TOSHIBA Qosmio X500-128
A powerful and stylish big-screen media center, but gaming power is limited…
Toshiba s Qosmio range comprises its high-end media centers with the X500-128 being Toshiba’s only dedicated gaming machine. Offering impressive performance and stylish, big-screen usability it makes a decent choice for garners. but it isn’t without its flaws.
Built around a huge 184-inch Super-TFT screen, this is the largest laptop in this group test. The extra screen size makes it ideal for gaming and watching movies, but of course adds to the chassis’ weight. At 4.8kg you won’t want to carry it far. The screen itself is vibrant enough, but lacks the brightness of rivals in this group test, such as the Alienware. It also features the lowest resolution of all four laptops here, so while images are certainly sharp enough for most uses, playing games in Full HD is out of the question.
Graphics are equally capable yet underwhelming. The nVidia GPU is a high-performance chip more than capable of running the latest games, but falls far behind all rivals in this group. If you’re seeking maximum gaming power, this isn’t the machine for you, as the Alienware, for example, doubles its performance.
Where the Qosmio fares much betteris in its home office abilities. Powered by a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and 6144MB of DDR3 memory, this high-powered machine easily matches its rivals in this group, breezing 
through even the most complex of software tasks.
The X500 can also easily be used as a home media hub. A panel of quick-access hotkeys provides easy control of your files and dedicated Harman Kardon stereo speakers delivers far better audio than most laptops are able to offer.
Singular style
This is one of the most eye-catching machines we’ve seen of late, but its style wont suit all tastes. The glossy black and red plastics create a vibrant yet understated look, but the shiny surface is a magnet for scratches and smudges. Thankfully the glossy finish is not carried across to the keyboard. The board itself is very well fixed and we found all keys responded smoothly and accurately. The keys do have quite a long degree of travel, however, which can create a slightly spongy feeling when typing.
Storage is on a par with all but the Asus in this group, with the 500GB hard drive providing plenty of storage space. This is also the only laptop here to feature a fingerprint scanner for protecting files against unauthorized access.
While the Qosmio X500-128 is a good multimedia machine, its limited gaming power and lack of a Full HD screen make it a tough sell against its rivals here. On its own merits, it’s an easy laptop to like, but in this company it falls too far short.
Specs Detail
- PROCESSOR INTEL 1.6GHZ COREI7 7200M
- MEMORY 6144MB DDR3 SDRAM
- HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200RPM)
- OPTICAL DRIVE TRI-FORMAT DVD DL
- SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 18.4-INCH SUPER-TFT
- DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1680 X 945 (WSXGA+)
- GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 360M
- DIMENSIONS 443 X 274 X 49MM
- WEIGHT 4.8KG
- WIRELESS LAN 802.11N
- ETHERNET GIGABIT
- USB PORTS 4
- FIREWIRE 1 (MINI)
- OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM
- STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR RTB P&L
Price £1,299
A powerful and stylish big-screen media center, but gaming power is limited…
Toshiba s Qosmio range comprises its high-end media centers with the X500-128 being Toshiba’s only dedicated gaming machine. Offering impressive performance and stylish, big-screen usability it makes a decent choice for garners. but it isn’t without its flaws.
Built around a huge 184-inch Super-TFT screen, this is the largest laptop in this group test. The extra screen size makes it ideal for gaming and watching movies, but of course adds to the chassis’ weight. At 4.8kg you won’t want to carry it far. The screen itself is vibrant enough, but lacks the brightness of rivals in this group test, such as the Alienware. It also features the lowest resolution of all four laptops here, so while images are certainly sharp enough for most uses, playing games in Full HD is out of the question.
Graphics are equally capable yet underwhelming. The nVidia GPU is a high-performance chip more than capable of running the latest games, but falls far behind all rivals in this group. If you’re seeking maximum gaming power, this isn’t the machine for you, as the Alienware, for example, doubles its performance.
Where the Qosmio fares much betteris in its home office abilities. Powered by a quad-core Intel Core i7 processor and 6144MB of DDR3 memory, this high-powered machine easily matches its rivals in this group, breezing through even the most complex of software tasks.
The X500 can also easily be used as a home media hub. A panel of quick-access hotkeys provides easy control of your files and dedicated Harman Kardon stereo speakers delivers far better audio than most laptops are able to offer.
Singular style
This is one of the most eye-catching machines we’ve seen of late, but its style wont suit all tastes. The glossy black and red plastics create a vibrant yet understated look, but the shiny surface is a magnet for scratches and smudges. Thankfully the glossy finish is not carried across to the keyboard. The board itself is very well fixed and we found all keys responded smoothly and accurately. The keys do have quite a long degree of travel, however, which can create a slightly spongy feeling when typing.
Storage is on a par with all but the Asus in this group, with the 500GB hard drive providing plenty of storage space. This is also the only laptop here to feature a fingerprint scanner for protecting files against unauthorized access.
While the Qosmio X500-128 is a good multimedia machine, its limited gaming power and lack of a Full HD screen make it a tough sell against its rivals here. On its own merits, it’s an easy laptop to like, but in this company it falls too far short.
Specs Detail
- PROCESSOR INTEL 1.6GHZ COREI7 7200M
- MEMORY 6144MB DDR3 SDRAM
- HARD DRIVE 500GB (7200RPM)
- OPTICAL DRIVE TRI-FORMAT DVD DL
- SCREEN SIZE AND TYPE 18.4-INCH SUPER-TFT
- DISPLAY RESOLUTION 1680 X 945 (WSXGA+)
- GRAPHICS CARD NVIDIA GEFORCE GTS 360M
- DIMENSIONS 443 X 274 X 49MM
- WEIGHT 4.8KG
- WIRELESS LAN 802.11N
- ETHERNET GIGABIT
- USB PORTS 4
- FIREWIRE 1 (MINI)
- OPERATING SYSTEM WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM
- STANDARD WARRANTY 1 YR RTB P&L
Price £1,299
