Toshiba Qosmio G1 review

10 January 2005 15:10 GMT / By Stephen Patrick

There are few manufacturers who are willing to try and push the design of the average notebook than Toshiba. In the last two years, it has moved from a company that designs grey boring boxes to one of the most innovative designers around.

The Qosmio G10 takes up the stance as the premium model in the mobile media centre range and brings with it a larger screen, greater performance and, possibly most important, more ease of use.

The first thing you will notice about the G10 is that it won’t move the Qosmio range any closer to true mobility. Weighing in at 4.2kg, it overshadows almost all but the heaviest of notebooks. The main reason for this weight is the addition of a 17-inch high definition display, which uses Toshiba’s TruBrite technology. In a similar move to Sony’s X-black, TruBrite is able to offer greater clarity and better contrast than a conventional panel. However, the true success for this panel lies in its brightness, as it’s almost twice as bright as a normal panel and akin to your standard TV screen.
As you would expect, this has a direct impact on a battery life but as the G10 is only truly effective when used for your home entertainment needs, we did not find this a disadvantage.

With an integrated TV tuner and PVR software that will allow you to record TV programmes, the G10 can be used in the same way as a Tivo or Sky+ boxset. The addition of a 80GB hard drive is larger than can be found on similar standalone solutions, so will appeal to many. The G10 provides dual hard-disk drive support for expanding storage if required. Expandable up to a maximum 200GB, this extended storage space is an essential choice for those wanting to store large quantities of space consuming multimedia files. The inclusion of a multi-format DVD RW drive, means that you can easily free up space by backing up older programs to disk.

When it came to using the G10 as a conventional notebook, we found it comfortable to use. A strong and comfortable keyboard and mouse buttons enable easy operation, even over long periods of time. The overall build quality and look of the Qosmio range is attractive and we found that it was well built.

In such a large chassis, the use of a Mobile Pentium M 735 processor may seem an odd choice. However, as such chips run cooler than their desktop counterparts, it means that the fan on the Qosmio does not need to run for long periods, making for quiet operation - ideal when you are watching a DVD or listening to music. Fitted with 512MB of memory, you’ll find that applications load with ease.

Graphics proved impressive, as the G10 uses the Nvidia GeForce FX Go5700 graphics card, which recorded a score of 12070 using 3DMark 2001 SE. This card is more than capable of running the latest 3D games.

Verdict

The Toshiba G10 is a great addition to the range and as the flagship model in the line will prove a popular choice. There are few companies that can produce a notebook at that price point and know that people will pay it. In this case, the price is well worth the cost of entry to this multimedia machine.

Score

Review Recap

Made by: Toshiba
Price as reviewed: £1800
The good: Integrated TV and PVR recording on the move
The bad: Heavy and not as powerful as we’d like
Quick verdict: desktop replacement that wants to take over your home entertainment chores – but just misses
Score