Do you have a Toshiba Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 or A75 notebook? It’s broken and out of warranty? Can you get a free repair from Toshiba?
Do you own a Toshiba Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 or A75 notebook computer? The notebook is out of warranty and doesn’t work anymore? Do you experience the following trouble with your laptop?
notebook computers contain a system defect that causes them to freeze, reboot and/or crash, shut down, and/or lock-up with a black screen due to static electricity
You purchased this notebook in the United States? If yes, then you qualify for a 12-month warranty extension and can repair the notebook at no charge, effective November 7, 2006. You’ll find more information on the Toshiba Settlement Website or in your local authorized repair center.
Here’s an e-mail I received from one of the readers:
I contacted the attorney who is dealing with this case a couple of days ago. Here’s the deal for all you A70, A75, M30X, or M35X owners. Your warranty is extended until Nov. 7, 2007. This means ANY repair that needs to be done to your laptop will be at NO COST. You need to contact a Toshiba certified service center and take/ship you laptop to them and they have to repair anything that is wrong with it for any reason per the settlement agreement.
OK, Satellite M30X, M35X, A70 and A75 owners, did you get your notebook repaired at no charge?
January 25th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
After the hectic holidays I finally got around to getting into my Toshiba Service center last Monday. They had a new motherboard in it and I had it back in 3 days (on Wednesday!) Toshiba covered the fix with some clause in an extended warranty that you had mentioned. I purchased the laptop in December of 2004, so we were just over the 2 year mark! From what the serviceman told me, it sounds as though they have done much better things with the DC jack with regard to durabilty! I hope it’s true! Very nice though to have it fixed (and so quickly!) all for free! Thanks for the help on my DC jack problem!
January 26th, 2007 at 8:23 am
My Toshiba laptop is total garbage. I’ll never buy one again.
I have an m35x machine that I’m having a lot of bad luck with. First problem of LOOSE DC PORT was fixed under original one year warranty in California. Quick turn around and “Stayed” fixed for months.
Under extended warranty that I paid $140 for, it needed repair again.
Port becoming loose again even after being careful not to push against it.
Machine stopped booting up.
I have given it to two different Toshiba repair centers in the Knoxville, Tennessee area that failed me miserable.
First place tide up the machine for 3 weeks/ returned it “tested ok” and failed with in an hour.
Second place – Still has the machine after 3 weeks saying Toshiba keeps sending us the wrong motherboard.
I am totally discussed with Toshiba and will never buy their junk again.
January 27th, 2007 at 9:57 am
Yes, they are giving the extended warranty. I just called them and they said I can bring the laptop to authorized service and they’ll fix it for free.
February 1st, 2007 at 4:00 pm
Yes, Toshiba repaired, at no cost, my M30X satellite notebook. Toshiba even sent me a box in which to ship the notebook and paid for shipping both ways. Notebook works great now. The notebook had been off warranty for several months. I called Toshiba directly and asked about the warranty……..
John Reynolds
February 5th, 2007 at 10:39 am
My experience thus far closely mirrors Erik’s. Customer Support Center in the Philippines is a joke… And I also got my M35 back from Knoxville only to discover within a few minutes that the problem I was experiencing with the power supply had not been resolved. An earlier issue relating to the wireless was resolved successfully earlier… But now my computer is constantly turning off due to the static electricity build-up problem others have observed (plugging USB device into USB port or AC power cable is risky). It also has crashed when I haven’t even touched it. I also will never buy another Toshiba product… don’t know if it’s even worth it to send this unit back again for repair as they don’t seem very able in resolving issues…. Next time I’ll do what I should have done this time and stick with an Acer machine.
February 5th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
I wonder what happens After they fix everything and the new extended warranty expires? I have already had everything in the shop before to fix all the bugs. Result: Bugs fixed for exactly 1 year. Then, the bugs come back again. The same issues. Over and over again. So, does this mean I can sue the pants off them and insist on my money back so I can get a real laptop? One that – *cough* *cough* Works??? Lets see, because of the lerners hand law, they have to take me as I am, bipolar, which means $10 million for psych, $5 mill for therapist, $5th to fix all damage caused by said laptop, $20 mill for meds, $50 mill for heart and stress related physical ailments, $20 mill for asthma. Thus I can become quite rich off them. LOL As IF the courts would ever allow customers to have a real settlement.
Seriously, what DOES happen after the extended warranty does NOT fix the same issues, because they keep putting in the same faulty equipment into said laptop? Thanks! (Yeah, I know. This is for a lawyer to hash out.)
