HP Notebooks or Toshiba Notebooks

I have 2 laptop computers. One is under the HP brand and the other is a Toshiba. Here are the pros and the cons of both. The HP model I have is the dv6120us. The Toshiba model is M55-S3291. Since it is illogical to compare memory or disk space, I will compare screens, and other design features on the laptops. I cannot see much of a difference in the screens. They are both HD wide-screen. I'll call that one a tie. I prefer the volume control on the Toshiba, it is a rolling gear. The HP volume is controlled by plus & minus buttons. The buttons on my HP also make an annoying beep noise when touched. Both HP and Toshiba have a slot to insert SD memory cards, headphones, microphones as is standard these days. But Toshiba has 4 USB ports. The HP I own only has 3 USB ports. This can be important when hooking up printers, USB flash memory, video game controllers, etc. I've played computer games on both computers and they worked well. I cannot further compare gaming because my HP has a different processor than my Toshiba. I should say I have played only one DVD game EA Sports NHL '07. This game uses a lot of memory and should normally be played on a desktop unit. But both laptops handled game play well as long as I did not have the on ice detail level on maximum. That made the game slow down to a point where I could not shoot or pass or check.

I like the HP power source better than the Toshiba. For one thing, the HP adapter is 105mm long, 43 mm wide and 27 mm in depth. Toshiba's adapter is 124mm x 49mm x 30mm. Smaller is better for portability purposes. Also I have had several occasions where the Toshiba has shut down when unplugged. Why it does not switch to battery power is beyond me. My HP has never shut down on me when I have the battery installed and I unplug the adapter. I should also analyze how the screen folds down. The HP screen folds back to about 135 degrees. The Toshiba folds back to the full 180. I don't ever use my laptop at 180 but it is good to have in case I need to type standing up. Both the Toshiba and HP have good speakers. Toshiba has the harman/kardon. HP has Altec Lansing. I prefer the touch pad mouse on my HP because it has the scroll button. The Toshiba touch pad is smaller, most likely because the unit itself is smaller and lighter in weight. Basically my analysis has shown that these laptops are very similar. They are made from the same components (keyboard, motherboard, DVD drive) in Asia. The difference in brands will be brought out in the customer service of the companies, which I cannot review because I have not used Toshiba customer service before. This could be a positive because that means I have not experienced any problems with the exception of the Toshiba shutting down when I unplug it despite the battery being fully charged. This has taught me to always save my work before I unplug my laptop. Based on personal experience, I would buy either brand as long as they had the functions I require, which will differ by each individual consumer.

As I have experience with HP, let me comment on that for my final thought of the article. I was having problems with plugging the power source into the laptop. I had to keep jiggling it to keep it plugged in. I wrote to Customer Service and they called FedEx to pickup the computer at my office. 48 hours later the laptop was sent overnight to my home with the problem fixed. Other problems I have experienced with my laptop include SD card compatibility. HP technical service online was very prompt in replying to my inquiries on how to address the problem at hand. I feel that my case was handled in a professional manner.