Occupying last place for the second time since 2013, Toshiba seems like a company that's just been going through the motions for the past several years. The last time the brand placed any higher than seventh was in 2011, when it graced fourth place. Toshiba is always at or near the cellar because of its poor-quality laptops, weak support and mediocre design. To add insult to injury, the company preloads a lot of bloatware and makes you pay your own return shipping for defective products. Toshiba's lineup has a few bright spots, though, including an excellent Chromebook and a long-lasting 2-in-1. Design (8/15) Toshiba doesn't make particularly pretty laptops, but they're not ugly either; they’re just meh.

• Wtt Toshiba High End Laptop For Machine Learning

Wtt Toshiba High End Laptop For Machine Learning

Take the, which is sporting the company's Skyline design language that offers a brushed, silver, aluminum frame that's totally inoffensive. Both the and borrow heavily from Lenovo's 360-degree hinge design, but neither really brings the wow factor of its competitor.

The, with its spill-resistant keyboard and drop-tested chassis, is a standout in the lineup. But you also have the, which looks premium despite its plastic shell but suffers from a sharp, upward-pointing edge that presses uncomfortably into your wrists. Ultimately, Toshiba laptops are solid products, but based on design alone, they tend to fade into the background. Reviews (13/30) With a score of 13 out of 30, Toshiba once again finished with the worst average rating in the past year. The company had five systems that earned scores of 2.5 or less.

The only real bright spots for the company were its, a premium 2-in-1 with over 14 hours of endurance, and its updated, which improved upon the original with a brighter display and more-recent components. But as whole, the results weren't pretty. Tech Support (16/20) In a word, Toshiba's technical support is difficult. The company's online resources were too Windows 8-specific during our tests, and its bot-based Virtual Help Desk led us in a loop of queries with no answers in sight.

We fared better on some of our phone calls with Toshiba reps, but one agent almost had us reset a notebook's BIOS when all we needed to do was uncheck a box in a preference window. MORE: Warranty (2/5) Toshiba makes you pay for your own shipping if you have to send a laptop in for repair. The company provides a vanilla one-year warranty, but unlike some competitors, Toshiba lets you upgrade your system without losing coverage. Software (2/5) The company preloads some useful first-party utilities, but far too much unwanted software. The Portege Z30t, and Kirabook include My Toshiba, which lists featured partners, and an eco utility for more-prudent energy usage. The Portege adds in several security applications, including a password manager and a fingerprint utility. Unfortunately, Toshiba piles on the most bloatware in the business, ranging from links to advertisers in the task bar to games and apps we didn't want or need.

Culprits include Netflix, eBay, WinZip, Flipboard and Spotify, though that's just a small taste of what Toshiba's computers have come riddled with in the past year. Innovation (5/10) Toshiba hasn't broken a lot of new ground in the past year. The company continues to offer a number of 2-in-1s with 4K displays and styluses, but hasn't done much to stand out from the crowd, other than providing some low prices. Sometime in 2016, consumers can look forward to seeing the dynaPad, a lightweight, 12-inch Windows tablet that can serve as a laptop when you attach its optional keyboard. Value and Selection (12/15) Toshiba offers a wide swath of laptops, from the $270 Toshiba Chromebook 2 to the pricey, $1,700 Kirabook (2015).

The company has budget laptops and 2-in-1s of all sizes well-covered, while its Tecra line provides plenty of options for businesses of all sizes. However, you won't find a serious Toshiba gaming laptop or graphics workstation with professional-grade Nvidia Quadro graphics.

The company has a lot of low-cost laptops, but we couldn't find one with a 1080p display for under $750. MORE: How Toshiba Can Improve There's nowhere for Toshiba to go but up. The company needs to dramatically improve its laptop designs and build quality, while offering more fresh ideas. Toshiba should also dump the crapware from its systems.

Best & Worst Laptop Brands. Toshiba. ChipChic31 Says: I bought a Qosmio in 2011 and it still runs quite smoothly.

