The Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q896 notebook (and I use that word loosely) is not a Media Center Accounting, but a powerhouse of a notebook, which produces a native 1080p resolution, Blu-ray playback with up scaling has to DVDs and a sophisticated HDMI output, send an uncompressed A/V signal to your HDTV. It is also an animal, clocking in around 10 pounds, perfect for a desktop, but not for the trip. The laptop sports a 18.4″ screen (1920 x 1080 resolution), Harman / Kardon stereo speakers, backlit keyboard, control pad media and a fast 7200rpm hard drive to access all your media. It is in the final glossy black and accented with a metallic red, probably one of the magnificent laptops I have seen next to Alienware products.
Diving into the more technical details, the laptop has Intel’s latest Quad-Core i7 processor rated 1.73Ghz, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M graphics card with 1.5 GB of video memory, 4 GB DDR memory, integrated webcam (1.3 megapixels) , Bluetooth 2.1, Wireless-N capability, and a 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet connection. On the front of the machine, the SD / MCC / XD memory card slot for those who want to turn a quick access to their photos from a digital camera and a switch to find the wireless connection. There are also lights to tell if the computer when the hard drive will bring access, etc … On the left side of the notebook, there is the Blu-ray / DVD drive, Firewire port, HDMI output, a USB port, a SATA port and the Ethernet jack. On the right you will find the 3.5 mm headphone and microphone jacks, two USB ports, a VGA output for projectors and the power connector. Unlike the majority of laptops on the market, there are no connections on the back of the notebook, it is reserved for the fans.
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Around the illuminated keyboard (the exception is for work in low-light areas), see a full keyboard, the trackpad with two metallic red buttons for you, the media to control volume and the two speakers HK touchpad. The trackpad is also a button to turn off access, especially useful if you have an external mouse. One limitation of the media touch pad is where there is no tactile feedback to the keys, so I often accidentally press buttons while you type. That would be mute the volume, start the ECO mode, or utility access Windows Media Player depending on the button that my little finger brushed over. Another problem with doing serious typing on this machine is the huge amount of fingerprints and palm prints, coating the surface and the keys. It is just as bad on the iPad printed in ever covered, thus requires much wipe downs. Heck, should have included a cloth to Toshiba to help us.
Toshiba also has a few utilities, however, some of which bloatware shocking. ECO-mode allows you to track the power consumption of the notebook and optimize your settings, what kind of presence that you make with these giants. I would be curious to know, from the same market of people who bought this laptop really use it with power. It’s like a Hummer owner to give a lesson to throttle how much gas the car uses. Toshiba also included the Sleep & Charge function for the USB ports so that the computer shut down for power to be supplied, but charge your iPhone or other mobile device via USB. Finally, there is a hard drive sensor on the laptop that the hard drive when the laptop is moved guarded. It’s a bit too sensitive to the side table bump, but all that protects my data is a good thing.
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If you have not figured out yet, I’ve been using the Toshiba Qosmio X505 as ancillary media center and a standard laptop while connected to multiple screens, an HP 2310E Slim LED-backlit monitor, a Sony Bravia KDL40NX700 40 – inch 1080p Edge LED-backlit 1080p HDTV and a Mitsubishi HC5500 LCD projector. I also tested the 18.4-inch monitor, but found media consumption (Blu-ray / DVD / ripped media) far superior to the alternative view, especially the color reproduction and contrast. That being said, the monitor substantially outperforms other laptop screens in its class. It is difficult from the other external display to beat, especially in glorious 1080p resolution. The HDMI connection will automatically select the resolution and that’s it.
Toshiba includes a program called Media Controller for the transfer of media around your network. Have you copied the files on the laptop, you want to move on the Playstation 3 in the living room? Send them to use with media controller without an FTP program, it’s all drag & drop. For complicated video, I have Windows Media Center-output Blu-ray, music, pictures and movies ripped my various ads. It worked very well for navigating through my files to a Media Center compatible remote control (I use the Gyration Air Music Remote GYR4101CKUS) and Toshiba automatically includes the Start button for the DVD & Blu-ray player applications, with the PC come.
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A small problem I’m playing with Blu-ray media was that the insertion of a Blu-ray Disc is the wrong program, Toshiba’s own up-scaling DVD software instead of Corel WinDVD software, which plays Blu-ray discs. If Toshiba is software to play Blu-ray content, it is certainly not working for me. However, it was very good upscale DVDs. The Corel software worked perfectly for Blu-rayr and it was only a matter of inserting a Blu-ray association to another program to start, easy for an advanced computer user, but probably not for the average consumer.
However, knowing my actual Blu-ray content is significantly faster on the Qosmio X505 than any of the players in my home. I do not think the drive is not loaded content faster, but the speed of processing data was superior in all areas. I try to watch only certain scenes from movies, but fell again in The Dark Knight, which looked fantastic sucked out of the internal Blu-ray drive. Even with the bloated BD-Live title, I was the actual film started in half the time on an above-average Blu-ray player has. You can use the main screen as well, just content to your preferred screen. I saw the slightest delay between the laptop screen and the HDMI output, but to expect when sending large amounts of data is on the screen. While I have a sound system used for most of the Harman Kardon speakers are by far the best built-in laptop speakers I’ve ever heard. They are incredibly sharp and have a solid middle class and lead a small room like a bedroom. There are also Dolby sound processing built in, so you can use a virtual 5.1 headphone setup, if you want to see a late movie without your significant other.
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The Toshiba Qosmio X505 is a powerhouse when it comes to gaming. I threw the last few games like Fallout: New Vegas and Call of Duty: Black Ops on the graphics processor and it does not even blink an eye. It was cranking the full 1080p resolution with full graphics options and it was a silky smooth experience. It can also multitask with ease. Last week I was listening to (and sometimes observed) Wagner’s Der Ring des Nibelungen to Blu-ray while surfing the web, working in Photoshop, typing a new Word document with a variety of other small applications. In addition, recovered more quickly from sleep mode than any laptop I’ve ever owned, usually takes about one second to move to a functional state.
Negatives
Obviously this is not portable solution for traveling. If you want to carry around that heavy laptop with you, you need a huge laptop bag and a room for the huge power supply. It is hardly a solution for around the house. I would recommend looking for a place and sticking with it, preferably in close proximity to another compatible 1080p display. Another problem is the least that bloatware easily wiped from the machine after the first week, as you tired of trying Norton, sell their overpriced virus package comes with endless pop get reminders.
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Conclusion
The Toshiba Qosmio Q896-505 is by far the fastest notebook I’ve ever used and provides an incredibly user-friendly experience with HTPC Media Controller and Windows Media Center. There are not many competitors in the 18.4″ class of laptop and Toshiba is a very competitive price (sells for $ 1699, for about $ 1500 can be found online), compared to an over-marketed brand like Alienware. If the do reach the media in the main home theater is expanded to other parts of the house and looking for a new desktop computer, consider the combination of these goals and a look at the Qosmio X505. Alternative to the home theater room, this notebook ideal for graphic designers looking for serious Photoshop & Illustrator, directors and musicians need Edit/Produce media although tools such as Premiere Pro and gaming fanatics who crave the latest tech for 2010 releases to play 1080p resolution.
