toshiba satellite L300 20W

melb

hi there does anyone have any views on this laptop for about £235? Seems to be discontinued in a few online stores and when it was on hotukdeals a year ago there were only a couple of comments but want to buy 2 for the kids at christmas so don't want to spend too much but also want a bigger screen than 10". thanks

John_Gray

The full specifications are here.

It is quite an old laptop (Vista Home Basic 32-bit, and note the word discontinued in the URL) and is not particularly powerful (old T1600 Celeron, 160 GB of disk, 2 GB of memory, 1280x800 screen resolution). Not a very long-lasting battery, no Wireless n...

About the only thing in its favour (IMHO) is a decent dual layer DVD/CD drive!

Since you're buying it for children then it might be acceptable, but note especially that it is NOT wide-screen for playing DVDs...

I'd look to see if you can find it cheaper than £235.

melb

thanks maybe i'll keep looking. i just thought you couldn't go wrong with a Toshiba

puzz1ed1

melb wrote: »

thanks maybe i'll keep looking. i just thought you couldn't go wrong with a Toshiba

I had a Tosh laptop a few years ago but it regularly overheated from sucking loads of dust into the fan. When I had it repaired they suggested it was a common issue with Toshibas, though I think can equally occur with any laptop. Keep it off the carpet and away from the cats!

John_Gray

melb wrote: »

thanks maybe i'll keep looking. i just thought you couldn't go wrong with a Toshiba

It really depends on what you want the children to do with the laptops! They'd probably be underpowered for most adult use, and so it would depend on how old the children were, to some extent. Three years ago the laptop would be a fairly typical specification, but things move on rapidly. I've checked a few more websites, and £325 seems to be a fairly good price. Vista Home Basic is what would be a deal-breaker for me personally, but it may be ok for your usage.

dispossessed

In my experience Toshiba laptop hardware is of a good quality and proves reliable in practice. The issue of overheating and dust is an issue with all laptops unfortunately. As stated by a previous poster - if you aviod using it on the carpet then this is far less likely to be an issue.

To me, a laptop of that spec for around £235 is not a bad deal - which retailer was this from ? Some are definitely better than others with regard to warranty claims etc.

Trevor

cajef

dispossessed wrote: »

In my experience Toshiba laptop hardware is of a good quality and proves reliable in practice.

I would second that, I have had a Toshiba Satellite laptop for two and a half years and have never had any problems with it so far.

John_Gray

Having just been to our local Tesco Extra, I noted a couple of Toshibas at £299* with at a higher spec as the one you were looking at, and including Windows 7 Home Premium. If you aren't near a big Tesco, perhaps look at Tesco Direct online, or at other retailers?

* but probably no use, since I had mentally transposed your £235 to £325! So around £64 dearer...

melb

thanks for all replies - it was at electrical-deals but might have gone now as I thought maybe it wouldnt be a good deal. the kids are 15 and 11 and like browsing iternet going on facebook listening to music but i suppose in a couple of years might want use it to produce school work

dispossessed

Wifey bought a Toshiba Satellite from Tesco about 3 months ago and paid £320. It's built like a tank.

Trevor