February 5th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
Taking mine in tomorrow they said it will be fixed under warranty.Sweet deal finally get this thing working correctly.
February 18th, 2007 at 2:23 am
I bought this Toshiba M45-S165 a year ago, runs smooth and great nothing happened to it until several days ago. I always let it recharge overnight, then ready to use for the next day, but at that morning I realized the computer has no power at all. I use a voltage measureing device to check both Adapter and Battery, and all work. But no matter how I tried to plug and unplug both power sources with no luck. I checked the website and tried to find if there is anyone has the same problem with the Toshiba notebook, Please help me or give some suggestion to fix my M45-S165? Thanks.
February 20th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Wayne,
I cannot find a list of drives for Satellite M30X-156 (it’s not USA model, right?). Here’s a list of drives for Toshiba Satellite M35X-S149. I think all drives will be compatible but I would recommend contacting the seller and ask him about any possible compatibility issues.
DVD-CD/RW drives:
K000015770, K000015780, K000015790, K000015800, K000025480, K000030230
DVD multidrives (DVD burners):
K000015860, K000015870, K000024880, K000029610
Search on the Internet using the part number. Before you buy it make sure the drive is actually compatible and it comes with the front plate. The old plate might not fit a new drive.
February 20th, 2007 at 8:42 pm
Took my unit to Richards’ Computer in Fairfax last week and now in Atlanta where they shipped their part for me and have had a much better service experience than using Toshiba directly. The repair guy told me yesterday that they are getting about 8 of these M35X units every day in their Atlanta office all with the above-mentioned problem.
February 21st, 2007 at 8:45 am
Serial number according to claim:
Z4000000 to Z4357516.
My serial number is
Z4431802k. Effectively making me NOT qualify for the lawsuit, even though I did receive a claim form.
Thus, I will have to get my own lawyer to get my bloody laptop fixed. The fans don’t even work, after they fixed it that last time. Toshiba will get a HUGE write up from me. I might even get consumer reports involved to help me with contacting them, as being on disability for bipolar makes it impossible for me to even discuss anything without venom when beyond mad. I DID have the static issue, just a couple times last January.
February 21st, 2007 at 9:57 am
I called the lawyer and she said that the 12 month extension is for everyone regardless, but that she would ask about the static thing, as I’m at the cut-off. Also, I do NOT have the red dot I’m suppose to have that says it was fixed. Thus, my laptop was NOT fixed of the static thing but should have been before it was shipped. I’ll post here when I get more info from the lawyer.
February 21st, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Kytriya,
Just call Toshiba and ask them to send you a shipping box so you can ship the laptop to Toshiba (probably you’ll have to pay for the box) or take the laptop to a local authorized repair center. It would be much faster.
February 22nd, 2007 at 12:13 pm
Finally I disassembled all my M45-S165 nuts-book… I can’t tell if the power jack or the power unit or the whole motherboard has the problem. Is there anyone able to tell me how to check the M45-S165 motherboard problem or just power jack side? I tested the battery is fine half of juice left. So both adapter and battery is ok. The power jack connect to the motherboard is improved the way in M35 or older version. I also found that the attached heat sink has lots of dusts clogged, could that be a problem causing all power failed? Anyway any help from anyone will be great, thanks.
March 1st, 2007 at 7:27 am
I am glad I found this site. I, too, have a Toshiba M35X and have had problems with it. While under extended warrenty from Best Buy they told me it would cost me to fix it if it was a software issue. Like I knew what was wrong and if it was software or hardware. It would cost $100. and up. Needless to say I said F*^% You! I got a refund for the remaining part of my warrenty and will never EVER go to Best Buy again. Mine froze and my brother “fixed” it but it is still not the way it was and now I am having trouble to get it to charge. Seems like these are problems a lot of people are having.
I also wonder what will happen when the new extended warrenty runs out. If they don’t fix it right you know it is going to screw up again. I can’t see myself buying another Toshiba product either.
Thanks for getting out the info on the warrenty! ya’ll ROCK!
March 8th, 2007 at 10:40 am
I own a Toshiba Satellite A70 notebook computer and my notebook is out of warranty. My laptop does often shut down by itself and i had to fix it two times for this problem. I live in Canada and I purchased it here, could I be qualified in any way for the 12-month warranty extension?
Thank You
March 11th, 2007 at 10:18 pm
Leandro,
I believe this warranty covers only laptops sold in the USA.
Most likely your laptop overheats because the heat sink is clogged with dust. Buy a can of compressed air and blow off fans/heatsinks through the air intakes on the bottom of the laptop.
