Joined on 11/11/07
Not bad, not great, but cheap
Pros: Cheap. Nice size screen and keypad. Works with the new version of Ubuntu without any hassles or restricted drivers. Drivers available for Windows XP on this laptop from Toshiba's European Support site. Decent, but not high quality build. Plastic, especially around the screen is sturdy. Screen hinges are fairly sturdy. Bottom of the laptop gets a little hot and has some flex to it, but it isn't terrible. Keyboard has little to no flex. All the drivers needed for the laptop are ATI/AMD and Realtek. Makes it easy to find them. A lot faster than I thought this computer would be. Just bogs down when using a lot of applications. Battery life around 2-3 hours. Not bad for an inexpensive 15 inch laptop.
Cons: The build Toshiba put on the laptop is terrible. Flash and java installed started causing issues immediately. System was somewhat unstable. Wireless kept losing signal (updating the driver with the one from Realtek's website fixed that issue though). Almost as if the image used wasn't tested thoroughly. Performance was not very good under Windows 7 64-bit. Didn't work much better after removing the bloatware that came with the system (there wasn't much of it though). Wiped it out and rebuilt off the recovery DVDs. Not any better... Formatted and rebuilt with Windows XP. System now boots to login prompt in less then 20 seconds, versus over a minute and a half on their build of Windows 7. Does not come with the OEM disks, however...
Overall Review: OEM disks for the unit can be ordered from Toshiba's US support site. You have to provide the model number, serial number and pay for shipping and handling. It is how they cut the cost... By reducing the price of included media. Now that it is stable and running well (under XP), it is a great Mother's Day present for my wife...
Does it's job
Pros: Cheap. Works according to specs. Guess I can't ask for much more...
Cons: Cheap. Board was not secured inside case when it arrived (guess the hot glue didn't hold it in place). Hard disk inside gets secured to plastic, and does not touch the aluminum plates which cover the enclosure. Therefore, it is not really an aluminum enclosure, as it does not transfer heat the same way aluminum would. As a result I would not suggest using this for a 7200 RPM laptop drive. My 5400 drive gets warm, but not hot...
Phone upgrade
Pros: Dropped the card into my Android phone. Everything working beautifully three months later.
Cons: None.
Pretty darn good
Pros: Bought this as an upgrade to my laptop which had a 160 in it. Works well. I am a road warrior with my laptop, and this HD hasn't negatively affected battery life.
Cons: None
Cheap
Pros: Price. Gets the job done.
Cons: Lacks decent quality and materials.
Overall Review: Board wasn't even glued properly in the enclosure. the plastic snaps seem the hold in place fairly well though once assembled. Works decently for a transplanted 160GB Hitachi hard drive
Sweet little laptop
Pros: Fast dual core processor. Runs quick under either XP or Vista. Comes with both! Minimal bloatware preinstalled. Runs REALLY fast under Ubuntu 9.10 and installs with no hassles. (as long as you have the A04 BIOS or before) Uses VT for virtual machines, so they run almost as fast as on bare hardware. Screen is extremely clear and bright. Matte finish. Great Value
Cons: BIOS A05 update (newest version) causes keyboard and mouse not to respond in Ubuntu without passing kernel parameters. Dell has the information on how to revert the BIOS to an older version on their website. Only has one speaker inside the unit. No mic built-in either. System is barely audible at full volume when there is background noise. (Consider picking up a external headset or portable usb speaker for the unit.) No webcam or bluetooth. (This is now standard in most notebooks). Knew this before going in. No voucher for Windows 7 came with the system. Sorry folks, you will have to buy it separately. Doesn't matter to me though, I run Linux.
Overall Review: Overall this system is a great value. It's not a perfect system, but it's pretty darn good.