Re: quick laptop question

[Lindsay Adams]

hi to the interested
Have been the victim of Toshiba quality for the past 4 years.  Work for 
Govt dept that seems to have a love affair with the company.  Sadly the 
satelitte series has been a huge disappointment.  Recurrent similiar 
failures involving video power supplies, and other varied technical 
short comings requiring the machines to be shipped back to Sydney for 
repair as the local agents not authorised by Toshiba to do repairs.


 Okay if you live over east but when you live in the west it means 
being without your machine for 2 to 3 weeks. ( Broome to Perth to 
Sydney to Perth to Broome) as Toshiba will not receive goods or send 
goods directly to the client.  Indeed with 2 of the machines they 
travelled to Sydney twice to have the same problem fixed.  can't 
comment on the 2003 or 04 versions as we won't be touching Toshiba 
again.


So for after sales service I would give Toshiba a big fat Egg.

And for quality of product regardless of price the old adage is true 
you get what you pay for (almost)  ;o).

 End of Spleen venting..
Lindsay





On Tuesday, February 10, 2004, at 10:56 AM, Mark Secker wrote:




I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I
haven't
really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with




I will stress to the customer that only quality PC laptop
manufacturers can be compared with apples.
Apples and oranges you see.




and unfortunately  I don't consider Toshiba's to be automatically 
considered as a "quality PC laptop manufacturer" some models yes some 
models no... buy with caution and only after a hands on


and remember _if_  a key point is that prospective buyer wants to 
transport it frequently the 17" models  of all brands may fail due to 
weight. I haven't seen/picked up Sony's but the Toshiba is SERIOUSLY 
HEAVY!


for this reason my next laptop will be a 12" iBook or PowerBook

--
~
Mark Secker Computer Support Officer
ph#6488 1855 (ECEL) 
University of Western Australia - CRICOS Provider No. 00126G
~
"present day
 present time"
 (sometimes 
works)



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Re: FW: quick laptop question

[Craig Ringer]

On Tue, 2004-02-10 at 13:56, Mrs C wrote:

> What I found interesting about them is the display settings. Unless you kept
> the settings on the original configuration, the screen ended up all stretchy
> and weird. In other words, if you took the 17" screen and tried to make the
> settings lower to make the objects on the screen seem larger, it didn't have
> a "letterbox" type setting where the machine would black out parts of the
> screen which aren't being used. It consistently stretched and distorted the
> desktop to fit the letterbox size of the screen. It was ugly.

That's normal for most laptop models, but most offer an option in the
drivers or BIOS to change it to the less guesomely ugly mode.

Craig Ringer

FW: quick laptop question

[Mrs C]

Hi:I just came from the USA where 17" laptops are becoming common. What you
find is that the cheapest you can get one for (HP, etc) is about $2400 AUS.
(That obviously doesn't include shipping etc.)

The drives are all DVD/CD-RW as DVD-RW comes at a higher price. All have
wireless cards in them. None come with software beyond windows.

What I found interesting about them is the display settings. Unless you kept
the settings on the original configuration, the screen ended up all stretchy
and weird. In other words, if you took the 17" screen and tried to make the
settings lower to make the objects on the screen seem larger, it didn't have
a "letterbox" type setting where the machine would black out parts of the
screen which aren't being used. It consistently stretched and distorted the
desktop to fit the letterbox size of the screen. It was ugly.

Also, the machine themselves (in terms of speed etc) were nothing to write
home about. They weighed about twice what my 15" Ti Powerbook does, and they
weren't really as fast or anything.

Just my opinion here...

Nat

-- 
Mrs Nathalie Collins
Box A176, Australind WA 6233 AUSTRALIA
Tel & Fax: (+61) 8 9796 0509
Mobile: (+61) 43 989 1998
--




-- Forwarded Message
From: Larry Pohl <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 09:23:08 +0800
To: "WAMUG Mailing List" 
Subject: Re: quick laptop question

On 10/2/04 8:58 AM, "Stewart Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hey All,
> 
> Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...
> 
> She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a
> comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from
> their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
> Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?
> 
> (I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap
> with evangelical rantings)
> 
> Thanks for any assistance
> 
> Stewart
> 

I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I haven't
really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with a
Superdrive, just a combo.

I've seen them online for $4400 inc XP Pro vs Apple at $5500 (non educ).
That may be a lot of "evangelical rantings" to fill in but I'm more of a
desktop person so what do I know ?

Larry


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Re: quick laptop question

[Mark Secker]

I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I
haven't
really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with




I will stress to the customer that only quality PC laptop
manufacturers can be compared with apples.
Apples and oranges you see.




and unfortunately  I don't consider Toshiba's to be automatically 
considered as a "quality PC laptop manufacturer" some models yes some 
models no... buy with caution and only after a hands on


and remember _if_  a key point is that prospective buyer wants to 
transport it frequently the 17" models  of all brands may fail due to 
weight. I haven't seen/picked up Sony's but the Toshiba is SERIOUSLY 
HEAVY!


for this reason my next laptop will be a 12" iBook or PowerBook

--
~
Mark Secker Computer Support Officer
ph#6488 1855 (ECEL) 
University of Western Australia - CRICOS Provider No. 00126G
~
"present day
 present time"
 (sometimes works)

Re: quick laptop question

[Adam Yap]

In terms of comparing Apples with equivalent PCs I always use IBM 
Thinkpads as a standard. Good support, good warranties, and I'd say 
similarly good design principles and quality of construction.


