Certainly this is one person's experience, however remember that this does not mean that Toshiba are a bad brand (indeed, they're my second pick after Asus). You may be better off going to a dedicated computer shop in terms of getting service and support, places like Harvey Norman and DSE *do* have knowledgable and helpful staff who know about computers (I was one...) but there are a lot of salespeople out there who's main aim is to get you out the door as quickly as possible, having spent as much as possible.