You can do it yourself. If you have a problem call Toshiba support or ask here. They'll try to sell you an extended warranty also. Don't buy that either. If you want an extended warranty get it from Toshiba.

My Daughter bought her new laptop at Staples during the Black Friday madness after Thanksgiving. They did not try to push any other extras on it to her, I know because I was with her. She also got a Toshiba Satellite P755S5265 with an i5 processor.

Bob's answer makes perfect sense.

It is just a "suggestive sale". Nothing mandatory if you have the desire, time, and know-how to do it yourself.

My SUV goes to the dealer tomorrow for some maintenance at 124.000 miles. I know I am going to get the proverbial telephone call citing an inspection with a "suggestion" as to it needing something. My action and response will be based on what I am told. Just another example of the concept.

Consumer Reports continually recommends not getting an extended warranty on any item.

DA

Thanks. That's what I thought, but I wasn't sure. Wouldn't it have made more sense to sell me the darn thing rather than have me walk out with nothing? Sheesh. My computers skills are okay and I am sure I can handle whatever needs to be done, or call Toshiba, as you suggest.

It's a L755-S5107. Hope it's okay. I don't do much but email, web surfing, word processing and the occasional movie from Netflix.

DA, my Honda has 151,000 miles on it and I never use the dealer because they always find a bunch of other stuff to be done. I say no, but then I worry that something may be wrong. I have a great mechanic who just takes care of it and doesn't "find" things.

"suggestion" selling. Humph.

(DA, now that Dedtired has brought it up, you're paying too much if you go to the dealer for anything more than warranty/recall work. They are the masters of upselling. You'll come out WAY ahead to find a good independent mechanic. Then if your mechanic tells you to go to the dealer for something special, you can trust it.)

Windows 7 makes it easy to make the disc and I don't think there's going to be that many updates on a brand new laptop.
I would be prepared to remove all the bloat they put on them Toshiba is so bad at that. I used pc decrapifier works great, I also immediately remove the trial version of antivirus on it and install Avast or MSE, both free.
I never let best buy touch my computers.

There is really something called PC Decrapifier??

I uses ESET NOD32 on my PC, but I'd rather not spend the money, so I'll try Avast.

Yes, there really is something called PC Decrapifier. If you don't want to decrap, buy a Mac. ;-) Of course with a Mac there's no need for endless updates either, because they don't issue endless updates. You might get one per month. ;-)

As for suggestive selling, businesses exist to make a profit and that's done by getting you to spend money. Ever been to a restaurant where the server suggests dessert? How about an appetizer or cocktail? Restaurants make a lot of money from booze.

In most car dealerships more than half the revenue comes from the service department. Those nice service writers are paid a commission as well.

Living out in rural America my "trusted" repair options are limited. Plus, I am fussy. I could do all the work myself as I am learned, capable, and equipped. And sometimes I do. The dealer is more like a convenience for me. I differentiate between operational and safety issues they recommend. I think I am getting a little lazy too.

DA

Good luck with the SUV DA.

Restaurants, clothes stores (wouldn't a new scarf look nice with the shoes you bought?), etc, at least are simple enough so that you can feel sure saying yes or no, but I kind of count on some expertise when it comes to tech stuff. Makes me furious that I always have to be on guard and can't trust their advice. Glad forums like this and people like you all exist.

DA, sounds like you know what your car needs and can say No in confidence.

fwiw... Best Buy sale on that toshiba ends Feb 11th.

The PC Decrapifier Wipes Unwanted Junk
there is the link to pc decrapifier

here is the link to app remover which you should use to remove any AV programs that come on it.
Using AppRemover

and to add all those programs you need the easiest way to do that is to use ninite, they give you only the program no added toolbars or junk, and all in one place.
The Easiest, Fastest Way to Update or Install Software

for help with pretty much anything windows 7 related this is the place to go 7 forums they have great tutorials on how to do many things including your discs.
Welcome to the Windows 7 Forums Tutorial Section

Mikie, really? Guess I better get back there and stop wasting time being pissed at them.

Ravencajun -- thanks for the links. So much to learn.

Well, believe it or not no telephone call with a "suggestive" sales pitch. I did have a minor problem with the bill though. They wanted to charge me an extra $11.00 above the tune-up special "due to the gas filter being more than the standard $16.95 part allocation".