March 16th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
I got my laptop repaired free – they took the whole thing apart and even cleaned the infamous heat sink. But here’s my question laptopfreak: now that we all know we hate Toshiba: What computers do you recommend? Are there any that are relatively problem-free?
March 22nd, 2007 at 7:28 pm
Lisa,
Not me.
I love my Toshiba laptops and I’ll stick with Toshiba.
Benefits:
1. Relatively cheap out of warranty parts and most parts are easily available online
2. There are local authorized repair centers (with other manufacturers you’ll have to ship it in for repair)
3. I know who to repair them
If you want to have a problem-free laptop buy an extended warranty, it pays off.
March 29th, 2007 at 7:18 am
Dear friends I just wanted to ask you a question. I already took my laptop m35x once and it’s giving me problems again… What happen if it keeps breaking till the 3th try? Can I ask for a brand new laptop instead???
Sincerely
Wan Monei
April 10th, 2007 at 5:44 am
I bought a new DC jack off eBay for $6 for my girlfriends Toshiba Satellite A75 laptop and did the soldering repair myself as many of the how-to sites had described. I even beefed up the side contacts with a little more solder to ensure the jack wouldnt come loose again. It worked great for about a day, it charged and everything …and then it wouldnt boot up anymore.
Now that we have finally found out about this warranty extension Toshiba put into effect I am kicking myself for trying to do it myself and save money.
My question to you is: Will they still replace the system board under warranty at a repair shop? Some have said it’s a no-questions-asked repair… is this true?
April 11th, 2007 at 4:27 am
Garrett,
At least in the case of the two offices of Richards Computer I have visited, the replacement of the system board was basically as you have said “no questions asked”.
April 21st, 2007 at 12:01 pm
First And Foremost,
“The Site Rated Excellent”
Years ago, I’d buy Toshiba satellite S2800-300.
Because of certain needs to expand my activity
I found myself turning back this laptop, so, please
could you tell me the hard disk compatibility for this
model, I remember that I took out the old hard drive and even the attached things inside in the hard disk are completely lost manuals no more, please tell me what necessary things do I have to buy, I need a complete list before I go to shop.
Thak’s in advance …
and more power to you…
April 30th, 2007 at 5:33 pm
We were on the phone with a Toshiba Customer service for our A75 model which has shut down problem. They won’t give us a case number or free repair until we tried to run the recovery disk to eliminate software problem. Has anyone experienced the same treatment?
July 19th, 2007 at 6:18 am
I have a toshiba satelite m45-s331 and am having freezing up problems constantly, i tried to take out the wireless card, still same problem, switched the memory, still the same and even reloaded the OS w/ XP professional w/sp2 and now instead of freezing up it just restarts itself, so then i tried swapping the hard drive still same problem, it seems as if i can run the laptop in safemode w/networking without it restarting but once i go to a normal boot it doesnt even stay on 5 minutes before it restarts itself, i am so frustrated w/this laptop it is not funny, i have been searching for new motherboards on the internet and looks like part no V000051700 is what i need, please confirm this is the right motherboard and if i should try swapping it, also it seems as if they run at least $300-$400 for the board, i have found it for $268 on ebay for the cheapest price!!! Any advice would be greatful!!
thanks
July 21st, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Sonny,
Yep, it looks like V000051700 is the part number you are looking for.
It’s possible that you have a problem with the video card witch means you’ll have to replace the motherboard. You will find a disassembly guide for a Toshiba Satellite M45 laptop at http://www.irisvista.com
Personally, I hate working on a Toshiba Satellite M45 laptop, it’s a really bad design.
Before you replace the motherboard, make sure the laptop is running the latest version of BIOS. Update the BIOS if needed.
Most likely the motherboard from eBay will be a refurbished one (as well as from any other source). Maybe you should invest your money into a new laptop?
July 30th, 2007 at 3:45 am
Hi, my A70 Toshiba Sat has been playing up for the passed few months restarting randomly. I decided to have a go at opening it up and clean the heat sink etc. I felt very proud of myself until it came to turning it back on. Now the thing wont power up. I stupidly forgot to wear an ESD strap. I guess no questions asked this is the problem? What i would like to know is what kind of damage i could have done or could it be something else that is the problem. I took it to a repair centre in Sydney (based in OZ) and they quoted me $800 to be fixed which seems like a fortune. I would like to buy the motherboard myself and try and fit but they do not seem readily available. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I dont think i will qualify for the warranty extention because i am outside the US.
