TOSHIBA Laptop Qosmio X505-Q890 Intel Core i7 1st Gen 740QM (1.73 GHz) 6 GB Memory 500 GB HDD 64 GB SSD NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M 18.4" Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

Pros: The SSD comes with a nice utility to relocate ADS/user profile stuff to the HD. The performance boost from the SSD is nothing short of fantastic. The quality of the machine itself is very high. Covers fit flush, no flexing of things that should not flex, and well designed overall. Performance: It screams. I am a heavy ARCGIS user and gamer. A data set that would have any of the DELLs in the GIS lab begging for mercy gets handled without a hiccup in a fraction of the time. Games never bog down even with full effects enabled and dozens of units on the battlefield. There are some very nice little extras like the button to turn off the touch pad and the Multimedia controls. The screen is zippy fast and blue-ray playback via the Toshiba application is smooth and the sound is the best I've ever heard on a laptop. Built-in webcam is as good as the iMAC webcams I use every day. Very nice surprise: macro mode and auto focus!

Cons: USB 3 ports are touchy: The connector on one USB3 cable I have seems to slide in past the contacts so all you get is power but no device connection. I have to back it out a couple of mm to get the device to start. USB 2 and 1.1 work great. The SSD was factory configured with 10GB of unused space. The average consumer is not going to even notice the volume size being to small and if they do they may not know how to safely expand the c: partition.

Overall Review: Heavy. Very heavy. Not a CON since this is machine is not intended to be a netbook. A desktop replacement for sure. Won't fit most backpacks and cases. Again not a CON, just something to be aware of if you are thinking about mobility. Heat. Invest in a laptop cooler. It has never overheated, and is very quiet, but it farts out hot air you could pop popcorn with when the video card is working at full honk.

Pros: Core i7, 6GB RAM, beautifull display, Very fast boot-up, very classy appearance, and all the other bells and whistles...all for under 2K...what more can one ask for?

Cons: That touchpad....ARGHHHH!!!! Quirkiest touchpad I've ever used. I'm sure there's some setting in Control Panel that will correct it, but I haven't found it as yet.

Overall Review: I'm glad I chose this. It's faster than anything I've ever seen. I usually work on the sofa with the laptop actually on my lap. I was a little bit apprehensive about the weight and the heat. As soon as it was delivered, I assumed the position and...It was all good. It's heavier than my last laptop, but not overly so. At most, it gets warm...never hot. My HP got HOT. I haven't done anything processor intensive yet (like video processing). Maybe that will get it hot.

Pros: Large bright screen, sound quality, keyboard size, speed, internals components are decent quality

Cons: Keyboard is slick, media buttons are in a bad position, small SSD with 45GB usable space thanks to partition with emergency files. (Arrived with 8GB free on the SSD) but Toshiba does include a folder migration utility to more your personal files to the 500Gb disk.

Overall Review: Overall this is a decent laptop for the 1500-2000 price range. I had to keep an open mind as I normally buy custom made laptops that average double or more the cost. I needed one right away so I decided on this one. I was going to get the Asus G73JH but it was OOS (I like the design better and Asus has a better warranty). But I settled on this one. All in all it's a good multimedia laptop, it plays bluray and DVD without issue and it is true 1080p picture. The speakers are some of the best I have seen in a laptop. The size is nice but they could have laid it out better, the media keys are right next to the keyboard and I find that I hit them by accident quite often. more annoying to me is the delete key is shared with the period on the number pad so it only works with the number lock off, I use both the pad and delete often so switching back and forth is a bit annoying. The keys are the same slick finish as the case, so fingers slide and the keys pick up fingerprints.

Pros: Largest screen on any laptop. Quick boot and shutdown. More than adequate storage. More than capable of holding its own as a desktop replacement. It is beautiful. Loaded updates as soon as I connected to the internet. Loaded drivers for my printer and scanner without much input from me.

