Processor Problems w/ Toshiba s504 & s507 Laptops? 30
Diridari asks: "The are some serious overheating problems with the Toshiba 5005-S504/S507 notebooks that Toshiba will not officially confirm. Many people been sending their boxes to the Toshiba depot more then once, but nothing was fixed. Since this notebook has a GeForce4go and is advertised as a desktop replacement, it should definitely be a nice gaming/multimedia notebook, but it isn't. The problem is that the CPU is a desktop CPU and during a Direct3D gaming session, or any CPU stressing application, it gets hot (Toshiba's cost reduction strategy by using the desktop CPU; I call it design flaw). I had a temperature of 65-73 Celsius during a test gaming session of DarkAgeOfCamelot with hmonitor. At 75 the box would shut down. The BIOS update from Toshiba throttles the CPU speed from 1.1G to 500MHz as a 'solution', which is not acceptable for a box that costs $2000. If I just wanted to read emails on this box, I would have spend $800 for a notebook." Has anyone had luck either getting Toshiba to properly handle this situation to their satisfaction, or via some form of workaround?
"If you want to read more about these problems, you can check
Compuserve's
Toshiba Forums [C:
expect long load times] and search for "Still overheating" and Google
for more information and user comments.
The Toshiba customer service is not helping at all. What can be done? How can I get the box that was actually advertised by Toshiba and not a very-expensive 500Mhz-for-email-only box? Do I have rights as a customer?"
reminds one of Apple (Score:3, Funny)
If I were in their position, I would have copied the Titanium G4 (affectionately termed the "TiBook", pun on the Ti (the chemical symbol for titanium) and iBook). Instead they copied an old model that burst into flames without warning, as suddenly as Anakin turns into Vader. But, I guess I should just be thankful they are following suit in other areas, as the specs on these laptops are pretty sweet: 512MB memory and DVD out of the box, and nice crisp displays. And those 1.7GHZ P4's are really hauling ass. No wonder they lit on fire!
Anyway, keep up the good work, Toshiba.
Re: bursting into flames (Score:2)
Everything is Democratic. (Score:1)
In politics, we vote with our voice. With respect to big business, we vote with our $$$. If your representative, or supplier, or whoever doesn't meet your needs, vote them out of office.
In other words, return the damn thing, and purchase a similar laptop from their competitor!
Read the article!(Re:Everything is Democratic.) (Score:1)
Don't be a doofus: He's tried the easy thing, and they refused to honor the customer.
Workaround (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Workaround (Score:1)
But then the LCD will stop working.
Re:Workaround (Score:1)
No problemo dude! Use an external CRT monitor. I already thought of everything. Stop arguing and do it.
Standard response (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Standard response (Score:2)
Send it back, deny the charges (Score:1)
Since the computer doesn't work, you should be covered under the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose.
Send it back, deny the charges for the credit card, and don't accept any return shipments.
Re:Send it back, deny the charges (Score:2)
Firstly, as you say the fitness for it's purpose - if you buy a product for it's advertised purpose and it cannot fulfill that purpose then you are entitled to a refund.
Secondly, misleading advertising, if they say in the advertising this machine is great for gaming etc, or even that it is 1.1g (and the throttle to 500mhz) then that is blatently misleading and they would have the book thrown at them.
Dude you shoulda got a Dell! (Score:3, Informative)
Well.. (Score:1)
Next step is probably to inform toshiba that you're going to take this to a consumer's rights organisation (you'll have to look for which one is best to take the issue to, I'm Canadian, so I don't know where one takes these issues to in other countries). Companies, no matter the size -hate- getting involved with these organisations, because they often actually do help the consumer. If Toshiba doesn't make any attempt to help you (and even if they do) go to the consumer rights organisation and work with them to see what can be done about it.
That's the path i'd take... I like my Toshiba... the fan died long ago, but it's only a P100 420CDT Sattilite Pro, so overheating's rare.
Expectations (Score:2)
What I'm expecting is a barrage of old jokes about their server running on one of those buggy laptops
I've got the S187 model and (Score:1)
1.1ghz Celeron
256MB PC133
15GB HDD
14in LCD
$850US
It does get rather hot, but has yet to crash. I have left this thing on for days on end with no problems.
I think I got a rather good deal for the hardware.
Caveat Emptor (Score:2)
And you want Toshiba to do what, exactly?
Sheesh.
'jfb
Re:Caveat Emptor (Score:2)
Make that a "crappy Intel processor". My Sony has a mobile 1GHz P3 CPU, which I usually operate in "speed-step" mode (clocked at 750MHz). The case still gets so hot that it's almost unbearable when I have it sitting on my lap.
What a piece of rubbish. Sony should be ashamed.
Re:Caveat Emptor (Score:2)
The newest "Mobile" P3s run surprisingly cool, for what little that's worth.
'jfb
Um, no. (Score:3, Interesting)
He bought something that was advertised as working perfectly fine at its rated speed. It does not work at that speed. Toshiba needs to rectify this problem. It's that simple.
- A.P.
Re:Um, no. (Score:2)
OF COURSE putting a desktop x86 processor in a laptop is a laughably stupid idea, no sane person would argue that. But once that bridge has been crossed, the system needs to be able to dramatically reduce power output when heat builds up in the machine -- which it does by throttling the processor, or in extreme cases shutting it down entirely.
I repeat: THIS IS A WELL KNOWN AND PERFECTLY REASONABLE BEHAVIOR, given the way the computer has been built. If he doesn't like it (and honestly, he's right to be upset with the performance), he ought not to have blown the money on such a poorly designed machine.
'jfb
Re:Um, no. (Score:3, Insightful)
The consumer shouldn't be expected to research the reliability of the machine; if it's a piece of garbage, at the very least the warranty ought to cover it.
I hope you never run a company. It would be a dismal failure, with the amount of disdain you would harbor for your customers.
- A.P.
Re:Um, no. (Score:3, Funny)
When you purchase something, there is an implied warranty of merchantability. This means that the product should function correctly and within specifications. You cannot avoid liability for selling something that is broken by not stating that it should work.
If you purchased a car and discovered that it would overheat and shutoff when driving at highway speeds, you would insist that the dealer or manufacturer address the issue and repair or replace the automobile. If the auto manufacturer upgraded the engine computer to govern the cars top speed to 40mph, you would sue them and win.
Re:Um, no. (Score:2)
You just basically agreed with everything I said.
Acceptiblity (Score:1, Interesting)
Would it be acceptible if only the first 300 MB could be read by the CD-ROM drive?
Would it be acceptible if only the inner 6" of the LCD worked?
Would it be acceptible if only 64 MB of RAM was functional?
Speed is often a luxury, but in many cases it is a necessity. Sometimes increased speed can mean increased productivity, in which case the speed loss results in decreased productivity. Get Toshibas attention. Calculate the amount of time you spend waiting for processor limited activities and send Toshiba a bill for the time you would have saved had you used a faster processor. You most likely won't get the money, but you just might get an offer to return the product for a refund.
Re:Beware of their support... (Score:1)