Adam

On 10/02/2004, at 10:09 AM, Paul Kitchener wrote:


On 10/2/04 8:58 AM, "Stewart Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:


Hey All,

Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...

She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a
comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from
their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?

(I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap
with evangelical rantings)

Thanks for any assistance

Stewart



I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I
haven't
really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with
a
Superdrive, just a combo.

I've seen them online for $4400 inc XP Pro vs Apple at $5500 (non
educ).
That may be a lot of "evangelical rantings" to fill in but I'm more
of a
desktop person so what do I know ?

Larry


Im no laptop guru but when Ive made comparisons in the past, Ive
found *equivalent* laptops to be similarly priced.
What I see as *equivalent* may be more subjective than 90% of
computer users, Im of the opinion of course that macs do more with
*less*.
So I feel a seasonaly adjusted mac is the same price as its pc
equivalent.
This I see as the clincher.
Remember to be fair when you compare: one doesnt compare the handling
of a Holden Commodore to a BMW.
Even though they are both 4 door sedans.

I will stress to the customer that only quality PC laptop
manufacturers can be compared with apples.
Apples and oranges you see.

Just my evangelical rant.

Paul


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Re: quick laptop question

[Craig Ringer]

On Tue, 2004-02-10 at 08:58, Stewart Woods wrote:
> She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a 
> comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from 
> their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
> Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?

Sony make 17" models.

Craig Ringer

Re: quick laptop question

[Paul Kitchener]

>On 10/2/04 8:58 AM, "Stewart Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
>> Hey All,
>> 
>> Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...
>> 
>> She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a
>> comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from
>> their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
>> Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?
>> 
>> (I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap
>> with evangelical rantings)
>> 
>> Thanks for any assistance
>> 
>> Stewart
>> 
>
>I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I
>haven't
>really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with
>a
>Superdrive, just a combo.
>
>I've seen them online for $4400 inc XP Pro vs Apple at $5500 (non
>educ).
>That may be a lot of "evangelical rantings" to fill in but I'm more
>of a
>desktop person so what do I know ?
>
>Larry

Im no laptop guru but when Ive made comparisons in the past, Ive
found *equivalent* laptops to be similarly priced.
What I see as *equivalent* may be more subjective than 90% of
computer users, Im of the opinion of course that macs do more with
*less*.
So I feel a seasonaly adjusted mac is the same price as its pc
equivalent.
This I see as the clincher.
Remember to be fair when you compare: one doesnt compare the handling
of a Holden Commodore to a BMW. 
Even though they are both 4 door sedans.

I will stress to the customer that only quality PC laptop
manufacturers can be compared with apples. 
Apples and oranges you see.

Just my evangelical rant.

Paul

Re: quick laptop question

[Larry Pohl]

On 10/2/04 8:58 AM, "Stewart Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hey All,
> 
> Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...
> 
> She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a
> comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from
> their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
> Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?
> 
> (I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap
> with evangelical rantings)
> 
> Thanks for any assistance
> 
> Stewart
> 

I believe Toshiba is now making a 17" notebook - Satellite P20. I haven't
really compared the specs to the Mac but I know it doesn't ship with a
Superdrive, just a combo.

I've seen them online for $4400 inc XP Pro vs Apple at $5500 (non educ).
That may be a lot of "evangelical rantings" to fill in but I'm more of a
desktop person so what do I know ?

Larry

Re: quick laptop question

[[EMAIL PROTECTED]]

There are a couple of 17" laptops on..

http://search.kelkoo.co.uk/b/a/ss_17_laptops.html

WAMUG Mailing List 

On 10/2/04 8:58 AM, "Stewart Woods" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:

> Hey All,
> 
> Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...
> 
> She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a
> comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from
> their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?
> Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?
> 
> (I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap
> with evangelical rantings)
> 
> Thanks for any assistance
> 
> Stewart
> 
> 
> --
> Stewart Woods
> Faculty of Media, Society and Culture
> Curtin University of Technology
> Western Australia
> 
> 
> -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List --
> Archives - 
> Guidelines - 
> Unsubscribe - 
> 
> WAMUG is powered by Stalker CommuniGatePro
> 

quick laptop question

[Stewart Woods]

Hey All,

Just doing a little switch-pitch on a friend here...

She's considering the 17" powerbook so I'm looking around to find a 
comparable Dark Side machine.  Dell don't seem to make a 17" (from 
their near-impossible-to-navigate website? Is this correct?

Is there anything comparable to the 17" PB, off hand?

(I expect the alternative to be cheaper and plan to fill in the gap 
with evangelical rantings)


Thanks for any assistance

Stewart


--
Stewart Woods
Faculty of Media, Society and Culture
Curtin University of Technology
Western Australia