I told them, "I understand, no problem. Just take it and put the old one back on. We'll call it even. I will be in the waiting room." I walked away. About three minutes later the service representative walked in and stated, "You're all set. There will be no additional charge."

I am certain there was nothing dark or sinister here. I think the rep misquoted and tried to cover his tracks. If he would have admitted his error to me I would have paid the extra money as I only want what I am entitled to. I never look for something for nothing.

DA

You are too trusting, DA. There is something dark and sinister here. They are looking for ways to pad the bill. Did you get the part that was replaced? If not, it wasn't replaced. Or else they thought they'd be nice to the old guy and catch him the next time around.

It's all a game these days. Get used to playing defense.

I trust only my family, and those I am prepared to die with.

I've made my share of errors so I know it can happen. However for me, I have big shoulders and a positive reputation so I just "man up", correct the issue, and move forward. Here I am convinced the young man was just trying to "cover his butt".

Can I be out-foxed? Of course it is possible. However, very unlikely. My career and life experiences have harden me against that.

Even the veterinarian does upselling. There are two vets in the office, one told me that my Golden needs to have his teeth cleaned when he was in to have stitches removed after a surgery. She had just gotten additional training and certification in animal dentistry. I didn't tell her that the managing partner in the practice who had done the surgery had told me just two weeks ago how perfectly clean my dog's teeth are.

All retail and commercial enterprises participate in the "suggestive sales" concept. Every single one of them. If they say they don't run away from them as they are not being forthright. It is a basic pillar of General Business 101.

Be reminded there is a difference between "suggestive sales" and selling someone an item they don't need. That's a snake oil salesman.

DA

Greetings from my new laptop. I bought without anything extra and got it up and running in maybe 10 minutes. Still figuring out a few things.

Yes, even doctors are pushing upgrades and add ons. Ophthalmologists are pushing multifocal lenses on cataract patients for an extra $4500, a real moneymaker for them but not always a good choice for the patient. A lot of people can't adjust to them. Check out an eye doctor's web site and they are pushing these lenses. Sick.

@ dedtired: Along with your new laptop is included a temporary version of Microsoft Office Starter, which is a very limited version of Microsoft Office. I believe it only includes a condensed version of Word and Excel. One of your previous posts indicated that you do word processing, so you will want to resolve this issue.

I'm sure the experts on this forum can guide you on the path to a solution that will resolve this issue for you.

If the computer came with Office Starter 2010 you want to read this page before uninstalling it. It does only contain limited versions of word and excel but you can use them as long as you like - they are not temporary.
My wife's new computer came with it installed and I played around with both programs. I didn't notice their limitations and think they would work for most people. I replaced them on her computer because I had Office home and school and had only installed it on one computer so could install it on two more.

@bob414: You are correct, and I was mistaken. It is NOT a temporary version. The pop-up window that appears is for purchasing a full-version product key, and not for an expiration of the product. My bad.

I got rid of that and use the free open office suite on all our computers.

I have an MS Office disc from my desktop. I'll see if I can install that on the laptop. Maybe the simple version will be enough, we'll see. I did activate Norton Antivirus (1 month free) and made the restore discs.

So far I am liking the Toshiba Satellite, although I wonder if 14" might have been better for portability.

Raven:

I am sometimes surprised to see how many people are not aware that OpenOffice is free, and I have found it to be mostly compatible with MS office. I use Office Pro 2010 on my Windows 7 machine, and OpenOffice on my Linux machine.

I use Libera Office on mine.

The key to recommending OO is the need to share with first time users that if they chose to make their documents Word compatible they must save them in a .doc format rather than the default .odt.

DA

DA, I must agree with you, and that is why I normally do not recommend OpenOffice to people who are not familiar with document compatibility.

Can anyone with Windows 7 Home version confirm that Microsoft Works is included please.

I was helping a man who has this and he showed me what seemed a very versatile if light weight set of office type programs that he says came with his computer.

As I always build my own computers and buy OEM operating systems I have never seen this myself.

I trust I am not hijacking dedtired's thread as he too may find the answer beneficial.

Works is on my Win 7 HP laptop and I didn't install it. I didn't even know it was there until someone sent me a .wps file.

might look at Kindsoft Office ...free version

basic word, excel, ppt,/// wps it seems too

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.kingsoftstore.com/kingsoft-office-freeware.html

Thanks Bob. That was something else now you mention the .wps files, I thought they were from Wordperfect but I saw the same file extension on his Works program.