The L640-L655 Toshibas have a serious software and BIOS issue with the cooling fan. The issue is well-documented on the official Toshiba forum. The cooling fan runs fast and loud (you will not be able to use this computer in airplanes, libraries, classrooms, group work sessions, etc. due to fan speed). The loud fan will prematurely wear out the fan spindle, and uses excessive battery. I am encouraging anyone even considering the purchase of these lines of TOshiba computers to do online research and search these words: Toshiba forum cooling fan constantly. You will see many threads, but the main one has now thousands of views and elucidates the problem well. If you don't wish to look at it now, you will be looking at it intently once you purchase this model of TOshiba. Thus far, there is no fix for this cooling fan software issue. I am posting here as an owner of a Toshiba in this product line and simply as a method to help my fellow Amazon shoppers with a known issue. You certainly can buy or pass based on your own experience and research. Thank you and happy computing.6/8/2011: Still issues! Some Toshiba laptops have a fan and cooling issue that is software related.
Google "Toshiba forum cooling fan constantly on", or highlight and right click what I have type here to see the 13 page thread on this subject. The most recent 5 pages are 3-4 non-Toshiba computer programmers trying to solve the problem as Toshiba has been uncaring and useless. The key is to read the thread from the beginning to review all the people who first define the problem. I encourage anyone seeking a Toshiba computer to review the thread to see if their model is affected before purchase--most models are with AMD processors, but some are Intel latest chipsets (e.g. i5). It is not "a few bad computers", it is computers in each of the series specified. The post on the Toshiba Forum from FunkeA dated May 30, 2011 at 4:11pm has a list of Toshibas affected by this issue.
This post is totally informational for you, a potential buyer, so that you can make your own informed decision about which computer to buy before making the purchase. Whether you buy Toshiba, one of these models, a different model, or a different brand, is completely up to you. Thanks and have fun time computer hunting.
Here are the pros:
1) The AMD Turion II P540 processor was just released in Oct 2010 just in time for Thanksgiving, so this is the very best laptop chip they have to offer at the moment. It's fast and smooth and doesn't use much power (25W TDP). This is a 45nm chip, if anyone's interested (hence the much lower power dissipation). It also has a 2MB L2 cache which is one of the best out there and ensures faster data processing.
2) With 4GB of RAM, you can run multiple apps at the same time. Most people buy laptops with 2 or 3GB of RAM and they start complaining that they can't run multiple apps. But with this laptop you don't have to worry anymore. I think it's also expandable to 8GB of RAM, though you'll have to install those yourself.
3) 320GB of HDD means you can store thousands of songs, pictures and movies. I don't have the exact numbers (you know, like how Apple does it), but I'm sure most people will be happy with it.
4) 2 USB ports and 1 eSATA/USB port combo. The eSATA combo port is especially useful if you have an eSATA external HDD, which makes transferring of data between your external HDD and your laptop 5x faster than USB 2.0.
5) Standard battery at ~3 hours of life depending on usage so it's nothing impressive but also not bad either. Don't believe it when it says 4 or 5 hours.
6) 15.6" display! woot! On the other hand, you'll think that this will make the laptop heavy, but it isn't. At 5 lbs, this is one of the thinnest laptops (1") I've ever seen.
7) It comes with this Toshiba ECO utility that halves your power consumption by doing a bunch of tricks in your OS (like dimming the display, etc). This is a great power saver when you're on the go. The rest of the included software is useless though.
8) Full keyboard with numeric keypad. I love the keypad. My previous laptop didn't have one and it was always inconvenient doing calculations.
9) Wireless B/G/N adapater. Needless to explain further.
10) Windows 7 Home Premium 64b. I think Microsoft's TV commercials speak for itself.
And here are the cons:
1) The fan starts running like crazy even though I'm not doing anything (nope, not even surfing the internet). I'm not sure if this is a BIOS problem and it doesn't really bother me but I wonder if the laptop is overheating or something. The laptop feels cool to the touch, so there shouldn't be a reason for this. Toshiba should really address this.
2) The webcam is cheap and poor quality. But hey, it's free so I can't complain.
3) The eSATA/USB combo port is on the left, while the 2 other USB ports are on the right. Unfortunately they are located on the lower right corners of the laptop where my hand is and so I bump into it every once in a while if I plug in my mouse using one of these ports. If I plug my mouse into the eSATA/USB port on the left, I won't be able to connect my external HDD at that moment. This is a poor design seriously and all they had to do was move the USB ports further away and bring the DVD drive closer (also on the right) to where my hand is. That being said, 90% of the time I only plug my mouse into my laptop so this doesn't really bother me.
All in all, a great laptop for ~$500. Clearly the pros outweigh the cons so don't let the cons deter you from buying this. If you want something better go for it, but at $500-ish this is the best laptop out there in the market today!
Buy Toshiba Satellite L655D-S5102 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Fusion Finish in Helios Grey) Now
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.I purchased the L655 Toshiba Laptop just recently. It is replacing the A215 [about four years old] that is still running strong [my daughter is getting it]. I was waiting for the pricing to fall below $500. I purchased it for $424 off an ad at a major retailer, shocked that Amazon did not have the lowest price this time but I guess they can't win them all. Briefly this unit has a 500GB hard drive, 4gb DDR3 memory, plenty of USB/SD ports and a really impressive finish. It also has a 10 key number board just like a full size desktop keyboard [my A215 did not]. Speaking from four years of previous use these Toshiba's are rock-solid. I never had a problem with my other one and although I did [briefly] consider a Samsung and HP I convinced myself that messing with a flawless track record was foolish. My A215's fan runs hot and displaces a bunch of heat, but then again that's what it is supposed to do. This one does not generate half of the heat the other one did. You can research this but the processor & harddrive has a lot to do in determining how hot a laptop will get. It comes with some usefull and not so usefull software, not nearly as much bloat-ware as some makers. The unit is light for its size and holds a decent charge, the screen had very clear definition. For the price I doubt you will find more features and better quality anywhere else.BOTTOM LINE: I recognize everyone's needs vary and so to do their opinions but if you ask me I'd say buy a Toshiba.
Want Toshiba Satellite L655D-S5102 15.6-Inch LED Laptop (Fusion Finish in Helios Grey) Discount?
This laptop has been a great investment so far. It's lightweight and fast. The only reason why it didn't get 5 stars is the placement of the usb ports, which is a little awkward.
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