Toshiba Toshiba America Information Systems, Inc. USB ports on Toshiba Satellite Laptops Fall Into Case Irvine, California 92618-1697 , California

Today, after using my Toshia Satellite Laptop for 20 months, found that I could no longer use the two USB ports on the right side of the computer. They had sunk into the case of the computer.

I looked up the problem on the internet and found that this was a common issue for other Satellite Laptop owners. People who had posted comments on the forum all owned their laptops beyond the one year warranty, and were at a loss as how to resolve the problem. I called Toshiba tech support and was told that I would need to send the laptop to them to be fixed and it would cost $450! I bought it new for $599!

The people who posted the problem on Toshiba's User Forum, could not afford the expense of sending their laptops back to Toshiba. When I called Toshiba Tech support, I told them that this is a common problem and they told me that it wasn't. It is all in how you define the word "common".

This is a design flaw that they should not be charging their customers to get fixed. I tried to post on their forum but there is also a problem with their website because "go to forums" loops back and there is no way to post a comment. How convenient.

Here is just one of the posts on the Toshiba User Forum, which describes the problem in detail:

"I have an A505 with the exact same problem and it is only 18 months old and of course, out of warranty. I took it to our tech at work and she opened it up and showed me where the ports are supposed to be attached. Turns out that they are indeed held in place by a single small screw that goes into a small plastic post that is positioned in between the two ports. They are wired to the motherboard, not soldered or reinforced in any way. That means that everytime you plug something into one of the USB ports, they can torque ever so slightly eventually breaking that teeny tiny post. Once that post is busted, the ports get pushed back into the case. Poor design in my opinion - but fixable if you have the moxy. Since it is out of warranty anyway, my husband and I are going to attempt to glue it to what's left of the post, then jury rig a plastic wedge to put between the back of the ports and the motherboard so they can't shift around anymore. This is what should have been done in the first placeget pushed back into the case. Poor design in my opinion - but fixable if you have the moxy. Since it is out of warranty anyway, my husband and I are going to attempt to glue it to what's left of the post, then jury rig a plastic wedge to put between the back of the ports and the motherboard so they can't shift around anymore. This is what should have been done in the first place!"

A computer this new should not have to be jury-rigged to work properly. It is not reasonable to expect that a basic and necessary feature of one's computer would fail within 20 months of purchasing it.