I run Windows 7 Pro and many have suggested against upgrading to 10 but I'm a bit obsessed with a faster boot up time, so I may download (but not install) that free copy of 10 just in case. I love big screens and I cannot lie, so one of the reasons I want to hang onto this laptop for as long as allowable is that it has an 18.4 inch screen.

If Toshiba could revive a more versatile version of the Qosmio (maybe a few pounds lighter and the option to separate the keyboard and use as a tablet), they'd have me as a return customer. As their current laptops look generic, lack any innovative design- I'd have to look elsewhere for my next laptop. If Toshiba would only listen to loyal customers like me, perhaps they might revive their sagging fortunes. RobertH Says: I was surprised to find Toshiba at the bottom of the list. I decided as my accountant is always telling me I need more write offs, to attempt to upgrade my laptop that I bought about to years ago.

It came with a 1tb hard drive, 8GB of ram, and an A8 4500M processor. It works great, but I thought what the hell, I'll buy a new laptop, sell this one while it is still sell able, and make the accountant happy. I should note that I paid $369 for this, it was on sale two years ago.

I go laptop hunting, and I can't find anything comparable, TWO YEARS LATER! I'm seeing laptops with 500gb hard drives, 4gb of ram, and cpu's that come in at.2 (out of 10 at cpu boss) better than the one I have.

Even the higher end laptops seem to ship with 6gb of ram if you're lucky, same size hard drive. I'm sure the cpu is better, but are they so much better that I should get rid of my laptop I have now? Screenwatcher (free version download for mac.

I don't get how this dirt cheap laptop seems to blow 90% of the laptops in store off the shelf with specs, two years after I bought it. Mark Yates Says: Toshiba gets a bad rep.

I've had the polar opposite experience with Toshiba overall. I'm on one now and it works beautifully. The touchpad issues are driver related. That's mainly on synaptics and it will be fixed. I'm going to report this for everyone. This was also clearly biased towards Dell and HP.

My Toshiba here has the best keyboard I think I've used to date on a laptop. I love this design and the laptop feels, looks and acts much more like a high performance ultrabook than an entry level laptop. The chipset is Intel and generally there chipsets just work. It helps that I love Intel anyway. The one huge thing I do hate is I cannot watch TV through my hdmi port.

I have no clue why and I think it's just a driver issue also. As for there HDD's. Well let's just say I have one in a machine i'm giving to a friend for his laptop. It's almost a decade old and it's still in perfect health.

It's the best hard drive I have ever owned by a long shot.Overall i'm very pleased with my new Toshiba Satellite C Series Laptop A.K.A. Joshua Says: I've only owned Toshiba Satellite laptops since I was in college, and for good reason. They are a great product for a great price. I paid $800 for my Satellite P-75A with the intel core i7. My computer geek friend built his from scratch and spent about $2,000. We compared specs and pound for pound in every aspect, my Toshiba competed with his custom built computer. I also put my computers through a lot of abuse.

I have a carrying case but I transport it from home to work every day, and in handling it, I've accidentally dropped it a couple times. No issues at all. My old Satellite that I gave to running programs for my staff in my business I bought in November 2011 and it just pooped out this month. For 3.5 of those years, it spent time in a very dusty environment. I see that people seem to either love Toshiba or hate it. For me it's a winner. Vicky bfly Says: I Love Love Love my toshibba Satellite!

I have had no problems with it since unpacking; I've had it for 6 month and use it constantly. I don't like the bloatware, however; would love it if Toshiba would offer signature editions themselves, like Microsoft does through their store.This is a solid state machine, and it shows; never heats up; or slows down. I have had two HP laptops and both of them were junk. I had a Chromebook too; HATE IT. I also have an older Toshiba Encore Tablet, and that one is also awseome; 'never a problem, ever.

At this point, I probably will only buy Toshiba from now on. The Japanese have always been known for their top of the line technology. Joshua Says: I recently purchased a Toshiba Satellite C75D and although the keyboard is definitely taking some adjusting to (requires more effort from my fingers to type), everything else is definitely miles ahead of other laptops in its price range. I paid 370 (410 including tax) and so far it's been able to run every game I've thrown at it with 30-75 FPS at Medium graphics settings, sometimes High.