Thanks
Thomas
August 10th, 2007 at 6:46 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite M35X-S311 laptop and it has been making a lot of noise coming from the fan area. In the beginning, my laptop was working great, but after about a year and a half it began to start making an annoying noise like the fan is not tighten or something. Can anybody give me some advice on how to stop this annoying fan noise ;or give me a guide on how to find a new fan for this kind of laptop and replace it without paying a lot of money?
Thanks
August 10th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Kelvin,
Probably you’ll have to replace the fan. The fan is a part of the cooling module (heat sink) and I believe you cannot buy the fan separately. Here’s a part number for the cooling module: K0000191000. Use this number to find a new one. You’ll find disassembly instructions at: http://www.irisvista.com
But let me ask you question. Is there any reason not to take this laptop to an authorized repair center and get a free repair? As I mentioned above, the warranty period on this model has been extended (for laptops sold in the United States. Try it first.
August 26th, 2007 at 11:08 am
hi! i have the m35x laptop.. purchased around november 2004, but i lost the reciept and never signed up for the warranty replacement. is it too late to still get my laptop fixed?
August 26th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
raymond,
Nope, it’s not to late. You don’t need the receipt and don’t have to sign up for anything. All you need is a Satellite M35X laptop purchased in the USA. Just call Toshiba and order the shipping box or take your laptop to a local authorized repair center. You should get a free repair. Good luck!
September 18th, 2007 at 8:41 pm
Hi, and help. I have a toshiba m35-s456 which i bought 9/04. Was working fine till one day “windows cannot start because file missing or corrupt.” figured hard drive failing, took it out, set it up as usb drive to transfer what data i could before it died (which is readable but slowly)… bought replacement hard drive and installed it, restoring with the original toshiba dvd. This is xp (not yet sp2, would have to get that after restore to bring it back up to speed.) seemed okay for just a few minutes and then began frequent shutdowns with blue screen of death… i assume it’s motherboard issue as this is now with new hard drive, which says it doesn’t need a separate driver itself. Am I way out of this extended warranty by now? Help. Thanks
September 18th, 2007 at 9:56 pm
Denise,
I posted my suggestion in here: Windows cannot start because file missing or corrupt
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:05 am
To all of you poor saps out there that own these pieces of junk I have two things to say to you.
First, it doesn’t matter what your serial number is, if it’s an A75 or M35X it can be repaired under the extended warranty (you only have until NOV 7, 2007). These machines are only worth about 300$ USD or less today, so I hate it for all of you that bought it 2 years ago at 1k+.
The second thing I have to say is that Toshiba is not a bad manufacturer, your all bad consumers. Don’t you people realize that buying a laptop is a lot like buying a car? You should do your research and find one that is well suited to fit your needs, not the first one you stumble across that you can immediately afford. The A75 and M35X only fit the needs of low income families (hence why they are sold at regular consumer based retailers). I suggest that people shop for laptops at establishments that cater to corporate clients. Buy a Tecra or Portege. They’re in the same price range as the consumer level products but built to last. (prices range from 999$-1400$ usually for these lines) It’s an investment. If you spend 300$ on a laptop then you should be expected to throw it away as soon as the warranty runs out. 300$ laptops are the pintos of the laptop world.
P.S. I work in a laptop shop but due to liabilities with the company and such I’m not posting what company it is, however, if you wish to contact me to arrange a repair please feel free to do so. Toshibas – ANY AND ONLY! I can be reached at TonyV.IT.Pro_at_gmail.com (replace _at_ with @)
I’ll supply ya with professional contact info upon introduction.
October 12th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
I’ve been having trouble with this beast for a long time. I’d just about given up on it, and I just broke it out and found out that I can get extended warrentee.
Special.. I’m in Rural Canada (BC), there is mention of calling Toshiba and they’ll send out a box. My question is what number should I call ? There are no repair centers within 3hr drive.
Thanks
Aa
October 13th, 2007 at 9:54 am
1-800-457-7777
October 15th, 2007 at 6:42 am
Hi, I terribly need to get a new moby but there are few my toshiba m35x and they say check your moby number before you get it in eBay. So I disassembled it but I can’t seem to find the number. Where do I suppose to look? Thank you in advance.
October 15th, 2007 at 9:34 am
…. why would you buy a board for a laptop that is still under warranty (again… until Nov. 7, 2007)???
just like to throw your money away eh?
October 15th, 2007 at 7:06 pm
I think Cem wants to buy the motherboard because he’s unit is not covered by the extended warranty. According to the logged IP address, he’s from Netherlands but I believe this extended warranty covers only laptops sold in the United States.
