whoa.... that looked like it solved it , didn't it? Toshiba should look into this immediately.
I'm sure that this is the problem with the 5105 series video cards that start displaying funny colored artifacts on screen.
Toshiba won't look into it. It's not economically viable to repair components at the discrete level:( Technicians with the skill set needed to do that kind of work are generally expensive.
So, instead, Toshiba will simply have a screwdriver jockey at one of their authorized repair centers tear down your machine and replace your video board. If your machine's under extended warranty you're just stuck waiting a few weeks/months for your machine. If you're not under warranty, you wait AND get charged $350.
Toshiba knows that the part is defective. They also know that the average life for a laptop is 3-5 years. So, if they can avoid dealing with the problem for long enough, there won't be a problem to be dealth with. This attitude is what pisses me off the most. I've gone through 2 cards, and they wanted to charge for a third one.
Toshiba doesn't care about its customers after they buy something, so don't stay loyal to them. Buy Fujitsu/Siemens, Acer, and the like; they care about customer loyalty and have good customer support programs to maintain that loyalty.
Toshiba will deny any knowledge of problems, and if you talk to their managers, they will tell you that Toshiba has never heard of any such problems before. These 'managers' will argue with you, and tell you that you have no options except pay for Toshiba to replace the part. They are hired into those positions because they are good at blocking upward movement of customer complaints.
Don't let it end there though. They want you to give up at that point, but here's the important bit; those handlers aren't important people:) They don't make decisions in Toshiba, they don't sign anyone's checks. They probably don't even hire/fire anyone. So, why bother dealing with them? They get enough irate phone calls every day:)
Go above them. Write POLITE letters to the real Toshiba management. Tell them about how you have been a Toshiba loyalist for the past 15 years. That you bought a Satellite 110, a Libretto 70CT, a Satellite 4030, and a Portege 8200 before buying your "desktop replacement" paper weight. Tell the people that run the company why you have lost faith in Toshiba. Why their brand lost its aura of quality.
Class action lawsuits are bad publicity, but they take time and are often fruitless. The 5005 owners still got screwed after their settlement, even though it was obvious what Toshiba was doing ($300 rebate for a $2500 computer that can't even play a DVD smoothly). Instead, don't buy Toshiba, and tell the people who care why you aren't buying them.
If anyone finds contact information for anyone worth a the air they breathe at Toshiba, please post it in any message board that you can:)
Thanks, and lets get things off in the right direction.
Edited by Technician.Ken, 30 October 2005 - 11:09 PM.
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