The good: Integrated Webcam; powerful graphics performance; strong multimedia features; unique Plug-and-Charge USB port; 1GB Intel Turbo Memory.

The bad: No Draft-N wireless radio; dedicated numeric keypad absent; high-maintenance glossy surface.

The bottom line: Like its predecessor, the Qosmio G30, Toshiba's flagship multimedia desktop replacement offers a complete suite of entertainment features. But unlike its forebear, the Qosmio G40 is based on a new, slimmer design with a couple of tricks up its sleeve.

Read full review of the Toshiba Qosmio G40 »

By Darius Chang, CNET Asia
Aug 7, 2007

The Toshiba Qosmio G40 was one of the first Santa Rosa-based notebooks by the Japanese maker. Unlike the Satellite, Tecra and Portege series, the Qosmio range focuses on delivering a complete mobile entertainment platform with features like integrated TV tuner, next-generation optical format, 5.1-channel audio output, etc. The downside is that in order to fit in all these components, the 4.8kg, 17-inch Qosmio G40 can hardly be deemed portable. Unlike Sony's AR series, this Qosmio went with the HD-DVD format, an important consideration if you already have a collection of Blu-ray discs. The Toshiba G40 may be exceptionally costly--easily surpassing the S$5,000 (US$3,599.97) price point--and there are other cheaper entertainment models like the Dell Inspiron 1720 and HP Pavilion dv9500. But, to be fair, the latter models are certainly not as feature-rich. The equally capable Blu-ray-equipped Sony Vaio VGN-AR38GP is even more costly at S$6,999 (US$5,039.24), and the Fujitsu LifeBook N6420 sans HD-DVD drive runs up a S$5,888 (US$4,239.33) bill.

	The Qosmio AV controller provides shortcuts to multimedia functions. (Click for larger image)

Design
The Toshiba Qosmio G40 represents a marked departure from the previous Qosmio G series laptops. Instead of the white LCD cover and black keyboard, the new model flips the color scheme though it maintains the same glossy coat. Granted it makes the unit look very attractive in the showroom, but fingerprints and dust show up too clearly for comfort. It also does away with the slot-in optical drive and had gone with the conventional tray system instead. Though the former does add aesthetic appeal, the switch will be appreciated by those who stock 8cm discs that can be used only with a tray.

Like most vendors which intend to retail in the Europe market, Toshiba's Qosmio G40 is RoHScompliant. This means it conforms to the European standard that restricts the use of hazardous substances in the portable. We, however, admit that we use the term portable very loosely. With a weight of 4.8kg and dimensions of 440 x 299.4 x 45.3mm, it may be slightly slimmer than the older Qosmio G30 but still not a machine you'd want to commute with.

Like any proper multimedia desktop replacement, the Qosmio offers two sets of multimedia controls for different occasions. If you prefer to view movies on its 17-inch screen, there is a volume control wheel on the left of the keyboard, a row of touch-sensitive multimedia buttons on the top and a Qosmio AV controller/multifunction dial on the right. The latter's circumference is lit by a blue LED light so you do not have to grope for the controls in the dark. But if you want to link the G40 to a large-screen display, a full-sized remote control saves you the bother of having to walk to the machine everytime you want to skip a chapter.

Features
So what's so special about the Qosmio G40? Analog/digital TV tuner? Built-in subwoofer? HD-DVD drive? A slew of video output sources? We've already seen that on the previous iteration. So besides being based on the latest Centrino Santa Rosa chipset, what else does the G40 bring to the table?

For one, it takes advantage of the new platform to offer 1GB of Intel Turbo Memory (for explanation, see box below). One of the USB ports differs from the rest in that it is able to charge your USB device even if the Qosmio is turned off. Last but not least, the Toshiba G40 is one of the few machines in the market with a high-definition 1080p-ready display.

Did you know? Intel Turbo Memory was created as a bridge between the abundant but slow harddisk and the fast but expensive RAM. It was supposed to decrease the time it took to start the operating system and frequently used applications. However, some vendors like HP found that the performance boost was not significant to warrant inclusion in the Palo Alto company's systems.

As mentioned, the 17-inch display is 1080p-compatible, which means it can display full-HD video without having to link to an external display. The 1,920 x 1,200-pixel LCD has dual lamps which produce up to 300nits brightness, more than sufficient for most environments. But behind the pixels is an engine powered by the high-end Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card with 512MB of dedicated video memory (VRAM). The VRAM can be boosted to 1,279MB during periods of heavy load by sharing with the system RAM. If 17 inches of high-definition display is not enough, you can hook up an even larger screen using the S-video, VGA-out, HDMI and component-video out jacks. An integrated TV tuner can handle both conventional analog and digital signals for times when you get bored with your movie collection.

The Qosmio G40 can even behave like a recorder by using its video composite input jacks. There are two harddisk slots in the G40, giving a total of 400GB of storage space. When that runs out, the multimedia files can be archived on HD-DVD discs. Unlike the first-generation HD-DVD drives, which can only read and not write, this Qosmio stores up to 15GB on a single-layer HD-DVD and 30GB on dual-layer discs. As HD-DVD platters are still rather expensive and not commonly available, the optical drive also allows the use of almost any flavor of DVD and CD to backup smaller files.

Most notebook sound systems feel like gratuitous additions with their tinny outputs and lack of bass. This Qosmio, on the other hand, offers a 5.1-channel experience with four Harman Kardon speakers and built-in subwoofer. Sound quality is head and shoulders above most notebooks, with the exception of machines like the Sony Vaio VGN-AR38GP. Nevertheless, the audio quality cannot be compared with dedicated horns of a full entertainment setup. If you desire bass that shakes the foundation of houses and superior audio clarity, an S/PDIF connection is available to stream to a full surround-sound setup.

Connectivity-wise, The Qosmio does not skimp. A generous five USB 2.0 ports (one of which is Plug-and-Charge-compatible), mini-FireWire, an ExpressCard/54 and a Type II PC Card slot are available. A 5-in-1 memory card reader handles SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro and xD-PictureCard formats. We were a little surprised to see a biometric fingerprint scanner sitting between the touchpad buttons as this is not a business machine. Though it offers slightly stronger security than easy-to-crack passwords, without the TPM security chip this feature is more suited for easy login than actual data protection. A 2-megapixel Webcam sits above the display for times when you need to do a little video conferencing or a quick snap shot.

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