Anyway, you should be able to find the motherboard part on a sticker. Here’s an example of motherboard part number.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:37 am
(see my earlier post for details if necessary). I removed bad memory stick, and replaced hard drive, but still blue screen of death occurs after installing restore dvd etc. If I replaced HD will they still do warranty repair? My laptop is M35-S456, does this fall under the warranty?
October 16th, 2007 at 5:14 am
Whoever you take it to for the warranty repair, you need to tell them that the hard drive is after market. They can still do warranty replacement of any parts other than the hard drive. Only original parts can be warranty replaced though. And no, your model does not fall under this extended warranty since it’s just an M35 and not an M35X.
October 16th, 2007 at 12:03 pm
Thanks a lot LF. Yes the extended US warranty is not applicable in my case. About the the s/n number, I found one but not exactly what I thought it would be. It’s K00019700. In eBay it doesn’t even exists which is a bummer… There wouldn’t be another sticker somewhere under the mobo with a K00019680 or something writen on it right? If so, I wonder all these K000019680, 660, 620 seral numbered mobos that is offered in eBay would do any good for me or not? Thank you for your help by the way, cem
October 27th, 2007 at 7:53 am
I have a M35X and had the bad port/DC power input issue. I didn’t exactly know what to do, as I was sure I didn’t buy an extended warranty. I know I was reaching, but I contacted Toshiba, and after speaking with someone with a hard accent, probably from out of this country, they have me a case # & a local authorized dealer. The laptop is at the shop right now being fixed. When I dropped it off, they said asked if I had the M35X or the (M70?)? I said the M35X, but the M70 was eligible for fan replacement. I told him I did have problems with it overheating, and they agreed to replace the fan, even though I didn’t have the M70. I read this whole blog & I consider myself pretty PC savvy, and thought I did my homework, and thought I bought a solid PC, but it appears I did not. Thanks for keeping this information out there.
October 29th, 2007 at 4:45 am
Thanks so much! My M35x was over heating and shutting down after 15 minutes. Thanks to your site, telling me about the extended warranty (Toshiba never said a word) I got my entire mother board, fan and crt screen replaced for FREE!!! They would not do my battery, said I would have to send to Toshiba, they did not authorize. Cannot complain though, hope it will last another 2 years.
October 29th, 2007 at 12:51 pm
Hi,
I have a M35-S329 and I have a power jack connection problem. I live in Argentina but bought my laptop in USA. Does the extended warranty applies in my case?
Thanks a lot,
Maria
October 29th, 2007 at 9:36 pm
Maria,
One more time I’ll say it. M35X !!!! You have an M35, not an M35X. Think about it and I think you’ll figure it out.
November 2nd, 2007 at 7:54 am
I have had my a70 sent in three times. Each time I have had a very quick turn around. Each time it broke again very quickly. They sent me a new power supply cord. That didn’t fix it. And since they sent it back last time the wireless still doesn’t work. I wish they would just throw it away and send me a new one. Two out of the three times they have replaced the motherboard.
November 3rd, 2007 at 11:07 pm
ok , today is nov. 3, 2007…i still have 4 days to bring my m35x at authorized service center, my prblem is it turns off, for the first time i turn my m35x its wroking ok…but when i move the laptop, the power turn off
November 16th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
I have a M35X-S349 and have been beaten up by this thing for the last three years. It has been in for repairs three times and here I am seventeen days out of extended warranty and the display is turning off if it turns on at all after about 30 seconds. Most often the fan will run for about 15 seconds at power-up then turn off with no other activity except the power light illuminating blue as if saying it’s good to go. The power connector has never been an issue as the battery and display lights have always worked and never flashed or blinked erratically. I’m hoping someone may have had a experience similar to this. Thanks in advance for any help.
November 28th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I have had my a75 in for overheating, powercord issues, and a fan issue. It is doing the same thing again. I should have looked at the exact date in Nov. that I had to get it in. I am aware that I am one of many still having issues with toshiba. Is there any other recourse that I have. Though it was great that they I could take it to an authorized dealer for all the repairs, in the end that seems to be somewhat useless for all of us that continue to have the same issues even after repairs and problems that far outlast the extended warrenty.
It seems that all the warrenty has done is give me a working computer ( inbetween repairs ) for one year and then after that I guess we just have to eat the loss of alot of money.? Some how that doesn’t seem to be good enough. Do I and others with continued problems have any more options available to get this taken care of once and for all? I DON’T NEED A NEW COMPUTER, I JUST NEED THIS ONE TO WORK!
