Just bought Toshiba Satellite

[johnjrval424]

My first question is WHY a Toshiba? My girlfriend has one and it is the biggest slug I have ever worked on and it's only 3 yrs. old.

What other computers did you consider before buying?

I did a lot of shopping around before I bought this one, and HP has been doing pretty well lately. I will never buy another high priced DELL again. Lesson learned the hard way.

Have fun with Pista (yes I know I spelled it wrong) I absolutely HATE IT! But alas I am stuck with it too.

I had a Toshiba Tecra for almost 5 years before this one. I loved that laptop and thank God for it because that's the only thing (other than my 7 year old Dell PC) that can print a flippin' thing for me right now. It was the best laptop in the world! Never, ever, ever, ever had a single problem with it - never even so much as called tech support for a thing! It's been all over the place with me (Mexico, Bahamas, Las Vegas, you name it) and it's been a real trooper.

I bought this one last night because I've come the conclusion that the other one is just simply outdated. With today's "bigger and better" software, it literally swallows older memory whole. I probably could have parted it out and swapped a few things and kept it running but I'm not tech savvy enough to do that. I wait until the absolute last possible minute to buy something and boy am I sorry I chose something with the Vista operating system. Of course, if you are buying a computer these days, you don't have a choice just like you can't choose to buy Office XP or 2003 anymore - it has to be 2007.

Anyway, I'm just trying to deal with these issues with printing. If I can just get something to print, I can probably figure out the rest over the next few days.

 

[Penn]

Gee, thanks for confirming my nightmare.

It's called 'reality'!

Vista is still a fairly new operating system, and as such, it's going to take Microsoft, or HP - time to work out all the 'bugs'.

My new HP laptop has similar quirks. I have been on the phone to HP, and they say "they're working on it!"

Right! What the hell do they pay these geeks?

 

[Mousebaby]

I had a Toshiba Tecra for almost 5 years before this one. I loved that laptop and thank God for it because that's the only thing (other than my 7 year old Dell PC) that can print a flippin' thing for me right now. It was the best laptop in the world! Never, ever, ever, ever had a single problem with it - never even so much as called tech support for a thing! It's been all over the place with me (Mexico, Bahamas, Las Vegas, you name it) and it's been a real trooper.

I bought this one last night because I've come the conclusion that the other one is just simply outdated. With today's "bigger and better" software, it literally swallows older memory whole. I probably could have parted it out and swapped a few things and kept it running but I'm not tech savvy enough to do that. I wait until the absolute last possible minute to buy something and boy am I sorry I chose something with the Vista operating system. Of course, if you are buying a computer these days, you don't have a choice just like you can't choose to buy Office XP or 2003 anymore - it has to be 2007.

Anyway, I'm just trying to deal with these issues with printing. If I can just get something to print, I can probably figure out the rest over the next few days.

Ok, just please tell me you didn't buy it from Best Buy and if you did, did you pay cash? They have so many freaking loopholes in their return policies it is unreal and you will get screwed. I will never buy a big ticket item from them. Bad news is what they are.

 

[johnjrval424]

Ok, just please tell me you didn't buy it from Best Buy and if you did, did you pay cash? They have so many freaking loopholes in their return policies it is unreal and you will get screwed. I will never buy a big ticket item from them. Bad news is what they are.

Nope - bought it from Office Depot here in PF. I paid for it with a credit card so if something becomes an issue I will have some leverage.

 

[johnjrval424]

It's called 'reality'!

Vista is still a fairly new operating system, and as such, it's going to take Microsoft, or HP - time to work out all the 'bugs'.

My new HP laptop has similar quirks. I have been on the phone to HP, and they say "they're working on it!"

Right! What the hell do they pay these geeks?

I know Windows OS have bugs when they are first released but they usually get them worked out in short order - that's why I waited so long to purchase an XP computer after Windows 2000/ME. But, when I did my google search to try and find workarounds on this issue, they were bulletin board posts from 2006!! That's a bit ridiculous!

 

[Mousebaby]

Nope - bought it from Office Depot here in PF. I paid for it with a credit card so if something becomes an issue I will have some leverage.

Phew that's good, a lot of people have no idea what a trap Best Buy is. They suck you in take your money and never let go! I read all of their bill boards around the store while waiting on hubby one day, ( I was way bored) and there are so many little ways they fix things so they can keep your money it is unreal.

 

[Penn]

Phew that's good, a lot of people have no idea what a trap Best Buy is. They suck you in take your money and never let go! I read all of their bill boards around the store while waiting on hubby one day, ( I was way bored) and there are so many little ways they fix things so they can keep your money it is unreal.

One of the "Geek Squad" folks at Best Buy, told me there was an upgrade to Vista Ultimate, available for around $30.00 - $40.00 from HP, last Friday.

Talked to the HP folks, and the guy on the phone almost spit his drink into the telephone!

