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Toshiba Satellite 1800-S204 Notebook (1-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

Toshiba Satellite 1800-S204 Notebook (1-GHz Celeron, 256 MB RAM, 20 GB hard drive)

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Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Solid value, video features not user-friendly, but usable.
Review: It took a time-consuming month -- part of it Microsoft's fault -- for me to get squared away with my new Toshiba 1800 S254 laptop. Some major hiccups were experienced, but I can now attest to being satisfied that it works as advertised. I'm confident that it will prove itself as excellent a value as my previous Toshiba, which gave me six years (and running) of yeoman service.

The big scare came when I kept getting a "your machine has recovered from a serious error" message every time I booted the machine. Toshiba couldn't help me with it, Microsoft had nothing in their knowledge base about it, and to make matters worse, Microsoft wasn't available for even PAID assistance for a two-week period.

I was getting very frustrated and was all set to return the unit when I chanced upon a bulletin board message where a person experiencing the same problem as me who WAS able to get through to Microsoft explained the cause. It turned out that it was an obscure DHCP issue, easy to fix.

There was also a problem with the video output -- the composite TV output jack in particular. The instructions in the manual are confusing and incorrect. Toshiba tech support was quick with the revised instructions, but I still had problems with the TV jack. If you do also, be sure to try several varieties of cable. I could not get it to work to save my life with a piece of TV coax with RCA plugs on both ends that works with my VCR; however, I WAS able to ultimately get it to work using half of a high quality stereo AUDIO cable. It would seem that proper impedance is critical, and this is not touched upon in the manual.

If you see yourself as only alternating between the internal display and an external CRT monitor, the machine is ready to go and easy to use as it comes -- all you have to do is have the CRT turned on and connected when you boot. If you want to alternate between the internal display and an external TV, it's going to take a precise sequence of non-intuitive steps to get the machine properly configured, after which it will alternate fairly easily. If you want to regularly alternate between all three types of displays, you're going to have to go through the non-intuitive steps every time you switch the external display -- a nuisance, and not a task for the casual user.

I also have a minor quibble with the included DVD player and WinDVD software. I've noticed that on several DVD's there's ever-so-slight a delay on the audio track. Not quite the quality that I get on my desktop, but acceptable.

Overall, I'm confident that I got a solid value for my money. I just wish that the initial shakedown had gone a bit smoother.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: how can I buy?
Review: OK. how can I buy a notebook, if i live in Estonia?

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Bad Buy
Review: This computer is a very bad buy, it has a number of problems. The Monitor has a weak light that turns off while in use. The mouse is defective, the sensitivity is off, it can get really sensitive to very dull, also it clicks without you using the button this gets really annoing while writing. Its processor is a celeron, means ... in german, it might be a gigahertz processor but the computer doesn't use the full power.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good hardware for the money
Review: This is a nice computer however rating this thing is like comparing a head of lettuce. There is little difference between it or something from HP or Dell. I bought it by price and am pleased. The display is crystal clear, the processor, memory and disk drive are adequate but not great - you have to pay more money for more storage or speed. For word processing, web browsing and occassional office tasks this thing is more than adequate as equipped.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fantastic product, fantastic price.
Review: This is my 17th computer to buy, although only my second laptop. I ordered this computer with an extra battery. I would have probably preferred a CD-RW in place of the DVD player, but I already have 3 other computers on my home network with CD-RW's. This is my first experience with Windows XP, I was a little apprehensive about that, no longer,,, the network configurator is simply amazing, I have had a few older programs crash however the OS never failed to recover. I have only had one problem which was resolved by Toshiba's website tech within 2 hours. If you are looking for a laptop and are on a budget, you have found a winner with this product.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Good hardware for the money
Review: This is my second Toshiba... the first being a Tecra, which I still use, but which was just too slow and old to do any graphics work. I LOVE THIS MACHINE....XP is fine, my older software installed without a problem. the sound is wonderful, the screen is crisp and clear. Complaints? It's a little heavy and a little big. Since I mainly use it as a desktop replacement, and move it around in the house, it's not an issue. If I were doing a lot of traveling with it I'd want something lighter. There is an online manual, but it's not very detailed. Customer service is helpful, though. it would be nice to have a manual for the XP operating system, and I'd love to figure out how to get rid of all the pop-up messages. Invasive. The only other issue is that the cursor sometimes jumps around....and I can't figure out why. But all in all, I'm really pleased with it. I haven't seen anything else on the market with as much to offer at this price.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Value
Review: This is my second Toshiba... the first being a Tecra, which I still use, but which was just too slow and old to do any graphics work. I LOVE THIS MACHINE....XP is fine, my older software installed without a problem. the sound is wonderful, the screen is crisp and clear. Complaints? It's a little heavy and a little big. Since I mainly use it as a desktop replacement, and move it around in the house, it's not an issue. If I were doing a lot of traveling with it I'd want something lighter. There is an online manual, but it's not very detailed. Customer service is helpful, though. it would be nice to have a manual for the XP operating system, and I'd love to figure out how to get rid of all the pop-up messages. Invasive. The only other issue is that the cursor sometimes jumps around....and I can't figure out why. But all in all, I'm really pleased with it. I haven't seen anything else on the market with as much to offer at this price.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Desktop Replacement
Review: This is the first computer I have ever purchased, and I could not be happier. I was leary of paying more money for a laptop, but this unit was priced competetively and has everyhing I need, with the exception of the Windows Office Suite. Media Player is a great way to stay entertained while working. I simply love this laptop and cannot find a better deal anywhere.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Great Desktop Replacement
Review: This is the first computer I have ever purchased, and I could not be happier. I was leary of paying more money for a laptop, but this unit was priced competetively and has everyhing I need, with the exception of the Windows Office Suite. Media Player is a great way to stay entertained while working. I simply love this laptop and cannot find a better deal anywhere.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Good buy, but...
Review: This laptop is pretty nice! Definately at the time I made this purchase, the best buy at this price. At these specs, most other brands would cost at least a couple hundred more. It has a built in NIC card and modem, which is great for easy access to the Web. DVD player is nice as well, with TV out. It's pretty much a portable DVD player, assumming you have the cables. It falls short in a couple of areas. No CDRW drive. And video card isn't the greatest. If you're looking for a laptop that can display resolutions higher than 1024 X 768, or want 3D performance, check out a model with the GeForce2Go built in. Otherwise good budget model.


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