November 28th, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Now that it’s past that extended fix it period should I just throw the laptop in the trash? It’s had 2 mother boards replaced but has always died shortly thereafter. It’s been dead 6 months now and only just heard there may be an extended coverage. It’s the famous mx35.
Thanks
November 28th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
I realize that the 12-month warranty extension has expired as of November 7, 2007, but I purchased a 3-year extended warranty that doesn’t expire until Dec 27, 2007. The free extended warranty did me absolutely no good because I was still under the warranty I paid for. My question is, shouldn’t I still get the free 12-month extension (which would in theory cover me through Dec 27, 2008)?
Has anyone asked Toshiba or a lawyer about this?
I have the power connector issue and already had it “fixed” once a couple years ago and I am now having the part completely replaced before my extended warranty expires, but it would be nice to know that I will have another year on top of that when the problem inevitably recurs. After all, I already have to shell out over a hundred bucks to replace the battery that was ruined by the power issue.
Also, were we supposed to be notified of this settlement, because I was not. Neither was my father who also has an M35X.
November 28th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
The A75 and M35X are dead. Let them die or fix them yourselves. I’m giving you the tools here, this is not a hard machine to take apart.
When they still fell under the warranty I took them apart on average in 7 minutes for motherboard replacements. That being said, he’s your only hope of squeezing a little bit more life out of your machines that are suffering from the infamous loose or broken power jack issue.
Most repair PROFESSIONAL repairs shops do not do these types of modifications, so you should seek out a ‘mom & pops’ laptop specialized shop if you do not think you are capable of this task.
These materials are a lot cheaper than your repair bills will be:
Soldering Iron
Wire
If you want to neaten it up you can go one step further and get some heat shrink.
Those of you that bought extended warranties that are still in affect on these machines, Toshiba will still honor them. As for the rest of you, it’s time to expand your horizons or break out your wallets. Don’t expect any repair facility to give you ANY warranty on a new board if you should choose to have it replaced. These cases for these boards is flawed in it’s design for the power jack and results in a fragile configuration of the components and the already shops know this about this unit.
Through extending the warranty as long as they did (a full year) on these machines, they have fulfilled any obligation to the customers in the value of the accessed life span of this machine. They have completed the terms of the class action law suit because of defects in this machine. So all of you talking about lawyering up, guess what, that boat has sailed. Time to move on to better and greater things, like Toshiba Tecras or Porteges instead of Satellites.
Please allow me to explain the true differences between Satellites and Tecras and Porteges. Satellites are made from cheaper components and are sold at low prices, but in large amounts, in commercial retail chains for one purpose; profits. The Tecras are the corporate line, high end, more portable and more durable, sturdier laptops. They are often between 999$ and 1299$, but you get what you pay for when it comes to laptops. Porteges fall into the same classifications as far as what’s good about them, except they are tablets with rotateable screens. Stay away from Satellites.
Buy quality, not quantity.
November 28th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Before you try and get your mx fixed consider this. I’ve had 2 completely new mother boards and the last mother board caused the power supplies to over heat so i wound up buying 2 power supplies and then finally adding a big heat sink to my power supply which stopped the power supplies from going out but once again the black screen of death came back. I soon learned that the power was somehow shorting out internally and could temporarily fix it by unplugging and replugging the plug in back. This got to be a ‘fun’ game but now it won’t play any more and is all black. Oh yeah and the last year it took about 20 minutes to turn on. Sooo even though they(My authorized repair place) tried new motherboards and spent a couple grand keeping a 600.00 laptop running, it’s once again TU sooo in lieu of a cash settlement or coupon I’m never fixing this thing again. Enough is enough, dontcha think?
November 28th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Badette,
How do you know that they were completely new?
I’ve replaced hundreds motherboards for Satellites M35X and A75 but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a brand new motherboard. They all were refurbished.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:09 am
Don’t know if they were new but that second one certainly ’seemed’ to cause the power supply (transformers) to over heat and die. Something the first 2 didn’t do so it was only a guess that something was different(newer?). Of course that could be a coincidence but clearly this supposedly logical piece of hardware has morphed into some kind of bad ju ju, icky vibe, vortex of unlucky, hardware hell. The playful tester part of my personality would keep playing with the problem but the ‘get on with your life’ , need to make a living part of my personality is winning over my inner child in this particular area of way too much wasted time and productivity.
