This doesn't answer your question, but -- I just happened to notice earlier today that Morgan Computers (yes, them) have Toshiba R500s (R500-10U and R500-125) in stock and on sale.
As far as repair shops go, once you find one I suggest you get them to give you a binding price for an estimate -- e.g. £25 to tell you exactly what's wrong wiht the laptop and how much it will cost to fix. Then if their estimate's too high you can cart the box around other shops and ask for quotes against the first shop's repair spec. (Yes, it's a pain, but it tends to keep them honest.)
Might also be worth schlepping them to Dabs in person, rather than trying to go via their website. I'd trust Toshiba to do the job properly over J. Random Repair Guy.
As a longer-term note, I had a poke at an R500 when I first saw one, and decided then and there that I wouldn't touch one with a barge-pole; the case flexes worse than anything I've seen since the old Mac Powerbook Duos (which flexed so much that the battery contacts tended to lose contact if you held them while they were running, resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth). Yes, they're great on spec, but cases made out of limp rubber bands don't play well with printed circuit boards.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2009-06-01 02:02 pm (UTC)As far as repair shops go, once you find one I suggest you get them to give you a binding price for an estimate -- e.g. £25 to tell you exactly what's wrong wiht the laptop and how much it will cost to fix. Then if their estimate's too high you can cart the box around other shops and ask for quotes against the first shop's repair spec. (Yes, it's a pain, but it tends to keep them honest.)
Might also be worth schlepping them to Dabs in person, rather than trying to go via their website. I'd trust Toshiba to do the job properly over J. Random Repair Guy.
As a longer-term note, I had a poke at an R500 when I first saw one, and decided then and there that I wouldn't touch one with a barge-pole; the case flexes worse than anything I've seen since the old Mac Powerbook Duos (which flexed so much that the battery contacts tended to lose contact if you held them while they were running, resulting in much wailing and gnashing of teeth). Yes, they're great on spec, but cases made out of limp rubber bands don't play well with printed circuit boards.