Toshiba – Middle Class Tech

A friend recently approached me with a request for help in purchasing a new laptop. She knows that I’m a technical writer and said she wanted the best bang for the buck—and that she wasn’t afraid to pay for quality. Knowing her needs as a grad student and being familiar with her overall lifestyle, I immediately recommended Apple’s Macbook Air (it should be noted that she owns a desktop iMac, of which she’s very fond).

She then admitted that she had her eye on a Levono Yoga. Although I’ve never owned a Lenovo product, I cringed. It wasn’t just because I had no experience with the company or its relatively new schizophrenic laptop-cum-tablet. It’s because she wanted something that wasn’t from Apple. But, lest you think I’m simply a bigoted fanboy, let me explain….

I’ve owned laptops since 1988, when I got my first grayscale Zenith SupersPORT 286 in college. More important, I’ve experienced nightmares with quite a few brands and models. Topping the junk list are Dell, Toshiba, and HP. I’ve owned desktop and laptop computers from all, many of which experienced serious problems. [Because my blog doesn’t accept advertising revenue, I can actually be honest about these products.]

Forget Toshiba

A certified repair tech confided in me that Toshiba had a known design flaw that resulted in overheating in the particular model I owned—which caused the unit to spontaneously shut down (always nice when I’m in the middle of document or video editing). Instead of fixing the design problem, Toshiba chose to simply replace the motherboard. Twice. Each repair resulted in similar headaches; the problem never really abated.

Forget Dell

After purchasing a top-of-the-line Dell XPS laptop in 2011, I had to spend countless hours fighting the Austin-based company to get two—count ’em, two—replacements (very similar to the Toshiba nightmare). The second replacement’s Blu-ray player died after only a week; the tech who replaced the drive couldn’t get it to work and cited a bad motherboard. Even the second replacement (third overall unit) experienced problems.

Can you say quality in the crapper?

If I wanted to consider myself a good person, I wasn’t going to allow my friend to walk into a similar situation. However, to save a few bucks—and because she was intrigued with the Yoga’s design—she went ahead and got it. I cringed a second time. Oh boy, here we go, I thought.

Sure enough, after only a week or so, she experienced problems with the Yoga and decided to return it. Thankfully, she made this decision within the 30-day return window and didn’t experience any hassles from the reseller.

And with what did she replace it? A MacBook Pro. I smiled and breathed a sign of relief, knowing she would have several years of dedicated service and a great user experience.

Proof in the Pudding

When I was consulting for USAA in San Antonio, I produced a ton of training videos for the company’s IT department (we created nearly 700 in just over three years, in fact). I don’t cite that number for bragging rights; I mention it to reveal the intense dependability and reliability of the two computers I used to do most of that video production: A late-model MacBook Pro and a 27″ iMac.

(BTW, video editing is basically the heaviest lifting your computer can do. It’s the true test of the reliability and power of a PC.)

Prior to the instructional designer/video producer gig at USAA, I had never owned a Mac. Many of my friends had, though—all of whom raved about their precious Apple hardware as if they had drunk a gallon of the Cupertino Kool-Aid. Their zealotous enthusiasm for their Mac computers was almost frightening.

One friend described how her late-model Mac laptop, one of the old white plastic models, had literally not been turned off or rebooted for years. She worked long hours as a nurse and simply closed the lid when she left the house (Apple’s operating systems have always been based on Berkeley UNIX, the most stable, solid OS in the world).

I now own a Mac Mini. My kids log some serious hours on this machine and give it a strong workout with all the streaming video they watch on YouTube and Netflix. The Mini is rock solid, has been rebooted only a few times in the past two years, and basically never experiences tech glitches. It’s so problem-free, in fact, that my kids pretty much forget it’s even there. The “computer” seems to be the display and mouse. Ah, a computing experience the way it should be: Trouble-free.

Hello MacBook Pro

My laptops, unfortunately, aren’t Apple products. They’re still functional and get the job done, so I can’t justify the purchase of new units yet. But when one of these Dell POS laptops bites the dust (which you know won’t take all that long), I’m headed directly to apple.com or my local Apple Store and picking up a Mac.

While most known for its iconic and ubiquitous iPhone and iPad lines, Apple makes the best computer hardware (and software) in the business. Period. The slight uptick in price is well worth it. (One of the hallmarks of failure in life is the inability to understand the value of one’s time; servicing and replacing defective laptops is no walk in the park.)

The next time you or one of your friends is in the market for a new laptop or desktop computer, seriously consider a Mac and stay away from the HP, Toshiba, and Dell models. If the slight increase in price concerns you, realize that a MacBook Air can be had beginning at $900. Under $1,000 for a brand new MacBook Air that’s barely thicker than a freaking iPad.

Don’t allow uninformed friends and co-workers to talk you out of a Mac because it’s “too expensive.” That’s just culture war crap and haters talking. Sometimes-immature Apple fanboys boast about having superior hardware and software, while Windows users do the same. It becomes a pissing match comprised of 12-year-olds.

Then again, if you’re a masochist, jump on that discounted Dell and smile knowing there’s a good chance you’re in for a bumpy ride. It’s your money. It’s your time.

Spend both wisely.

Curt Robbins