November 29th, 2007 at 8:15 am
But back to my original question. Now that the official extension date is past is there any reason not to toss it in the garbage(oh ok recycling)??? It no longer comes on even after an hour, and the last time it did come on, there was a short of some kind that was often fixed by removing (not just wiggling) the cord from the back and then replugging it in. Sometimes wiggling helped after replugging but it never worked if you didn’t un plug it first. Then once you got it running the instant black screen of death became for frequent until now when it seems perminant. It is like it shorts out cuz it blacks out instantly, even though all 3 power lights are still on. Thanks Again
December 1st, 2007 at 2:58 pm
In the same boat. Had mine fixed in July after it not working for 2 years. Now it’s doing the same thing it did before, blue light only, no drive spin-up. What a piece of garbage.
I can’t see how any of you can side with Toshiba. No, I don’t think any of us paid a fortune for these machines, but we did buy them under the premise that they’d work for more than 6 months at a time, and without requiring $300 in repairs (not “fixes” since there’s obviously not a “fix” for the problem) only to have it break again 5 months later. I’m not an attorney, but I do know that as part of the settlement, they should have been required to actually develop a “fix” for the problem, not just a band-aid that eventually would dry up an fall off.
December 2nd, 2007 at 1:17 pm
They should have given up a couple years ago and bought them all back. It was pretty clear at that point there was no perm. fix short of rebuilding it from ground up.
The reason I like Toshiba is mainly because I have a local repair shop that specializes in fixing them and getting Toshiba to pay. The only thing worse then a lemon laptop, is a lemon laptop lost in shipping!! These people are amazing and to clinch the deal they have my favorite caramel candy at the reception area
I wouldn’t listen to me though because I’m clearly deranged enough to have just bought another Toshiba laptop for $549 at Office Depot. EEEEEk
December 5th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Buy laptops with AMEX or other card that extends your warranty. Amex even defers their coverage if you purchase an extended warranty and starts their coverage once all others end. So I still have a year of amex coverage on the lappy!
January 2nd, 2008 at 5:09 pm
My 3 year old A75 just developed the loose power jack issue last month (Dec. 2007)…apparently one month too late for the extended warranty. Lovely.
January 16th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
Gail- argghh mine just developed the same problem in the last month (A75 S206). now what? this unfortunately is probably going to be a ongoing problem for this series and it really is unfair! I really don’t want to pay big $$$ for repairs!
January 18th, 2008 at 4:57 am
M35X-S329 Failed Power Jack also… What I did was to only remove the small cover strip (the one that covers the hinges). You can then see the power jack. I noticed mine was loose and could actually see the solder moving away from the board when rocking the power jack. I happened to have a small straight tip soldering iron and went ahead and tried re-soldering the pin at the board, and it worked for me. I had to do it twice though within a week, but so far, so good.
If it breaks again, I guess it will then have to come apart completely to solder in a new jack.
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:00 pm
I’m not sure what my problem is with my M35x-s163
I wiggle the ac cord at the jack area and the lights go out ..Then the adapter starts beeping…This is a brand new adapter ….I replaced the hard drive before that…. only to have it keep crashing over,…when it does boot up for a minute it goes black… motherboard or Ac jack I can not tell I removed the hard drive and it still does not boot
April 4th, 2008 at 10:16 pm
I’m a little disappointed with my M35X-S3112, since it has gotten a little senile and can’t find the DVD/CD drive. I have sent it in for repairs once, for a defective hard drive, which I had covered under extended warranty. I bought it for about a $1000 well over 2 years ago, and I’m satisfied. I don’t expect laptops to last more than 2 years, so I’ve kind of taken a Buddhist philosophy toward it and now that I’m past two years, I’m positive about it. But this thing does have some weird mojo – and a bad mobo.
July 7th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
I have an M35X I bought in early December 2004. I used it pretty hard for a couple of years, and then it started screwing up. It didn’t bother to shut down, it just shut off. Then it wouldn’t start up properly, or if it did, it shut off in the middle of the process and started to screw Windows up. So after looking around online, I found out about that indeed infamous power jack problem. So my aunt took it down for me, got it fixed under the extended warranty, and then in about four months, (after the warranty expired, OF COURSE) it started having the same problem again.
Now, I live near the lake in OH, and I’ve got too much stuff on my laptop to stick it in the mail to Columbus for some idiot to grab it for spare parts and never see it again. I can see it now: “Hello, Toshiba? I sent my laptop in to you, tracking number blah-blah-blah two weeks ago. Did you get it?” “What laptop? We never received that, no.” “Hello, UPS?” “No, that package was never registered with us.” And then suddenly all my private information is in some freak’s hands for the wrecking. Nope, I’m not mailing it.
