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(More customer reviews)Well, I finally took the plunge and bought this laptop. I was looking to replace my desktop and I looked at various Qosmios and Asus laptops. Based on my research, Toshiba and Asus had the least amount of defects/issues compared to Sony, Dell, HP, and Apple so I wanted to get a laptop from them. Here is the link to the study that was done. [...]
There were four models I researched. Qosmio Q870 and Q877, and the Asus G73JH-RBBX05 and Asus G73JH. Here are key specs
Q870 Price $1190 (on sale at another company since this model is no longer being sold)
Processor - I7 720QM
Video Card - NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M
Ram - 4mb
Display 18.4
Resolution: 16802x945
Bluetooth and Blue Ray
500 HD 7200rpm
4 USB ports including ESATA
Q887 Price $1399 (same specs as teh Q870 except for the processor)
Processor - I7 740QM
Video Card - NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M
Ram - 4mb
Display 18.4
Resolution: 16802x945
Bluetooth and Blue Ray
500 HD 7200rpm
4 USB ports including ESATA
ASUS G73JH-RBBX05 $1299.99
Processor - I7 720QM
Video Card - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
Ram - 6mb
Display 17.3
Resolution - 1600x900
No Bluetooth, no Blue Ray
500 HD 7200rpm
4 USB ports
Asus G73JH $1329.99
Processor - I7 720QM
ATI Mobility(tm) Radeon® HD 5730
Ram - 4gb
Display 17.3
Resolution - 1600x900
Bluetooth and Blue Ray
640 HD 7200rpm
3 USB ports and 1 3.0 USB ports
I ultimately decided on the Q887 because it had the larger display and faster processor. I wasn't too concern about the 3.0 USB port since the Q887 had the ESATA which is a bit slower, but with the size of the hard drive, I don't think I would be connecting any external hard drive soon. The Q887 also has IEEE (mini firewire) which the ASUS did not, and lastly, the Q887 was available on Amazon, which saved me sales tax. The ASUS was not being fulfilled by Amazon.
When I received the package, it was delivery signature required and of course, UPS didn't show up to my house until 7:20pm Friday night. The laptop only comes with the power outlet, and a resource guide (not a manual), and no recovery disks. And it is quite a large laptop as you are aware since you probably looked at similar Qosmios at various retail stores. After booting up, you go through a few set up screens, including how the laptop would connect to the internet. I chose wireless and it found my wifi immediately, and then I had to enter in the password. Once that was done, it loaded the main window. It takes about 45-60 seconds to boot up from the time you turn it on, enter in your password, and be able to start clicking on programs. There is a little blub buried on the 1 page laptop illustration that says you should create the recovery disk. I had to find out where that program was which didn't take too long to find. It takes 5 DVDs to create the recovery disk, and one other CD or DVD disk to create the repair disk, so 6 disks overall. That took couple of hours to complete. Now I was concerned from what I read on previous models like the Q870, that you needed to update the bios because of issues with coming out of sleep. As of now, I have no such issues with the Q887. Perhaps the newer models has the most current bios already installed. The other complain I heard from people is how hot the laptop gets. Well the place where the hand rests stays cool but the laptop does get a little warm between the speakers. I haven't yet played any intense games so maybe it will get hotter.
One other complaint I heard is the speakers aren't great. I would agree with that. I was hoping to not have to use my external Alec Lansing speakers. The laptop speakers, at full volume, is not really loud so if you have a lot of noise in the house, it will compete with the speakers. Also, there seems to be a lack of bass as well, but this isn't too much of a concern for me since I have the external speakers. I also read that there were tons of bloatware but I really didn't find much at all. It came pretty clean. I did uninstall the trial period for Norton Internet Suite as I use the free Avira Anti Vir, Malwarebytes, and Zonealarm. It did take me quite a while to install all my programs but it seems to install a whole lot faster than on my other computer, which probably is true with the faster processor and additional ram.
I am still getting use to the keyboard. It's fine and having the media controls to the left, I kind of laugh when people said they accidentally touch it when typing or playing games, as I was thinking, it's not that hard to avoid it. Well, the first couple of days, I did the same thing :-). I think it will just be a matter of time before I don't do that anymore. Also, as you may have heard, clicking on the media buttons creates a beep noise. It is kind of loud but you can turn it off by going into the Toshiba Utilities program via the Start Menu, and not having to go into the bios. It doesn't really bother me so I'm leaving it as is for now. I came from Vista so the Win 7 OS is sort of similar but in many ways, quite different so I'm thinking it will take me a week or two to learn the ins and outs of Win 7. I do thoroughly enjoy having the full 10 digit numeric pad. The backlight keyboard is sort of cool but since I'm planning on having a light nearby, I doubt it would be as beneficial to me as it may others who need to work or play in the dark. The performance (window experience) is as follows: Processor 7.1, Ram 7.3, Graphics 6.8, Gaming Graphics 6.8, and harddrive 5.9. When I connected the laptop to the wireless printer, it gave a marginal to good connection, which was weird since the printer was only a few feet from the computer. My XPS which was further away had an excellent connection. Maybe I need to update the wireless driver but right now I can print and that's all that matters.
