About 3 weeks ago I received a comment from a user who described his experience with Toshiba Satellite M35X. Today I got one more for Toshiba Satellite A75. Even though these are completely different models, they have very similar problems: laptop heatsink gets clogged and the laptop overheats, improperly grounded top cover causes the laptop to freeze up and reboot, badly designed DC jack causes the power failure. May be your experience is more positive?
I got the laptop as a Xmas present from my boyfriend in Dec 2004. Shortly after I got it, I got the blue screen of death. Then it began freezing up on me. Toshiba told me this was a problem with a grounding wire in the motherboard. I took it to a service center and they fixed the problem. Within about another 2 months, it started doing hard shut-downs when any load was present – was unable to burn DVDs, view DVDs, play music or even view basic graphics on the internet, as well as shutting down during use of Windows Media Player. The fan was loud! Then, the AC adapter problem. To this day, I have no green light showing at all on the front of my computer. It was fine at first, then started flickering (when I pressed down on silver plate that was replaced at the service center due to the grounding wire problem), the green light would come back on for a short time and then disappear again.
The laptop is getting power while plugged into the wall and the battery is recharging…..but, what’s up with the green light disappearing?
I have a cooling pad underneath my Toshiba that has an external power source – overheating is NOT the problem with this computer. From what I can surmise, the issue is in the CPU. The motherboard probably needs to be replaced and God only knows what’s causing the problem with the LED indicator.
At this point, my computer is now out of warranty, however, because I brought these problems to their attention during the warranty period, they have essentially issued a blank check for me to have “any hardware problems fixed” as an exception to the warranty. They were too quick to authorize this, so my feeling is that these problems are systemic with this model and Toshiba is well aware of them, though why they have never issued a recall is beyond me and does not bode well for Toshiba’s PR department.
It is going in for repairs tomorrow (had to back everything up in case the motherboard has to be replaced) and I will advise what the findings are when I get it back – estimated time for repairs is 2 weeks.
If this computer were not being fixed on Toshiba’s dime, I wouldn’t bother paying to have it fixed – I’d just buy another laptop. I am very upset that I’m unable to use this laptop for any of the features they advertise. I also strongly suspect that Toshiba knew of these problems beforehand and sold the things anyway, looking for Xmas windfall revenue – this computer was introduced in Dec. 2004, if memory serves correctly.
What a sad indictment of corporate greed – this laptop was $1,500 – we’re not talking about a pack of gum, here.
Is your experience with this model any different?
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November 9th, 2011 at 6:42 am
Hi all, i’ve suffered through the same problems as everyone else. I’ve had the overheating/shutdown problems and the poor AC jack placement. I have some suggestions, #1 buy a can of blow off to spray your fans with to keep dust and lint off of them and secondly buy a laptop cooling pad with fans on it to help prevent overheating which seems to be the major issue for shutting down. If that doesnt work you’ll have to take it into a repair tech and they can put a cooling gel on the processor to help it out, but the laptop pad should do the trick. #2 if your having problems with the AC jack it’s because Toshiba poorly mounted it to the top of the motherboard so as your AC cord is hanging out the back of your computer it is putting downward pressure on it and causes it to loosen itself from the motherboard. My suggestion is to keep the cord up in place and stationary to prevent this from happening.
Good luck
October 20th, 2011 at 7:42 am
@ LongBike,
Turn on the laptop and look at the cooling fan. Does it spin at all? Maybe the fan is bad?
October 19th, 2011 at 2:49 pm
A;loha from Hawaii,
I too have a Toshiba the I did all that is recommended , but it boots goes to front pahge and still shuts down. Is there any other solution to what is said already.
Letme know if there is I read this threadm often so leave a note.
Thanks and Aloha from Hawaii
September 7th, 2011 at 12:45 am
my laptop is toshiba Satellite C640. the problem is i have to wait for a while abot 30 to 40 minutes, for the laptop to switch on and ready to use and when i save any file in the laptop it will deleted itself after reopen the laptop.. i hope any person will help me
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:50 pm
I have problem with my Toshiba A75 S125. The laptop shuts down in the middle of my work. What could be the problem?
April 14th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
I have read several blogs on the Internet where people have suffered the same problems as all of us. I have the Toshiba Satellite A75-S213 and since I had a desk top with all of my information on it, I only used my Toshiba laptop a handful of times up until last year. After the usage increased so did the problems. My laptop would shut off at random. The fan would run wildly and the adapter would become so hot you could not touch it. I innocently looked on line to see if there was something simple to do to fix it or if it was going to be so costly, that I just needed to purchase another computer. (My laptop is 4 years old)
I found out that there was a CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT Elihu vs Toshiba Los Angeles CA BC328556, and the case was settled with people getting free repairs and extended warranties. I found out notifications went out when I had only owned mine for a few months. I was never notified and thus did not take my computer in to prevent any problems like this. Now, the deadline to have computers fixed is past. That is unless you already paid to have yours fixed for the same problem during the time frame to have it done (either before the suit or up until November 7, 2007. Then you are to be reimbursed. You can verify the lawsuit information at http://www.gardencitygroup.com. The lawsuit was settled because of “alleged” incidents like ours and Toshiba never admitted there was a problem.
I was told that the accepted forms of notifications included a banner on Toshiba’s website and publications in computer magazines. I think it is a shame that hardworking people like my self and others were cheated and left with an expensive junk laptop because we were 1. not notified, 2 nor spent our spare time reading computer magazines, 3. nor frequented the Toshiba website. I own a GE stove but I do not go to their website or read appliance or consumer magazines to see if there are recalls or issues with GE stoves. Just think if you had to do that for every appliance or garden equipment you own. It would be a full time month to month job.
Anyway, if you have a newer computer with similar problems see if there is a lawsuit going on. If not, you may want to start one.
You might want to check if you qualify for reimbursements of costs if you qualify under the abovementioned lawsuit or another one that I might not be familiar with.
Thanks for having this blog and for those of you who have posted information here to keep other consumers informed.
Beth
February 10th, 2010 at 11:53 pm
Hendrik,
Maybe the laptop freezes because of overheating. It’s possible the cooling module (heat sink and fan) is clogged with dust. Blow off the cooling module with compressed air. It could help.
Also, check the warranty on your laptop. It’s a Satellite Pro. Possible 2-year warranty.
February 6th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
Hi guys,
I am experiencing similar problems since I bought this damn laptop – Satelite Pro in 2008. It freezes after 20 minutes when listening/playing DVDs or listen to radio stations live, or browsing. I’m fed up for all the excuses since I’ve been encouraged to buy a “world top class” laptop. I am not impress.
January 12th, 2010 at 12:26 pm
I have a Toshiba Satellite a75 S209. When I plug in my power adapter all I get is the green led on the front of the laptop for power blinking non stop, no sequence just fast blips for ever. The led on power supply stays on solid. Every once in awhile if I unplug and replug back in, the power led and the orange battery led stay solid for about 3 seconds then it returns to infinite blinking on the power led and that’s it. I have tried removing battery and holding down power button to no avail. When led on front blinks the fan on the bottom does a 1/4 turn overtime it blinks. Any ideas would be very helpful. Thank you.
December 28th, 2009 at 11:54 am
I’ve had a Toshiba satellite since the 90′s (~4 different laptops) and they used to be the best laptops on the market. It all changed with the A75. They are no complete pieces of trash. I’m not sure what happened – did they switch production to a different company or institute some “cost cutting” measures? Stay away from Toshiba like the plague. After a lot of research, I’ve switched to HP. I’d go to Lenovo, but I don’t trust the chinese.