And after learning how much it would cost to fix it, I’m in the market for a new laptop. I don’t have that kind of money to throw away on a piece of crap that’ll break again in another six months.
I’ve heard both good and bad things about Dell, but the good outweighs the bad, and since several close friends own and appreciate their Dells, I think I’m going there next. Toshiba will not have my business again if I can help it, and the software problems I’ve encountered with Compaqs is just too annoying. The only bad thing about the Dell lappy I want: they don’t put XP on it anymore.
My sympathies to anyone else out there with these headaches.
July 7th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Kay,
You can transfer all personal data from the laptop hard drive to any other computer as I explained in this post.
July 23rd, 2008 at 11:31 am
All Toshiba laptops need to be sent to me. I am a qualified laptop mortician. I clean them up so that they are all pretty and then submit them to their graves so that they can lay in piece, rather than in pieces all over the world being kicked aside like litter.
On a more serious note. I will gladly take any toshiba laptop that anyone wants to donate to me. I am a computer science major and have a lot of skill in rebuilding computers in general. I recently recovered a m35x-s109 toshiba and it has both the power jack problem as well as another chip with the pins coming loose. I have fixed both.
December 28th, 2008 at 6:05 pm
I HAD SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS AND OTHER PROBLEMS DESCRIBED HERE BUT TOSHIBA SAID THAT DUE TO MY WARRANTY PERIOD ALMOST UP 2 WEEKS TO GO SAID THEY COULD NOT WARRANY UNIT AND OBVIIOULSLY LIED TO ME NOW THAT I KNOW THIS IM GONNA TRY GOIN AFTER THEM AND MAYBE GET FIXED OR REPLACED
December 31st, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Had our A-75 supposedly fixed and, what do you know, we’re having the same problems again. Worst part, it’s out of warranty, so Toshiba says we’re out of luck. If anyone knows of any class-action lawsuits, I’d be interested in getting in on it.
February 9th, 2009 at 5:45 am
Its a pity. I bought my fist laptop, a A75 from CompUSA when I was in the US visiting my sons. Within the year it started overheating and would shut down. By the time I took it to the Toshiba service, my warranty had run out and they charged me. This was repeated every 6- 8 months or so. The guys at Toshiba service told me that this model was outdated after 2 years they were not interested in servicing it. To make the laptop work, I would sit in front of the airconditioner to cool my laptop in close to freezing temperatures, till the run time was down to 15 mins or less. Frustrated, I searched online and came up with details picturized instructions for cleaning my A75 at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/ToshibaA75/satA75_1.htm and bingo! here it is working again. When I opened it, I found that the toshiba serivice guys had not put in 4 screws while servicing my laptop. I seriously think Toshiba should see this. And unless they do something about it, I am not buying Toshiba again and will warn all on my mailing list to beware of Toshiba.! My sincerest thanks to the person who made that website to service T laptops.
April 2nd, 2009 at 1:14 pm
Wow this is amazing … I live in Canada, so this extended warranty would not have applied to me anyway, but my A70 croaked pretty much as described. I went through two power supplies and eventually the lights only came on and the HD wouldn’t boot. Purchased the A70 Jan 2005 and it croaked Feb 2006. I didn’t purchase the extended warranty, and Toshiba wouldn’t extend it – told me I need a new motherboard and it would cost me close to $400 to have it fixed at a repair facility. So I basically wrote off this crappy machine, and vowed to never by a Toshiba computer or ANYTHING again.
And I haven’t.
But I love finding this old page – I never realized this was such a HUGE issue, and frankly, I again am disappointed with Toshiba for not honoring my warranty, ESPECIALLY when this was a known defect.
June 2nd, 2009 at 11:49 am
does all toshiba satellite numbers match in laptops of the same model????
December 19th, 2009 at 9:50 am
I have the solution for the non booting Toshiba m35 that I wrote almost a year ago. This tutorial is applicable to laptops that shut down without any warning, laptops that turn on only sometimes, and laptops that simply refuse to turn on. So if your laptop does not turn on, it goes completely dead within a few minutes after bootup, here’s the link to the tutorial. The repair takes about an hour, there’s no need of replacing any parts, reinstalling any software or any other thing. The only investment in repairing your laptop with this tutorial is your time. Basically, you can repair your laptop within the hour, without spending any money for any parts or software.
http://imateski.blogspot.com/2008/08/toshiba-satellite-m35x-motherboard.html