S$5499
Product Summary
7.9
out of 10View score
The bad: Steep price; QosmioPlayer could be better implemented; one-year warranty; average performance.
The bottom line: If you need a desktop replacement to satisfy your multimedia needs, the Qosmio G20 is as good as it gets.
Read full review of the Toshiba Qosmio G20 »
Average User Rating
from 5 users
CNET Asia Review
Among the three new Qosmio entertainment notebooks to land in the region, the G20 is by far the largest and most powerful in terms of specs and the hefty S$5,499 (US$3,906.65) price. Along with DVD playback and gaming power, the new range of Qosmios come complete with TV tuners unlike the original E10 launched last year. Unfortunately we don't have the benefit of Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 in Asia, unlike our US counterparts, which would definitely make the user experience a lot more enjoyable.
|
The Qosmio G20 is one aesthetically appealing laptop to behold. The gargantuan 17-inch WXGA display boasting a very bright 500 nits is just one of the reasons. The wide viewing angle supported is another, but the colors look somewhat faded when glancing at the screen from an acute angle. With a 1,440 x 900 native resolution, users can't really maximize their display space to the max like they can with the Sony Vaio VGN-A49GP at 1,920 x 1,200 that allows for a better viewing experience. The reflective frame surrounding the keyboard can be quite pleasing to the eye, though with a few fingerprint smudges, it can become an eyesore very easily. The huge 406 x 285 x 43.1mm chassis weighs a hefty 4.3kg, excluding the equally heavy 600g adapter, meaning that you'll probably be leaving this baby at home most of the time.
As this is a multimedia notebook, the package wouldn't be complete without the full-sized remote which incorporates much-needed buttons to navigate around DVD menus. We had a well-spaced keyboard lined with a row of touch-sensitive multimedia keys just above. The standard touchpad and two mouse buttons, without the physical scroller, look somewhat minimal considering all the flamboyant features that the Qosmio has. The wheel-inspired volume control with blue-light feedback indicating the audio level change is a very welcome change from the usual tiny jog-dial designs. Another "cool" feature is the slot-loading disc drive which we were certainly impressed by. Compared with the Qosmio E10, the audio is once again a highlight, thanks to the Harman/Kardon speakers which provide decent bass and sufficiently loud audio, considering there is no sub-woofer.
|
Features
The unit is made of powerful stuff. With a high-end Pentium M processor 760 (2.0GHz), 512MB DDR2 SDRAM and a fast Nvidia GeForce Go 6600 graphics engine sporting 128MB of VRAM, the Qosmio certainly has impressive components. The front boasts a slot-in
DVD±R/RW writer with DVD+R dual-layer support, certainly enough to satisfy our burning needs. The unit actually has two seperate 80GB hard disks and for good reason--RAID-0 and RAID-1 is supported. RAID-1 allows mirroring so that the laptop writes the same data on both drives simultaneously for enhanced data protection. In short, should one of them fail, the information can still be retrieved from the other 80GB drive. RAID-0 simply allows data storage on the two drives.
Ports-wise, you have loads of connectivity choices at your disposal. With four USB 2.0, a 5-in-1 flash card reader, S/PDIF, Bluetooth and more unconventional AV options like composite-in, S-video in and D-video out, the Qosmio G20 offers almost identical ports as the original Qosmio E10 except for the added TV antenna port and xD/MS PRO support.
|
Performance And Battery Life
Upon running the MobileMark 2002 benchmarks on the machine, we obtained a good result of 219. Though this score is pretty impressive when compared with all notebooks, this is not the case when gauged with other 2.0GHz machines such as the Dell Inspiron 9300 or the Acer TravelMate 8104WLMi (but do note these two units have an extra 512MB RAM).
| BAPCo MobileMark2002 performance rating (all with 760 processor 2.0GHz) |
|
3D rendering was tested with 3DMark05 and we must say the 2,436 score result was very much to our satisfaction. As such, the Qosmio G20 is currently the second-best gaming notebook we've reviewed (as of July 2005). Do check out our feature on the Top 5 gaming laptops for the 3DMark03 results.
| FutureMark's 3DMark05 (1,024 x 768) |
|
Though the battery life is actually quite mediocre at 115 minutes, this more or less meets the 2 hours of power that Toshiba projected. You can choose to dismiss this result considering that you're probably going to leave this unit plugged in at home.
Click here for notebook comparison
Service And Support
Although Toshiba provides a standard one-year carry-in international warranty inclusive of parts, labor and the battery, we feel rather shortchanged considering the premium price the G20 goes for. A three-year coverage would have certainly been a better deal. Customers can call in toll-free to the Toshiba Global Support Center which provides 24/7 round-the-globe services and support. The contacts are clearly stated on its Web site.
The Qosmio runs on Windows XP Home Edition and includes software such as Microsoft Office OneNote 2003, Sonic RecordNow! 7.0, a 90-day eval of Norton AntiVirus 2005 and Toshiba Console, a user-friendly interface to manage functions such as power management, button controls and hotkey assignment. DVD playback is handled by InterVideo WinDVD whereas InterVideo WinDVD Creator is self-explanatory. As for WinDVR 5, it supports TV functions such as time-shifting and recording.
Rate It Now
User Reviews
Best Notebook Yet
Dec 24, 2005Rating: 10 out of 10 (Perfect)
Pros: Has everything that you will want in a laptop
Cons: I do not have it yet
Opinion:
It's a great laptop but the only thing I really don't like about the Qosmio is the size, it's kind of big, if Toshiba would of made a thinner version of the Qosmio like the Apple PowerBooks then the Qosmio would be even bettter.
Great laptop, worst support in the world
Oct 12, 2005Rating: 8 out of 10 (Excellent)
Pros:
Cons:
Opinion:
I was one of the first to buy a p20 and I did burn 2 hard drives within less than 3 years. I now have Qosmio... I must be an idiot... cuz knowing how absolutely disgusting the support and help is from Toshiba, I still bought this. The laptop is great... amazingly wonderous... But Toshiba support and user support are dissgusting. One thing about Toshiba is that they make good products ... but never stand behind them.
The best laptop
Jul 25, 2005Rating: 10 out of 10 (Perfect)
Pros:
Cons:
Opinion:
This is such an amazing laptop. I have the g20 and it runs like a dream laptop and it has great looks 10/10.
Latest Downloads
What's Hot
Sponsored links
Panasonic Festive Offers
Purchase Panasonic TV/Camera/Camcorder to enjoy special gift bundles.
The Internet Show 2010, 21-22 Apr 2010, Singapore
FREE admission for visitors who pre-register online. Register Today!
Olympus PEN, EP-1 & EP-2
Not a Compact. Not an SLR... It's a PEN!
The new Citi DIVIDEND World MasterCard
Get up to 5% cash back for every dollar charged to your card.
Crack the code
Crack the code with Western Digital and stand to win the new PS3 (slim gaming console).
Just right. Nothing more.
The VAIO X Series. It’s everything you desire and nothing you don’t.
Have you made your New Year salary resolution?
Join activeBizPros and find out the average salaries of business professionals
CNET Asia is now on Facebook!
Be part of the most happening tech community in Asia on Facebook
CNET Asia TV
Watch gadget reviews, quick tips, movie trailers and more for FREE.