For the price, I honestly don't think I could've made a better selection and with a 17 inch display, I'm more than ecstatic. Daily tasks and basic usage is a breeze. No noticeable lag whatsoever regardless of how many windows and programs I have up and running. I absolutely love that I can swap between Minecraft (running at no less than 70 FPS) and Chrome (another RAM hog) without any lag.

Toshiba's a great budget brand. Clara Butler-Chock Says: My Toshiba Laptop has been the sost laptop I have envountered. I am in a graduate program and have to do a lot of reseach and sriting papers on different topics and while I. Am thping the cursed numps to a differe t location where I have tpyed. I have to delet what I was thping and put it back into the right place then continue with my typing. Another issue is while I am typing it freezes up and I have to wait until it decide to work again. One time I felt like throwing this messed up laptop out of the window.

I will never purchase another Toshiba product of any kind. Christ Says: I've never had a problem with Toshiba. I'm on my second one (My first was a Vista that lasted me 4 years till I upgraded) My current one I've had for 3 years and it hasn't had any problems. I recommended one to my sister about 5 years ago and I went to see her a little while ago, and she still has it! It's still running strong, even with Windows Vista. I also recommended one to my brother a couple years ago and his is still doing good too.

So that's 4 different Toshiba laptops that have lasted without any real problems. I've tried other laptops and there is always something I don't like about them. My current one (P955-S5320) has the absolute most perfect touchpad. I don't know why other laptops can't get the touchpad right. I bought a Lenovo laptop because I wanted to upgrade to something with a newer processor and newer hardware. But I still find myself using my old Toshiba 99% of the time.

In fact the Lenovo has been sitting on my couch for the last 2 months. This Guy Says: Take it from a broke-ass college kid, Toshiba's cheap price is more than offset by cheap construction. I've had a Toshiba notebook for four years now, and I'm honest-to-god surprised it's still running. I bought the laptop back in my freshman year of college for $300, not expecting much past a computer that could browse the internet and run word and excel. Somehow, I was still incredibly disappointed. The AMD C-50 processor is one of the worst GPUs out there, and I've had the displeasure of waiting minutes for word, excel, and pretty much any other low-impact application to open up.

I can launch powerpoint, go to the kitchen, make a cup of tea, come back to this laptop, and still watch this thing struggle. Absolutely terrible.

And it's not just the hardware, either: The laptop came preloaded with all sorts of junk Toshiba software that put a huge strain on what little processing power and memory the laptop had. I ended up doing a fresh install of windows 7 just to get rid of all the stuff Toshiba crammed into this thing.

As if hardware and software problems weren't enough, about two years ago, even after all the care I'd taken to keep this thing in a softcase so nothing would get damaged, the keyboard and inside surface started peeling up from the body, and I ended up duct taping over the corner and the disc drive just to keep the damn thing together. After a four year run with regular usage, this thing is starting to collapse under its own weight. More and more I get to see the BSOD, not because of overclocking or viruses or misuse, but because the laptop can no longer function with only 3 GB of RAM when svchost memory usage spikes while the laptop checks for updates. Everything about this laptop screams cheap and useless. I'll be glad to scrap it the day I can afford something, or really anything better. Take it from me: Never, never, never buy a Toshiba. Shera Harvey Says: We really like Toshibas so we bought three different laptops at three different price ranges starting in 2012.

Every single one has had the monitor go out. Most recently we bought one for our adult daughter, the monitor went blank within a week. Luckily it was soon enough we returned it to the store. This was very difficult and took a couple of days. Store want you to get your computers fixed through the company they almost never replace them. Luckily my husband is a good talker. I think that this should be a recall and Toshiba should offer to repair or replace the monitors.

Norma Padgett Says: I hate my toshiba laptop. Its of poor quality in my opinion. Not a year after buying it I had to have it worked on because the port where it charges broke off inside.

