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Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4100 14-Inch Laptop - Black Review
Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4100 14-Inch Laptop - Black Feature
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Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4100 14-Inch Laptop - Black "i"
Toshiba Satellite L645D-S4100 14-Inch Laptop - Black Reviews
I owned a Toshiba prior to purchasing the Toshiba Satellite L645D and loved it. (It was a Toshiba Satellite A130/A135 Series.) Unfortunately, I never used a screensaver on the first PC and between traveling with it on a plane a number of times and leaving it powered on much of the time, the monitor eventually "fried" after about four years of use. I can still use it with an external monitor but the combination of devices makes it too bulky and impractical to carry with me.) Because of my good experiences overall with the first Toshiba I bought, I decided to buy another one. I choose the newer model based on price and functionality as I liked the fact that it was only 13 inches wide compared to other laptops.No longer naive to the ways of laptops, I installed a screensaver not long after receiving my computer. I also set it to power off when idle. Nevertheless, within only a few months of use, I started havings problems with it. The primary control button (underneath the pointer) broke off! I found out that it is too costly to repair and have since been inserting a piece of Post-it note paper over the area in order to use the computer. Go Post-it pads! You rock unlike my new computer!Overall, the keyboard design is problematic. After about six months, some of the keys starting sticking and in order to keep the keyboard operating properly, I need to regularly clean the computer with electronic cleaning spray. All new laptops are designed with flat keyboards compared to older models with raised keys so I don't know if others are experiencing this same problem or if it's an issue with this particular Toshiba model. My older Toshiba I believe I cleaned a handful of times over the years without ever having any issues with sticking keys.If you're like me, you know that laptops need to be handled with care because dropping them could wreak havoc on them. Even so, my older model held up after being dropped but not the L645D model. I did knock it over once and ever since I have had to use a fan underneath it because it gets extremely hot when powered on.I need to find another laptop to use when out and about and it is going to be a challenge to determine which computers and which brands stand up to everyday use. I suspect that I will need to find something closer to the $750 dollar range and up if I plan to keep it for a number of years. As for the Toshiba Satellite L645D, I would recommend it for home use for kids and that's about it. My goal is to find something durable, user friendly and if possible, made in the USA. Then again, I am determined to buy items made anywhere except China but that's a personal choice.
After using a Toshiba Satellite laptop in its 8th year and I being its 3rd user, the speed and modern components of this new Toshiba are like night and day in comparison. Now to be honest, I'm not actually the one using it yet. I live in Costa Rica and ordered the laptop in early March and had it shipped to my daughter in N.Carolina who will be bringing it down on her visit in April. She has been using it 24/7 as I instructed so if a problem popped up it could be easily shipped back to Amazon in plenty of time for a replacement. She will have used it for 2 months then I get it! So far all her reports are excellent. She says the sound is better than her Lenova laptop. Speed is great, but then anything faster than a crippled turtle would be fast to me. I researched and read reviews of all laptops in my price range and almost decided on an Acer. I knew I wanted larger than the 10", but not as big as 15". Could not exceed [...]. so that removed Macs from the pick! I wanted at least 2GB, and I wanted CD/DVD in as compact a size as possible. This model had no reviews yet, so I was going out on a limb. The decision for Toshiba, despite some negative reviews on other model Toshiba laptops, was based on the 8 years of service this old one has given. It still works, and if "dial up" was still a viable way to connect the speed would not be an issue. So brand loyalty prevailed...When I have used the laptop for a few months, I will post an update. So far, my daughter has nothing negative to report.Well, what a difference a year makes. I have used this laptop a little over a year and at the year mark, the speakers stopped working. And then a while longer the left click button came loose and slides under the plastic and gets stuck and I end up using a knife to dig it out. I am pretty sure you get what you pay for. I prefer not having to use a mouse though... If you want a piece of junk that lasts about a year before breaking down, spend $400. I guess if you want a laptop that lasts for a few years, maybe spend twice this amt. I dunno, I am thinking the companies don't care anymore how junkie they make stuff. To me, $400 is a lot of money when living on a fixed income. I would love to know what other makes of laptops are better quality. Maybe the higher priced Toshibas are better made? I am not happy with Toshiba though and would be scared to spend more on another, and find out it is also poorly made. IF I were to give a star rating today, I'd say 2 stars. It is still pretty fast, I use Skype on it and like the built in camera and mike, but have to use earbuds since the speakers don't work. I am considering beginning my research on another one, since I don't expect another year from this one. I will enjoy throwing it in my little pool and watching it sink to the bottom.
The last laptop I owned was a Toshiba and it lasted 6 years. As far as I know, that's a long time in computer years : )Anyways, this laptop is useful to me. I use word a lot but I do a lot of streaming and my computer can handle it. I don't do gaming. One more thing, the speakers are really good. My first Toshiba's speakers weren't that loud but this one's better.
I purchased my Satellite 15 months ago and have loved it until two weeks ago when the 2 USB ports on the right-hand side came loose and fell inside. I took the computer to a repair shop and was told this is a common issue with Toshiba laptops due to the weld Toshiba uses for the ports; they couldn't repair it but could send it in to Toshiba for repair -- at a cost of $400! I contacted Toshiba and was told that since I was 5 months out of warranty, they could repair it, but it would cost me ... $400! If you go online and search for "Toshiba USB Port Loose", you will find a slew of people that have experienced the same issue with their Toshiba laptops, even current year models. Save your money and purchase a different brand of laptop.
Being a builder of desktops that finally needed a laptop for school use, I knew the performance would be less for the price than that to which I was accustomed. For the price though the performance is adequate and even though Toshiba added some unnecessary software that seems to bog it down, you can remove it if you want. The keyboard and touchpad have a great feel compared to a lot of laptops I've used but the touchpad buttons are annoying with their loud clicking. Only thing extra I wish it had was a volume control button rather than just using the function keys. That said, the flash card function (fn keys) are convenient and make toggling power modes, wireless, mute, etc, super easy.Oh and the speakers suck but what do you expect. Get some good headphones and get better sound without annoying people around you.PS. There is a known issue with the Realtek wireless adapter driver so if you are having issues with it connecting and then dropping the connection every other minute just update it with the driver utility on Realtek's website for the 8188CE. Not a knock against Toshiba as it's not their fault but update it even though Windows says the driver is already up to date.
I bought this laptop about 7 months ago and have used the heck out of it the entire time. It is very fast and has run every type of business software flawlessly. The case is pretty flimsy so you can't physically treat it like a Macbook in terms of leaning into it when you type, but for under $500 I am very pleased.
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