Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q860 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black\Red)
Reviews for Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q860 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Gaming Laptop (Black\Red)
One word : bloatwareI purchased the top of the line Qosmio. It's a great computer, I especially love the large size EXCEPT for the fact that more than 75% of the harddrive is taken up by Windows 7 and Toshiba bloatware. There are 22 Toshiba apps + Windows 7 + the other trial crap McAfee, Windows Office, etc. that is on the machine. Unless your feel super comfortable with reformatting I would suggest you look for a company that does not add so much bloatware to their laptops. This is my 3rd and last Toshiba. I'm a graphic designer and could only install a few of the programs I use and 1 game. I did contact Toshiba tech support to go through the list of items that could be deleted---none should be deleted---I'm not kidding you, really, he said NONE. If I delete anything (short of the trial programs) it would mess up the computer completely. What a shame. A big time gaming laptop and I can only install one game. Against my gut feeling I decided to keep it and have been using it for 6 months BUT I frequently hit a wall due to no extra space for additional software, and multiple notices of running out of primary hard drive space. Luckily I haven't had any hardware failures. I did have to shut a great deal of programs off that were running in the back ground just so the mouse would move and not stagnant for seconds at a time. I wish my experience with this Toshiba would have been better.
This baby rocks!
I extremely happy with my Qosmio. It's beautiful, fast, and quiet. The 18.4 inch screen is just amazing. The keyboard is very nice, too. This lappy easily replaces nearly any desktop. I also purchased the Squaretrade 3-year mechanical warranty, and you should, too.
This computer's CPU is FRIED
I own 2 Toshiba XP Qosmio's. One was overheating from age I suppose and the other had black screened on me, so I ordered this Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q860 Gaming Computer. When my newer XP screen went black, I was forced to open the box and start it up.
1st of all 15 major drivers were out of date via hardware helper. It was overheating so badly while I was playing games that I was forced to buy this program and update the Toshiba drivers.
Nothing helped, the CPU temp was running well over 70 after 15 mins of game play. I had the cooling pad and an external fan blowing on the computer. The system fans kept stopping.
I called Toshiba, they said they'd get back to me and gave me a case #. 4 days later and no call. I called back and they demanded I send it back for replacement - with what, the same thing. I would lose all hard drive data. This was unacceptable. It would also leave me with no computer since my main XP was in the shop.
Yesterday the shop called and said the XP was repaired - video card replaced. I told them about my new Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q860 and the problems I was having with it. After they took down the numbers, they said they could repair it under warranty without loosing my data.
Needless to say that is where the computer is now - in the shop. A brand new gaming computer in the shop.
The volume is way under par. I can barely hear DVD's.
Another problem is Reel Time tracking that saves ever page you visit and every email you open - I think forever, if this kind of stuff bothers anyone.
I could go on and on, it rejected winzip.
I would not recommend this product to my worst enemy.
Would Buy again....
Excellent unit. Was debating between the i5 and the i7 system. Decided for the difference in cost, the i5 was fine for my purposes which is mainly editing video, photo, etc. A little gaming once in a while. The screen size on this unit is gorgeous - actually the computer is very sharp - not overdone - just classy.
This is the second system I have had. Had to send the first one back because it would not boot up on Day 2. Amazon was fantastic to send out a replacement.
I spoke with Toshiba customer service regarding the failure and they said it needed a "power purge. Said the cure was to turn it off, take out the battery and hold down the power button for about 10 seconds.
Regardless, I sent the unit back and requested a replacement because I didn't want to keep a unit that had a problem straight out of the box. However, I have enough experience with Toshiba computers to know they generally make a solid product. (You can get a defect in anything from time to time!) The replacement unit has been great and have had no problems whatsoever.
I will admit when it didn't boot, I was EXTREMELY thankful to know I had bought the Square Trade 3 Year Drops and Spills Warranty! I didn't have to use the warranty because of Amazon's great replacement policy, but it is good to know the unit is WELL protected regardless of cause for the next 3 years. By then technology will have advanced enough that I'll be ready for a new unit. Major peace of mind. The cost of the 3 year warranty was $299 which averages just 27 cents a day over 3 years. I'd hate to drop the computer in 2 years and 10 months and know I could have had $1200 toward a new system...Money well spent.
