Takes a licking and keeps on ticking.....
Written: Jan 22 '04
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Pros: Very reliable laptop computer.
Cons: It's starting to feel slow; Battery life is about 30-45 minutes.
The Bottom Line: I would buy a Toshiba again, but with a DVD-burner, a bigger hard disk, more memory, and a larger screen.
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| bhlang's Full Review: Toshiba Satellite 1800-4K1 (PS183C-004K1) PC Noteb... |
Well, I bought this laptop December 2001 and it's been an extremely reliable computer with one exception.
In January 2002, While playing Civilization III, the computer kept crashing on me. I though that I had buggered something up, so I did a full system re-install from the Toshiba CD's. Still crashed. I took it in for service. The day after I took it in, Toshiba posted a BIOS update for the problem I was having but my local computer store took a week to figure that out. If only I had waited one more day.....
The only other major hassle I've had with it was another full system re-installed in December 2003. This time I did it because I was having some problems connecting to a VPN I use regularly. Since the reinstall, no problems. And this time I'm using XP Pro instead of XP Home.
Windows XP Home and Pro have both been extremely reliable for me; neither operating system has ever crashed. I've had plenty of application crashes, but never any OS crashes.
Battery life is starting to be an issue. I'm finding that it only lasts 30-45 minutes (long enough for me to get to work on the bus while using it). I think a replacement battery might be in order.
The Ethernet port is loose. I'm finding that if I move the computer while a cable is plugged in, it may disconnect. Not usually a problem as I don't often move the computer while connected to a network. Maybe it's time to buy a wireless router and network card.
After 2 years of use, I have 1 bad pixel on the monitor. Most of the time I don't notice it as it's off to the right side near the edge.
I wish it had a CD-burner. Or better yet, a DVD-burner.
That's the sum of my problems with this computer.
As to the good stuff:
It plays Civilization III, Diablo II, and Warcraft III (Plus expansion) very well (Warcraft III slows down occasionally).
There's enough disk space for my needs, plus I can always do a network backup.
I upped the memory to 384 MB when I purchased it, and that's made the system run quite well.
Overall it's been an excellent computer.
As for my next laptop, it will be a Toshiba. It will have a DVD burner. It will have more memory. It will have a bigger hard disk. It will have a bigger screen. It might have wireless networking. It might have a keypad like a full size keyboard. All of these are available on laptops now.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): approx. 1600
Operating System: Windows
Processor: Intel Celeron
Processor speed: over 1000
Screen Size: 13 inches
RAM: More than 256
Internal Storage: CD-ROM
Hard Drive (GB): 13-20
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Epinions.com ID:
bhlang
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Member: Brian Lang
Location: Edmonton, AB, Canada
Reviews written: 9
Trusted by: 0 members
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