So I love how fast it boots up compared to my old desktop and my Dell XPS M1330 computer. It is quiet large but I won't be moving it very much, and it does attract fingerprints so have a computer rag near by. Once I start installing games, I'll try to update my comments.
Update: I was able to adjust the speakers via the Control Panel (Smart Audio) and it does have good bass, and the volume is loud enough. The only thing is when I'm playing a song, the volume seems to go high and low, not too bad now since I adjusted settings through Smart Audio but it is noticable. I still have my external speakers so still not a biggie for me. I wish I bought this a week later as Amazon lowered the price to $1299 and I bought it at $1399 on Amazon. I haven't used the touchpad or buttons since I have an external USB mouse. One other thing is the headphone plug in, I personally do not like where it is on the right side of the laptop as my external speaker wire sticks out and gets in the way of my mouse so sometimes I use the laptop speakers and other times I use the external speakers when I'm just listening to music. And so far, no problems whatsoever.
Update 11/7 Simond from another site seem to have a fix for the sound going up and down when playing a song. Here it is and it seems to work.To work with the issue with the issue i will ask you to follow the below given step. This is the problem related to the sound enhancement that can be sorted out with the help of the Enhancement Tab.
Right Click on Sound icon from taksbar
Click on Playback device
Select Speaker
Click on Properties
Go to Enhancement Tab
Checked the "Disable all enhancements"
Thats it!!!!
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Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q887 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black/Red)Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q887: Hard-core Gaming, Brilliant Graphics
Amplify your 3D gaming and video editing with incredibly fast frame rates with the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q887 gaming laptop, which features a stunning, high-definition 18.4-inch display and the Intel Core i7 processor with four cores of intelligent processing power. Additionally, it offers ultra-fast DDR3 system memory and the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics with 1 GB of GDDR5 video memory. Together, this pairing of high-performance technologies allow you to rip through the latest 3D games at lightning-fast frame-rates or create high-definition video and audio faster and more efficiently with smooth rendering and encoding.
The Qosmio X505 features Toshiba's striking Fusion Finish in Omega Black with stylish red chrome accents and a comfortable full keyboard with LED Backlighting and numeric 10-key pad. An intuitive touchpad with multi-touch control enables greater flexibility to browse and control what's happening on-screen with gesture-commands--including two-finger pinch, swipe, rotate and scroll.
It also includes a 1.3 megapixel webcam with Face Recognition capabilities for added security. And if you're using one laptop for several users--say for the whole family or for a small business--Toshiba Face Recognition lets you switch profiles with one simple look.
This Qosmio comes pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version).
Key Features
18.4-inch high-definition TruBrite display with 1680 x 945 resolution for amazing color depth and clarity and native 720p (HD+) support.
1.73 GHz Intel Core i7-740QM processor (with Turbo Boost Technology up to 2.93 GHz) delivers maximum processing power in response to peak demands. Intel's Turbo Boost technology maximizes speed for demanding applications, dynamically accelerating performance to match your workload--providing more performance when you need it the most. It also comes equipped with Intel HD Graphics--an advanced video engine that delivers smooth, high-quality HD video playback, and advanced 3D capabilities, providing an ideal graphics solution for everyday computing.
500 GB Serial ATA hard drive (7200 RPM)
4 GB of DDR3 RAM (upgradeable to 8 GB) gives you the bandwidth you need to get the most of today's popular software, multitask all day long and run applications without a glitch.
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M with 1 GB GDDR5 discrete graphics memory offers what gamers want most--hyper-realistic action with intense 3D visuals, plus vibrant, lifelike scenes and dynamic character effects--thanks to NVIDIA's PhysX technology. It goes beyond everyday gaming with built-in CUDA technology to speed demanding system tasks, like video playback and HD movie editing. You'll also enjoy up to a 50 percent improvement over previous generation mobile graphics processors, and a more rewarding Windows 7 experience with accelerated video and image processing (2298 MB total available graphics memory).
Watch Blu-ray Disc movies in crystal clear resolution with the read-only Blu-ray drive; also supports reading/writing of CD-R/RW, DVD±R, DVD±RW, DVD±R DL, and DVD-RAM The drive also offers Labelflash printing, which enables you to personalize your discs and keep them looking attractive and organized with direct-to-disc laser printing.