The best I saw, online, was $159.00. They can keep it!

 

[johnjrval424]

One of the "Geek Squad" folks at Best Buy, told me there was an upgrade to Vista Ultimate, available for around $30.00 - $40.00 from HP, last Friday.

Talked to the HP folks, and the guy on the phone almost spit his drink into the telephone!

The best I saw, online, was $159.00. They can keep it!

Yeah, okay. Well, it looks like I'm going to go back to Office Depot and see what printers they have that are Vista compatible. I know my 1200n is old and my Brother MFC-5100C all-in-one (which I only use to scan now) is probably about 8 years old. I might look at another all-in-one to go down to one machine - but I'm not giving up on the 2600n color LaserJet. That one I will keep because it is wayyyy too new to give up.

 

[johnjrval424]

UPDATE--------UPDATE

I just came back from Office Depot with a Brother 5-1 machine (fax, printer, scanner, copier, pcfax) and have effectively eliminated three machines out of my office.

Anybody in the market for a HP1200n, Brother MFC-5100c or a Brother fax machine, all of which are in fabulous condition?

I'm done with trying to get around the Vista issue. This new little jobber is wireless so I don't even have to worry about the dreaded USB cords. I'm happy!!!

 

[Mousebaby]

UPDATE--------UPDATE

I just came back from Office Depot with a Brother 5-1 machine (fax, printer, scanner, copier, pcfax) and have effectively eliminated three machines out of my office.

Anybody in the market for a HP1200n, Brother MFC-5100c or a Brother fax machine, all of which are in fabulous condition?

I'm done with trying to get around the Vista issue. This new little jobber is wireless so I don't even have to worry about the dreaded USB cords. I'm happy!!!

Bet you spent a mint too. I got a Brother MFC 240C that does all that for about 85.00 and I go to printpal.com and get ink for $6 a cartridge. Cheapest best machine I have EVER bought!

 

[Penn]

UPDATE--------UPDATE

I just came back from Office Depot with a Brother 5-1 machine (fax, printer, scanner, copier, pcfax) and have effectively eliminated three machines out of my office.

Anybody in the market for a HP1200n, Brother MFC-5100c or a Brother fax machine, all of which are in fabulous condition?

I'm done with trying to get around the Vista issue. This new little jobber is wireless so I don't even have to worry about the dreaded USB cords. I'm happy!!!

Good for you! Bet that eliminated more than just a few headaches.

 

[johnjrval424]

Bet you spent a mint too. I got a Brother MFC 240C that does all that for about 85.00 and I go to printpal.com and get ink for $6 a cartridge. Cheapest best machine I have EVER bought!

Not really - $249.99. I didn't think that was too bad for all the functions, it's wireless and that I get to eliminated 3 machines. I'm okay with that...

 

[wileyCoyote]

your 2600n problem

I have a 2600n and it is working with 2 Vista machines. I've only set it up on the network and haven't tried a direct connection to any of my machines so I can't help if you aren't networking it.

The trick with the Vista install is to be logged in as an administrator when you do the install. If you try to do it as a regular user and then just enter an administrator password the install will not run correctly (I know from doing it the hard way).

Other than a resource hog, Vista isn't too bad, just different from XP. Give it a little time playing with it and you will become more comfortable with it.

 

[johnjrval424]

I have a 2600n and it is working with 2 Vista machines. I've only set it up on the network and haven't tried a direct connection to any of my machines so I can't help if you aren't networking it.

The trick with the Vista install is to be logged in as an administrator when you do the install. If you try to do it as a regular user and then just enter an administrator password the install will not run correctly (I know from doing it the hard way).

Other than a resource hog, Vista isn't too bad, just different from XP. Give it a little time playing with it and you will become more comfortable with it.

I am logged in as administrator. I have a wireless network with a Linksys router and can't get a driver installed. The only driver that Windows put in its list is for the 2605n, which apparently is not the same as the 2600n.

If you can give me easy to understand instructions on how you setup your printer, I would greatly appreciate it! That's the only printer left that I need to get on board now. All the rest of them are gone!

 

[Leelee]

My Toshiba Satellite is 5 years old and used everyday.
It still works great.

 

[clevalley]

My first question is WHY a Toshiba? My girlfriend has one and it is the biggest slug I have ever worked on and it's only 3 yrs. old.

What other computers did you consider before buying?

I did a lot of shopping around before I bought this one, and HP has been doing pretty well lately. I will never buy another high priced DELL again. Lesson learned the hard way.

Have fun with Pista (yes I know I spelled it wrong) I absolutely HATE IT! But alas I am stuck with it too.

Toshiba Satellite is a great laptop. What makes a laptop feel slow is the software load they put into it. Computer OEM loads have their own "goody" software that comes with it which launch at startup, use system resources and eventually make your computer feel "slow." All manufactures do it... I took my Dell XPS 1710, reloaded it with the Dell OEM XP CD, but left out the crap stuff and this thing screams. Even my VISTA drive is 'effing ridiculously fast.

