Toshiba Exchanging G15 and F15s due to faulty boards!

Hey All:

I just left BestBuy with a new G35 600. I had a Qosmio G15 that went in for its second bad system board a few weeks ago. It came back this past Friday unrepaired, but inside there was a Memo titled "Toshiba Return Authorization/Factory Warranty Resolution". The memo states that Toshiba has put out a technical bulletin that the system boards on the G15 and F15 are defective and that the vendors are to provide customers with an exchange. This was from Toshiba, and had nothing to do with the extended warranty I purchased from BestBuy (which was transferred to the new G35 by Bestbuy).

Best Buy gave me my choice of any machine in the store, including any other brand. I tried to get the new G35 650, which they only have online, but due to the exchange procedures, it had to be an "in the store" machine. (Of course, I am not at all disappointed with the result!!)

At the time of the second repair, the one year warranty on my machine had just ended. I also need to mention that after the first board was replaced in December, I received a letter from Toshiba America Infomation Services which extended the warranty for another year due to the replacement of the first motherboard. Needless to say, I am a very satisfied customer!!

I know that there are a lot of Qosmio owners out there who are experiencing motherboard failures. I hope this information helps.

Rich

MidnightOil:

Goonter is correct in summarizing the events surrounding the replacement of my G15 by Toshiba. I thought I might add that when my machine was returned to me after the second repair request, it appears that no actual repair of the systemboard was attempted by the repair facility. I believe that once the BestBuy repair facility got the machine, they simply put the notice to exchange the machine between the keyboard and the screen and shipped it back. I picked it up without checking it out and found the memo inside. I also understand that at one time, Toshiba was attempting to install upgraded boards in the G15, but it now appears that they are replacing the machines.

If you think it will help, I can fax to you a copy of the exchange memo that I found in my old machine. I think it is probably a BestBuy interoffice memo, but it might help. I also don't understand why they would need your machine at this point, except to facilitate an exchange for a new unit.

And by the way, where is Circuit City in all this? BestBuy was right there for me and arranged the exchange for the new machine once they saw the memo.

Another possible solution....Will your company allow you to return the machine to Toshiba if all data is removed? I found that even with the bad system board, I was able to boot in "safe mode with networking" and transfer my data files to another machine over my LAN before I sent my G15 in for its second service call. If you can get your machine to boot this way, you should be able to delete all your info before sending in the machine.

If you wish me to fax the memo, send me your number.
Good luck, Rich

Rodarapan,

Apparently Toshiba has not released a technical bulletin on this subject that is available to the public. However, the Bestbuy service memo I have states that Toshiba has issued a bulletin to them regarding the defective boards. I would be very surprised if you could find it at the sites Toshiba makes available to the public.
The problems I experienced with a bad board were generally green lines or patterns on the screen with the ultimate inability to reboot except when using a very limited safe mode. The problem seems to worsen over time after that.

Rodarapan,

Apparently Toshiba has not released a technical bulletin on this subject that is available to the public. However, the Bestbuy service memo I have states that Toshiba has issued a bulletin to them regarding the defective boards. I would be very surprised if you could find it at the sites Toshiba makes available to the public.
The problems I experienced with a bad board were generally green lines or patterns on the screen with the ultimate inability to reboot except when using a very limited safe mode. The problem seems to worsen over time after that.

Hi, Throwmeabone
I don't know about getting "totally ripped off" by buying a Qosmio in the first place. I was looking for a desktop equivilent that I could use while lounging my fat butt on the couch. I like bells, whistles and lots of chrome! The Qosmio certainly fit the bill and the new G35 has been great so far.

rodarapan
You will definitely notice if this happens to your machine. On both occassions, my G15 would just stop responding and go to a black screen. On reboot, it would halt at the bootup screens with a checkerboard pattern of green lines all over the screen. It would move very slowly with the reboot and get slower each time I tried to reboot. I did find the second time, that I could eventually get the machine to boot into "safe mode with networking". I was then able to get some of my more important data off the disc and transferred to another machine over my local area network (LAN). But the machine was extremely slow and had very limited functionabilty with very basic graphics capability.
I doubt that Toshiba or Bestbuy will contact you outright. I am sure Toshiba is waiting for the motherboards to fail first. Have you had any problems with your F15? How long ago did you buy it? If you would like, I could fax a copy of the Memo to you so that you have a copy if something ever happens. Let me know.
Even though its expensive, I always feel safer with the Bestbuy warranty. A lot of people don't like them but they have always done right by me. This is the second time I Bestbuy has given me a brand new machine after problems, so my experiences have been good.

I have read that the problem is the graphics chip which is attached to the motherboard in these laptops. However, I don't think that high temperature was a factor with my G15. I use it most of the time while it sits on my sofa so I anticipated cooling issues and bought a Targus cooling pad for the unit which was used at all times. With the cooling pad, the machine was always very cool.
I bought my unit in May 2005. Sorry, but I don't have the serial number of the old machine anymore.
Where did you find readings for the temperature sensors on these units?

Thanks. I will check it out.