Wireless Connectivity
With its integrated Wireless-N Wi-Fi networking capabilities, this laptop provides up to five times the performance and twice the wireless range using 802.11n-compatible routers as you would with 802.11g networks. It's also backward compatible with 802.11b/g networks (commonly found at Wi-Fi hotspots and in older home routers.
With integrated Bluetooth 2.1 connectivity, you can communicate and synchronize wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled peripherals such as printers and cell phones.
Harman Kardon stereo speakers bring an added dimension to music, movies and gaming with rich, immersive virtual surround sound.
Dolby Home Theater suite of technologies delivers virtual surround sound from stereo speakers or any pair of headphones.
Included Toshiba Software:
Toshiba Media Controller offers simplified media sharing. Using an intuitive drag-and-drop interface, it lets you share videos, music and pictures from the media library on your laptop with compatible devices in your home entertainment network, or with other compatible laptops and devices, like an Xbox 360 game console. And you can do it all without moving equipment, burning discs or fumbling with cables.
Toshiba Bulletin Board is an easy-to-use organizational and productivity app that lets you build your own personalized space on your desktop. With Toshiba Bulletin Board, you can quickly and easily manage your to-do lists and calendars, plus create your own custom work area by pinning your favorite photos, documents, links and more.
Toshiba ReelTime helps you cut down the time it takes to search for files. The easy-to-use app takes traditional text-based file structures one step further to help you find what you're looking for more quickly. Accessible from your taskbar, it shows you a visual timeline of your recently accessed files--using graphical thumbnails--so you can easily identify and get to your files faster.
Included Toshiba Utilities:
Toshiba eco Utility makes it easy to go green as you go mobile. Hit the Eco Button and you'll launch the Toshiba Eco Utility, which puts all sorts of easy-to-read information on your screen, and gives you the ability to adjust the power settings on your laptop. It also activates a light showing you're in the Eco Mode. The Toshiba Eco Utility lets you pick the optimal power plan for your situation. Choose High-Performance when you need every watt you can get, Power Saver for the least energy consumption, or Balanced as a perfect blend of the two.
USB Sleep and Charge offers a great way to keep your portable electronics powered up without requiring your laptop to be on. With this laptop's Sleep and Charge USB port, you'll be able to charge your smart phone, MP3 player, and other portable electronics--all without having to keep your laptop awake.
Hard Drive Impact Sensor takes the worry out of taking your most important files and multimedia on the go. Able to detect sudden movement along three different dimensions, the impact sensor (a complex system of hardware and software) helps safeguard your data by "parking" the hard drive heads in the event of a drop or sudden movement. And it works faster than you can blink to help protect your laptop and all-important data.
Up to 3.75 hours of battery life (12-cell battery; 87 Wh)
Dimensions & Weight: 17.4 x 11.6 x .63 inches (WxDxH); 9.7 pounds
Pre-installed with the Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium operating system (64-bit version), you'll be able to easily create a home network and share all of your favorite photos, videos, and music. Windows 7 is the easiest, fastest, and most engaging version of Windows yet. Better ways to find and manage files, like Jump Lists and improved taskbar previews, help you speed through everyday tasks. Windows 7 is designed for faster and more reliable performance, so your PC just works the way you want it to.
And with Windows Anytime Upgrade, you'll be able to add new features to your PC in as little as 10 minutes. Windows will walk you through the simple upgrade process, it requires no software or downloads, and you'll keep your existing programs, files, and settings
What's in the box
This package contains the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q887 notebook PC, rechargeable lithium-ion battery, AC adapter, and operating instructions.
It also comes with the following software:
Norton Internet Security 2010 (30-day trial); Microsoft Works 9; Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007 Edition (60-day trial); Google Toolbar; Microsoft Windows Media Player 12; Microsoft Silverlight; Toshiba PC Health Monitor; Toshiba Online Backup (30-day trial)
This laptop is backed by a 1-year limited hardware warranty.
Environmental Specifications
Energy Star 5.0 certified
Gold EPEAT designation for meeting standards to help reduce its environmental impact.
RoHS compliant effectively reducing the environmental impact by restricting the use of lead, mercury and certain other hazardous substances
Learn more about Toshiba's environmental commitment.
Learn More
25th Anniversary of Toshiba Laptops
This year, Toshiba celebrates its 25th anniversary of innovations and quality in the notebook PC business. Beginning with the launch of the Toshiba T1100, the world's first clamshell-type, fully functional laptop PC, Toshiba has led the with such innovations as the first laptop with a color monitor in 1991 and a laptop with integrated CD-ROM drive in 1995 (followed by the addition of a DVD drive in 1998). And in 2009, Toshiba unveiled the world's first ultraportable laptop with 512GB solid state drive.
Today, Toshiba continues to be a leader in eco-friendly manufacturing, with virtually all of its consumer laptops earning EPEAT Gold status for meeting standards that help reduce overall environmental impact.
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