Now, some really cheap laptops (sub $700) use resident memory for video ram with their onboard video controller (on the motherboard), this will slow a system down, but if you are just writing letters, e-mail, web you will be fine. Other areas which will slow down your laptop is disk speed. If you have a drive spinning at 5400 RPM it will REALLY feel like a slug especially with XP and Vista... you need to be in the 7200 RPM range in order to feel like you have a decent laptop.

The more you seperate the I/O from the motherboard on laptops, the faster these things run. Again, my 1710 is faster than my workstation at work.

UPDATE--------UPDATE

I just came back from Office Depot with a Brother 5-1 machine (fax, printer, scanner, copier, pcfax) and have effectively eliminated three machines out of my office.

Anybody in the market for a HP1200n, Brother MFC-5100c or a Brother fax machine, all of which are in fabulous condition?

I'm done with trying to get around the Vista issue. This new little jobber is wireless so I don't even have to worry about the dreaded USB cords. I'm happy!!!

Your HP 1200 is not VISTA compatible. but the 2600 is... I had to check at work, but we have a few users using them with Vista.

Not really - $249.99. I didn't think that was too bad for all the functions, it's wireless and that I get to eliminated 3 machines. I'm okay with that...

Great little 5in1 you have there. Brother equipment is sooooo underrated, and you got a great deal!

 

[Penn]

I found this HP laptop on sale at Staples (dv9810us) at $699.00, after "Instant Savings", and a rebate for $50.00. It's a grand, or thereabouts, normally.

I have - upgraded the RAM - from 3 to 4 gigs, and it just hums right along.

Getting used to Vista took a little time, however!

No complaints with HP products so far; one desktop, and now a laptop. :shrug:

 

[Mousebaby]

Toshiba Satellite is a great laptop. What makes a laptop feel slow is the software load they put into it. Computer OEM loads have their own "goody" software that comes with it which launch at startup, use system resources and eventually make your computer feel "slow." All manufactures do it... I took my Dell XPS 1710, reloaded it with the Dell OEM XP CD, but left out the crap stuff and this thing screams. Even my VISTA drive is 'effing ridiculously fast.

Now, some really cheap laptops (sub $700) use resident memory for video ram with their onboard video controller (on the motherboard), this will slow a system down, but if you are just writing letters, e-mail, web you will be fine. Other areas which will slow down your laptop is disk speed. If you have a drive spinning at 5400 RPM it will REALLY feel like a slug especially with XP and Vista... you need to be in the 7200 RPM range in order to feel like you have a decent laptop.

The more you seperate the I/O from the motherboard on laptops, the faster these things run. Again, my 1710 is faster than my workstation at work.

So how did you do all of that? Care to share your secrets? I am so sick of my M1710 it is freaking unreal! I have used a program called PC Decrapifier that is supposed to remove all that shiat. :shrug:

 

[clevalley]

So how did you do all of that? Care to share your secrets? I am so sick of my M1710 it is freaking unreal! I have used a program called PC Decrapifier that is supposed to remove all that shiat. :shrug:

Take the 1710 and boot to the Windows XP CD. Go through the setup, delete all partitions, create a new partition - format it NTFS, load Windows XP.

I go to Dell beforehand and get the appropriate drivers for the NIC, Wireless, Chipset, and new BIOS. The video driver I get directly from NVIDIA, the ForceWare drivers.

I do not load any of the cutesy Dell add-on crap or "helper" software. I only load what I need.

That is why I was surprised you shelved your 1710 - I have a Dell Optiplex 745 micro-desktop with the ATI X1300 video card, 250GB HDD, Core 2 Duo CPU, under warranty (593 days left) and a dell 17" flatscreen I will trade you (brand new that I am not using) for it. I would love to have another 1710.

 

[Mousebaby]

Take the 1710 and boot to the Windows XP CD. Go through the setup, delete all partitions, create a new partition - format it NTFS, load Windows XP.

I go to Dell beforehand and get the appropriate drivers for the NIC, Wireless, Chipset, and new BIOS. The video driver I get directly from NVIDIA, the ForceWare drivers.

I do not load any of the cutesy Dell add-on crap or "helper" software. I only load what I need.

That is why I was surprised you shelved your 1710 - I have a Dell Optiplex 745 micro-desktop with the ATI X1300 video card, 250GB HDD, Core 2 Duo CPU, under warranty (593 days left) and a dell 17" flatscreen I will trade you (brand new that I am not using) for it. I would love to have another 1710.

No, sorry, I was looking to sell it so I could pay off this new one. I did all of what you said. I just found out yesterday that one of my memory cards was bad, so Dell sent me a new one overnight. NOW there is no problems with speed. But thanks for the offer!