Computer techie's have an answer?

[The Godfather]

Toshiba Satellite 1900 series Notebook


I've had my Toshiba Sat 1900 laptop for about 1 ½ years now and I'm starting to get a few problems with it. I find that the computer is running slow, the monitor is acting weird when I scroll up and down I'm getting a wigly/wavy look from the screen (pixel problem?) and it just doesn't work as good as it did.

I've been told laptops don't last as long as a desktop pc. Is this true?

What should I do about my laptop with these problems? thanks.

 

[CappinStabbin]

clear the HD and reinstall everything fresh. If the monitor is still hazy or fuzzy, check into warranty and see if you can get it replaced.

 

[The Godfather]

Is it true about laptop computers not lasting longer than your typical desktop pc?

 

[antaeus]

yes. 2 main reasons:

- thermal issues. Laptops by design are poor at dissipating heat. Heat buildup / thermal cycling are the most destructive in normal usage of pc's.
- mechanical shock. Laptops get thrown around, knocked, dropped, etc.

Other reasons are frequent on/off cycles and Mean Time Before Failure of tft screens and battery technologies - both technologies at the bleeding edge of manufacturing processes vs. commercial affordability vs. physics.

 

[Esco!]

Sounds like you got adware/spyware on your laptop, GF.
Clean it with ad-aware and spypot

That should help!!

 

[to-guy69]

Yes, you are correct. Laptops typically do not last as long as desktops. The "wear" and "tear" due to their portability eventually takes it's toll. Plus, they run much hotter due to the closeness of the parts compared to a PC/MAC. You should you back up your stuff reguarly and format your hard drive every year.

 

[canucklehead]

ok the laptop desktop thing is crap i have a powerbook that is 5 years old i still use alot and all i had to add was ram and it runs as well as it ever did. I still can use the latest OSX, PhotoShop and FinalCut.
I had so guy with a new Viao tell me Photoshop took forever to launch on his computer after he saw how quickly mine launched.

 

[TheTao]

Godfather your laptop is suffering from 2 different problems.
I'm a certified Toshiba Tech. (Along with Compaq, HP, IBM etc etc etc) The wavy monitor thing you are describing is coming from 1 of three things. Either the refresh rate on your video card is set to low - it is over heating frequently or there is a loose connection between the screen and the daughter board. Any of those things could be fixed by yourself with minimal knowledge or by an auth'd dealer for less then $50 usually.

Now as far as your system running slow goes the answer to that is as variable as the possible OS your are running? Win98/WinXP etc etc etc...

The average life time expec. for all Satellite Models is 3 years. 80% of our market is corp lease. The 20% retail direct to user sees about a 50% RMA rate. The Satellite is not designed for unsupported end users on a hardware level. Your next laptop should be more robust! There are many IBMs HPs and Fujitsu models that are much much much more rugged then the one you have. As much as I hate to admit it Dell should be mentioned in that list as well.

 

[The Godfather]

Thanks so far guys on the tip for my notebook fixer uper method.

So the vote so far is 2-1 on laptop vs desktop pc longevity.

Anymore votes and reasoning?