Now less than two years later the hinges are broke where I cannot close it. The tech I took it to say that in his opinion that Toshiba laptops are not made of quality material any longer. The second time he wouldn't even work on it.

So now I've got to purchase a new one if I want to take it with me anywhere. So you can bet it will not be a Toshiba!!!! Albert Says: Hi, Bought my Toshiba Satellite L50 on the 21st of January 2015. I will following describe major quality defects: 1. Battery: have had to unscrew and screw the battery to flush the power in order to be able to turn it on. Have done that twice.

Chassis: the chassis is way too flexible, not solid. If I try to grab it by the corner where the DVD is located while it's running, the laptop's chassis starts to bend and the DVD starts making weird noises. DVD not mechanically sealed properly, leaving gaps in between, giving way to dust entering the DVD itself and therefore having to cleaning more than would be normal. Screen: if you look sideways to the black surface surrounding the screes, it doesn't look like a uniform surface. Compared to the HP Presario I had previously, the Toshiba is miles away in terms of quality. Won't buy again this brand.

And will never buy at Dick Smith either, they fooled me into it just because they want to get rid of it, clearly). NOT RECOMMENDED.

SonicKnuckles1998 Says: In 2011, I got a Toshiba Satellite C655 for Christmas. I liked it so much since Windows 7 was so cool! Unfortunately, I would always get adware on it, it would BlueScreen, and one time it would stop responding after 30 seconds! It broke in October of 2013, so I got a Toshiba Satellite C55t-A. I didn't like it as much as the C655 since it had Windows 8 instead of Windows 7. A few months later, I obtained a flash drive which restores Toshiba Satellite C655s to factory settings, so I plugged it in and fixed it.

After having 2 computers for 4 months, it broke AGAIN! This time, it was completely broken unless if I spend an arm and a leg trying to fix it again. Meanwhile, my C55t-A was doing terrible. It wouldn't charge up to 100% and it stopped using sound one time.

I totally wish I could get an ASUS with Windows 7. Shirley Strait Says: I own a Dell and it's a piece of doggy doo. I bought it on Black Friday and one month later it was broken. I have called the company 20 times and they keep sending me to India. I have also complained to The Better Business Bueara and to no avail.

If they were the last manufacturer on earth I would never buy a Dell again. They have replaces a key on the keyboard because it just fell off and the computer wasn't even a year old. They also had to replace the hard drive and it's going on the fritz again. Dell won't help or extend my warranty and it has been down more that it has worked. I am so mad I could spit nails and will never buy a Dell again. I've had my Toshiba for 15 years and it's still running like a champ.

So I've had a good experience with Toshiba but my Dell can go take a hike. ES Says: As a prior Toshiba Certified Tech, over the years, reimbursement for warranty work dropped to non-sustaining level. Parts ordered for Business units were delayed, often weeks at a time. Businesses ( including Oracle ) using Toshiba were disappointed, and switched to Dell. Consumers units were originally repaired within major cities, then switched to 'send it to Central Repair Depot ' at first, for free, then later at end user cost. And often lengthy delays. No wonder it's slipped way down in ratings.

No one at Corporate would listen.

Your laptop is a couple of years old, and you’re not particularly happy with its performance anymore—but you aren’t ready to spring for a new one. You’ve probably considered upgrading your portable Mac. But what, exactly, should you upgrade?

To start, you should focus on the Big Two of laptop upgrades: the memory and the hard drive. Sure, you can upgrade other components, particularly the optical drive and, in some cases, the CPU. But RAM and hard-drive upgrades can both dramatically increase your laptop’s usability, and both are doable for the average Mac owner. Thanks for more memory Adding RAM is the fastest, easiest upgrade you can do, and it will give you the most bang for your buck. You probably know the signs of a RAM-deprived Mac: Your machine works great while you’re browsing the Web and reading e-mail, but when you open a program like Adobe Photoshop, you see the spinning beach ball. When the operating system can’t fit the application code and your data in physical memory, it swaps the excess data to the hard drive.

Because disks are slower than RAM, that swapping slows performance. Memory upgrades can be particularly helpful if you run high-end applications—such as Photoshop—that work with huge data files.

