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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October 27th, 2008 at 1:14 am
It seems to me that Toshiba should recall the Satellites, not tell people that their warranty has run out so too bad.
Anyone agree?
October 18th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
IT JUST HAPPENED TO ME !!! TWO TIMES IN A ROW!!!
August 3rd, 2008 at 2:00 am
i have a toshiba satelliteA70-S249 model .it started overheating problem two months back.I have lost almost half of its price for its repair,wasted month and a half by visiting small and big repair shops. lost valueable data and the fault still persist .not a good experience .will toshiba take care of it ?
May 24th, 2008 at 2:30 am
i need oftwrear drive my laptop toshiba satellite m100-188
please help my
May 17th, 2008 at 4:47 am
the lcd connector under the top silver cover connection where its connected to motherboard is loose. causing the screen to look like colors are scrambled. have checked repair options,too expensive. if thats the problem,like mine, i just wedged a small piece of cardboard to keep the connector in place,works great. you have to choose to keep repairing or buy new,sorry. for self repair go to[ LAPTOPKA.COM] see the on screen guide for repairs. GOOD LUCK
May 8th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
I have a P35-S611 that appears to be very similar to these models, particularly the A75. It has the same freezing problems already mentioned in many of the posts. I have run tests on various parts of the system – processor, disk, memory – with no errors, disassembled the machine and used compressed air to clear the heatsinks and fans of dust, and restored from the factory disc. The machine *still* freezes. I have also tried installing w/xp from other discs, and have found various installation errors as well as the system powering off unexpectedly.
What is exceptionally interesting to note is that if I install linux on it or use linux-based tools, the machine is perfectly stable.
Anyone have anything to suggest? Personally, I would leave linux on it, but my client would prefer to have the machine back – with w/xp on it.
April 15th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
don,
if the cursor freezes when you touch the mouse pad or the top cover, most likely this problem is related to another known issue with this model. You’ll find more information regarding cursor freezing in this post.
April 15th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
same problems with my A75,the guy only forgot to add the mouse pad that tends to freeze your cursor sometimes.TOSHIBA LAPTOPS SUCKS
April 9th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
Don Morrison,
The whole screen turns completely red or only black color turns red?
Did you test the laptop with an external monitor. The external video turns red too or it happens only on the laptop LCD screen?
April 8th, 2008 at 10:25 am
Anyone have any idea why my screen changes colors from normal to red (no black). I installed a new motherboard thinking it was a problem with the on board video, but I’m still having troubles. Every now and then it will be become and then go right back to having a weird display. Thanks.