Cons: It is big. It is heavy. Even the included AC equipment is large and heavy. It will get hot if you don't prepare for it. You need a large bag to move it (and someone with big arms to carry it very far for you).There are only three USB ports and one E_USB port. Doesn't like my old software (90's).

Overall Review: Newegg sells a backpack, and a cooling unit with 3 extra USB ports, for use with this beautiful PC. Both are highly recommended to prevent damage to the unit. Did I say it is a beautiful pc? Newegg delivered in two days. Don't forget to put your apps on E:/ drive, not c:/. Most software sold since 2000 will work just great on this pc. Anyone want to buy a lightly used desktop/24" monitor cheap? If you use a flash drive with your pc, consider purchasing a USB extension cord for it. Saves flexing the drive's plug end and maybe losing data.

Pros: This is by far the best laptop I have ever owned. I wanted something to replace a desktop for work and some gaming and this is it. BF2 and Bad Company 2 on highest settings with no problems. I LOVE IT.

Cons: OS is loaded on SDD, Which with a few small things added fills up quickly, but when coming to loads, is extremely fast. This thing is HEAVY. But, not like you can carry around your tower gaming rig easier than this.

Overall Review: As long as you can handle the weight, this laptop will do what ever you want it to do.

Pros: -Very fast -fairly cheaply priced for the power -toshiba customer service (other than repair facility) was AMAZING

Cons: -very heavy -gets VERY HOT -repair customer service was TERRIBLE

Overall Review: After 6 months, the laptop started overheating, but still being able to play StarCraft at Ultra in 4v4s with 40 fps. After a month or so of the laptop running hotter than it should, I sent it in to get fixed. It took 2 days to get the shipping box, but when I sent it in, it took them THREE WEEKS to process my laptop, and ONE DAY to repair it. When I got it back, it wasn't overheating AS MUCH, but still it was overheating. However, the laptop was EXTREMELY underperforming. It could barely eek out the lowest settings in 1v1s on StarCraft. I have thus contacted Toshiba as of yesterday. Currently, this laptop is useless to me. I am going to try to reinstall Windows, but I'm guessing that it is a hardware problem. I have heard many terrible things about this model (the Q890 specifically) and how the heatsink wasn't seating properly, and how there's only TWO cooling fans for the whole laptop. I will invest in a cooling pad as soon as possible as well, but there is something else wrong.

Pros: Bought this machine to use as my primary source of enterainment while overseas, and it has far surpassed my expectations. I've never seen anything like the solid state drive. It ensures the fastest and smoothest boot-ups and shutdowns I've ever experienced; the i7 processor is lightning fast; Windows 7 is extremely robust and stable; and the picture and video on this machine is unmatched in its class. Having a full number-key pad is an unexpected and pleasant bonus (I do a lot of databasing and spreadsheets as well). I use this computer for a variety of applications (Skype, internet browsing/shopping, gaming, listening to music, watching movies, databasing, even video-editing) and it has YET to crash in over 3 months of daily, vigorous use.

Cons: Heavy machine (expected due to 18" screen size) and large, cumbersome power adapter. I did have a faulty power adapter when I purchased the machine, but Toshiba replaced it within 2 days of when I reported it. Battery life not very long - again due to the oversize screen and heavy processing (knew that going in).

Overall Review: This is NOT a "laptop" in the true sense of the word, but if you're looking to replace a desktop or searching for a primary yet mobile and "compact" entertainment source, there's nothing better on the market, and I've tried dozens (I own 4 laptops now). The Qosmio is WELL worth the money!!!

Pros: Great computer. Super fast. It took me 1 hour to install Adobe Master Suite on Dell Latitute E6500 fully loaded (which I paid over $2,500 for) and it took only 17 minutes on this computer to fully install the same. Super super fast. Fast startup too. Very nice display!

Cons: heavy... heavy... heavy...

Overall Review: Slick design - I already got 4 or 5 'wow - thats very nice laptop' compliments at starbucks.