First off, I'm welcoming myself back after a lo

[Grant516]

First off, I'm welcoming myself back after a long haitus of being content with my Acer TCi-111 for like 3 years.

Beat the socks of my Toshiba 3505 (or whatever they were called) and has an awesome little form factor- it was however starting to literally fall apart so I got a Toshiba M400.

Basically the M400 was just so much cheaper than the Lenovo X60 so I couldn't refuse...


First major issue-
FN-Esse does NOT exist for Vista.
Don't let Tech Support fool you into thinking otherwise.
No Toshiba Vista Laptops have shipped with it- nor support the XP version of the software. (Though I'm sure someone may find compatibility that works.)

I honestly appreciate the use of the Fn as a hotkey-

Second major issue-

Once that Fan turns on high... it's loud until you shut the machine down again.

Apparently this has been a big issue for XP users but was eventually fixed- it appears to me that the power management change in the BIOS doesen't work right on Vista machines.

Third Major Issue-

Is it just me or is this thing bigger and heavier than Satelite 3505s' and M200s?! It's WAY bigger than my Acer C111.

Clean, Clear Bright screen, and I love a built in SD port.
The DVD Drive is a great feature, and performance is A+.

I just think right now the Form Factor and Noise is really sub-par compared to the rest of the market on these.

Please guys let me know anything I can do about FN keymapping and quieting the fan.

[wallen]

Sorry mate, but on the issues you list, you are kinda stuck for the moment. I'm sure the fan issue WILL be fixed, Fn-Esse MAY get replaced, but the form factor?? If it is too big for your needs, you might've been better serviced by the R400...

[Grant516]

The R400 is rediculous in price.
I'm sure I'll cope with the Size, as it does offer some great features that require it to be a little bigger.

I'm just so angry that Technical Support has no knowledge on what to do or where Fn-Esse is, and about the fan.
Both problems they told me to restore my computer back from the hidden partition- a CSR said I probably accidentally deleted Fn-Esse. Ironically I could tell just right away that they probably never made a Vista Version.

[wallen]

Strange, but in Oz, the base R400 and base M400 are the same price...

Fn-Esse is specifically mentioned in the Vista upgrade docs as incompatible, and the support desk probably doesn't know it because most support desks these days have 1 or 2 spe******ts and a plethora of dummies reading scripts and learning as they go...

[Grant516]

As of 6/2 the Toshiba M400 on ToshibaDirect is 1399 for a basic model, the R400 is 2599.
I like the Toshiba build, but not that much that I wouldn't get a fancy Lenovo or imported Acer for that price.

As for the dummies reading scripts- both of them told me I should format and restore my computer because I probably accidentally deleted Fn-Esse. Also it still reads in the system specs of many/most M400's as well as the broad overlook of the Toshiba EasyGuard site.

I honestly can't imagine a Vista Version of that software taking that long to create- obviously FN keys are supported in Vista and capable of launching applications/settings.

Am I the only one who uses that kind of program?
I'm trying to compensate for the Windows Key being in the top right of my screen rather than the bottom left as I'm used to.
Fn + D would make a fine alternative to showing desktop, Fn + Q could be an alternative to that Window Pane switcher...

currently though I'm sitting on moving my hands a lot and a noisy fan.