Toshiba Satellite Laptops: Built to Take Abuse

I have seen a lot of laptops over my career as a computer technician, many dead because of a slight mishap, a bump or a fall. Of all the laptops I have worked on Toshiba Satellite laptops seem to have the ability to take the most abuse.

This Toshiba Satellite L505 is the third Toshiba to enter this household. The first, an ancient Windows 95 machine, was abused until it was finally stolen from my home. Despite the fact that it was the slowest machine in the house at the time it was routinely grabbed whenever myself, the kids or my sister wanted to go online or do whatever. From the looks of that old machine it had been abused before we bought it, I know the kids and I used it hard and often, yet it stood the abuse and kept on going.

The next Toshiba Satellite was purchased in 2006. I took that machine with me everywhere; on computer jobs, to friend's houses, on trips, to the library-just wherever the winds took us. It has been used, abused, wiped, upgraded and used some more with very little respite. I spilled tea on it earlier this year and I thought I finished it, but after a thorough cleaning that machine is STILL going strong! I actually replaced it thinking that it would fail after the tea incident, and gave the machine to my 10-year old daughter. She has abused it as only a 10-year old can, yet that machine still boots perfectly every time!

This current Toshiba, an L505, has been here for only 6 months but in that time it has traveled with me all over Kentucky and in other states as well. I invested in a keyboard cover in memory of the tea incident with the older Toshiba and continue to use it daily for whatever I do, wherever I am.

A friend of mine after watching what the second Toshiba was handling so well purchased a Toshiba Satellite of his own. He was a truck driver at the time and traveled in his semi all over the lower 48 states. He wanted a durable machine that could handle the constant vibrations of life in a big rig and decided to give Toshiba Satellites a try.

On October 9, 2008 he left his Toshiba Satellite lying unsecured on his bunk when the workers finished loading his truck. He didn't think anything about it, he left it there all of the time while he drove. On this day, however the load shifted, and his rig flipped while he rounded a sharp curve. He was partially scalped, seriously injured, and the truck smashed into multiple pieces.

He called me after the accident in a panic. The wrecker service had located his laptop in the rubble: would I ride up there and see if I could save the data? I agreed and we loaded up for the trip.

This poor Toshiba was covered in dust and dirt from the accident, and my friend reverently opened the case to say goodbye. He pushed the power button---

---And the laptop sprang to life!

I have worked on computers professionally since 2002; of all the machines I have ever dealt with, none had ever survived anything remotely like this accident. I routinely see dead laptops from accidents a lot less destructive than this big rig accident, yet this Toshiba Satellite still ticks on!

We brought it back to the shop and I removed the dust, dirt and glass that had entered the laptop's interior. As of August 9, 2010 that Toshiba laptop is still in service. In fact, I reinstalled Windows on it just the other day. Occasionally the sound goes out from a suspected loose wire, but the gentleman who owns the machine refuses to have it looked at. He has declared that after surviving the accident that it has the right to have a quirk!

Toshiba Satellite laptops come in all sorts of hardware arrangements from high-end to low. As a result it is easy to find one with the configuration and price to suit your needs. This L505 comes with an AMD dual-core processor, 3 gigabytes of RAM, a 250 gigabyte hard drive, and HD TruBrite Display among its many features. These features are not what make this laptop special. The history of durability in these machines is where the true magic lies.

From a technician's point of view, Toshiba Satellite laptops are not the easiest to work on because it is difficult to locate service manuals on these machines, but other than the one that survived the accident I have yet to encounter a reason to open one.

While I would not encourage anyone to deliberately abuse any laptop, I highly recommend the Toshiba Satellite series for anyone who takes mobile computing seriously. I know from experience that it will handle the use well and is designed to withstand the occasional accident.