate and burn every episode of CSI (accidentally, I just meant to get a few episodes saved because of my work schedule. It used Windows Media Center Edition to locate every channel that played reruns of CSI, filed them, recorded them and then burned the entire show, Season 1-4, to disc... I realized it when it kept asking me for DVDs every so often, LMAO).

She said she sold the laptop after 2-3 months of constant use for about 600 dollars (maybe upwards of 700, i'm not completely sure how much, I just know it was over 600, so... it has great re-sell value for its age) and that person had it for 4 weeks before it died.

WHY did it die?? Because they set it on their bed mattress and used it - the heat did it in. Very foolish.

My parents each bought one around a week after I bought mine... theirs still run just fine. They also use theirs on a flat surface so... there ya go.

I've also owned an "A" series Toshiba - I do NOT suggest purchasing those. They're inexpensive but so is the notebook and it's components. THe P25, however, is made with excellent parts and is designed very well. It will run Max Payne 2 with full settings without breaking a sweat... Battlefield 2 and Doom3 on the other hand... not so much; this machine is a little antiquated for these newer titles... you'll have to dull-down the graphical settings to play these games... anything newer than that... not a chance. You can forget trying to play OBLIVION on this machine - sorry!

Remember: this machine will get VERY hot, very quickly. It also weighs 9 pounds, 9 ounces (I think there is 16 oz. in a pound).

Needless to say, I was very happy with the long life of my machine.

I once spilled soda (dr. pepper) into the keyboard. Luckily, the keyboard was designed with a metallic coating that protected the interior from spills. I replaced that keyboard with a new one and the part was VERY easy to find online (through a Toshiba certified retailer). Tiger Direct still sells new batteries for this machine ($133 dollars a pop) and a second DVD burner is less than 100 bucks on the internet. It supports up to 2 gigs of PC2700 (Which I suggest using over the slower PC2100).

:)

I thought to write my negative review but Jeremy P. Seda "CEO of XMS, Inc." said it all! In fact I don't even have to change the dates! I am experiencing EXACTLY the same problms. Thanks Jeremy. Now all I can do is to express my anger and frustration posting my negative reviews on all major websites.

Want to be as frustrated as I am? Go ahead and buy Toshiba laptops!