For example, Macworld tested the effects of RAM upgrades on a Mac mini. In Photoshop, tasks that took seven minutes to perform with 256MB of RAM took about two minutes when that RAM was upgraded to 512MB—that’s a pretty dramatic improvement. If you think you need more laptop RAM, you can get some at a relatively inexpensive price: a 512MB module can be had for around $70; 256MB, for as little as $40 (this varies by model, of course).

Installation is simple (particularly with aluminum PowerBooks and the MacBook models): Just shut the computer off, remove a few Phillips screws, drop the new RAM in, and replace the screws. When you turn the Mac on, it should immediately recognize the new memory. Exact installation procedures vary by model.

(With MacBooks, for example, Apple recommends that you install RAM in matched pairs for best performance.) For specifics, check out. Usually, the only trick is making sure the RAM you buy is compatible with your partic-ular Mac. (See summarizing the types of RAM that will work in your laptop.) Speed and storage While more RAM can easily increase a laptop’s performance, a new hard drive may also give you a speed boost, while also giving you more storage. Let’s say your iBook came with a 20GB drive rated at 4,200 rpm.

For about $130, you can replace it with a 60GB, 7,200-rpm drive. Throughput on the stock 4,200-rpm drives generally tops out at 20 MBps, but the 5,400-rpm drives max out around 30 MBps, and the 7,200-rpm drives top out at about 40 MBps.

For people who value space over speed, the largest laptop hard drive currently available is a SATA 4,200-rpm 200GB model from. Fujitsu has also announced production of a SATA 200GB drive, but it is too thick to fit into the MacBook line. Faster drives have a reputation for being noisy and causing poor battery life. True, 7,200-rpm drives pull about 25 percent more juice than comparable 5,400-rpm drives and make a bit more noise, but you’re not likely to notice either in real-world use. What you will notice is the price: Right now, 7,200-rpm drives cost about 50 percent more than 5,400-rpm drives of the same capacity. Another consideration is physical size.

Until the MacBook came along, all Apple laptops used 2.5-inch ATA drives. (That measurement refers to the drive’s width; you’ll also see references to height, such as 9.5mm drives.) Although some older iBooks and PowerBooks can accommodate taller drives, 9.5mm is the standard and works in everything. Drives in the new MacBooks and MacBook Pros are the same physical size as those used in older Mac laptops, but they use the faster SATA connection; that standard isn’t interoperable with the older ATA connectors, so you can’t put a SATA drive in an older Mac. Hard-drive installation varies widely in difficulty. With the new MacBooks, it’s insanely easy: just remove the battery and three screws, swap the drives, and replace the screws, and then you’re done. (See the.) Older iBooks are significantly more challenging, 12- and 15-inch PowerBooks slightly less so, and 17-inch PowerBooks and MacBook Pros are even easier (though still not as easy as MacBooks).

Because of that diversity, it’s impossible to give even general instruc-tions here. Apple’s manuals and Web site are both silent on the topic, so you’ll just have to search the Web. Tricks of the trade Before you start any upgrade, make sure you have the right tools: Phillips 0, Phillips 00, Torx T6, and Torx T8 screwdrivers are most commonly required. Some upgraders worry that messing with their machines will void their warranties.

In some cases, it may. Apple’s warranty states: “This warranty does not apply to damage caused by service (including upgrades and expansions) performed by anyone who is not a representative of Apple or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.” This means that your warranty will still be valid if you install a new hard drive yourself—as long as you don’t damage anything. In fact, in an effort to control costs, Apple has increasingly been asking Mac owners to perform warranty fixes—the company ships you the replacement part, and you have to perform the repair yourself. If you do damage something, the warranty won’t cover that damage; however, you should still be eligible for coverage for other, unrelated issues.

Of course, if you don’t want to worry about warranty issues, you can always buy your upgrades online, and then take them to a local Apple technician, who can install them for you. Kyle Wiens is the CEO of iFixit, a laptop and iPod parts retailer, and a coauthor of the DIY repair.