Pretty...useless
Yet another costumer who got the dreaded "Warning - A problem with the cooling system has been detected. Please turn off the computer immediately, and return it for service" on first boot-up. I purchased the laptop trusting both the on-site reviews as well as the ones on some of the more prominent computer magazines -- "Laptop" magazine, as highlighted in Toshiba's own web-site, rated the whole X505 line as "one of the year's best."
Have to say that I had no problem returning the defective item to Amazon -- which is why I normally try to purchase computers & electronics directly from them and not 3rd party sellers -- and I am now gambling on a Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q870 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Gaming Laptop which upgrades the processor, includes a blu-ray drive and lit keyboard. Fact is, I love both the looks of the machine -- truly stunning in hand -- and at least on paper, the great components included.
So here's hoping whatever ailments the Q860 had have been solved and/or do not affect the X505-Q870. Won't be getting my machine for another two weeks -- I live outside the US, takes a while to get it here -- but I'll post a follow-up once I do. Hopefully for me, I'll be able to give it the 5 stars so many others have. — Red
Best gaming laptop
Size is AMAZING, The Core i5 430M (2.26) with Turbo Boost is still good as of Aug 2010 :-)
Lightning quick, great sound and video quality
Overall I am extremely pleased with it and would highly recommend it to others
pros: This is an extremely fast machine, Play pretty much all of the current games including Starcraft 2, even with all of the graphics settings maxed out, The screen on this computer is beautiful
cons: The keyboard itself is not backlit, 10 pounds, it is a bit much to lug around
An Excellent choice - delivers exactly as promised. Period.
I do a lot of multi-threaded graphics & GUI programming work for research, and have high standards regarding the machine that I work on. My purchase of this laptop was the end result of a 4-month long process of searching, reviewing & comparing. As the owner of a Toshiba Satellite (which I've used for over 6 years), I was looking for a laptop that promised to be as sturdy, reliable, affordable & a joy to use.
The following were my purchasing criteria:
(1) It ABSOLUTELY MUST have a big screen! - Between my 17-inch Satellite & 15/14/13-inch laptops from various sources, nothing beats a big screen when it comes to simultaneously viewing & working in multiple code windows.
(2) A modern Multi-core CPU - For my needs, I wanted a multi-core CPU that fell on the border between mid-range & high-end that was based on a recent CPU architecture. Not-so-good experiences with AMD knocked their products out, affordability removed the Core-i7s from the table, and I don't see any difference between a Core-i3 & a Core 2 Duo. Anyways, what is more important to me is....
(3) An excellent GPU! - All of my software projects require a rock-solid GPU backed by highly stable driver support. The factors that eliminated any ATI choice were - a) My work with OpenGL/CUDA/OpenCL, b) My target users are more likely to have nVidia cards, c) nVidia's SDKs & dev tools are more feature-rich & robust, IMHO, d) I've been using nVidia for the past 12 years, and e) I'm a casual gamer - I don't care if an ATI card can play a game 10 fps faster than what I have, at whatever high resolution that I cannot use anyway; also I don't care about 3DMark scores etc.
(4) Other requirements - I generally wanted at least 4 GB RAM, at least 1/2 TB of disk space, a DVD drive that opens/loads sideways & 4 USB ports. Don't care about Bluetooth, 1080p HD, Blu-Ray, back-lit keyboard etc.
I have been using the Qosmio for a month now; the following are the plus points:
(1) Excellent CPU/GPU combination for programming - My program compile times are down by 70%! My software often needs to invoke & interact with multiple instances of other executables - I can smoothly run thrice as many external program instances. There's also a lot of heavyweight OpenGL processing in my software - again, the end performance is nearly three times better. Also good for CUDA/OpenCL - just 413 GFlops, 96 CUDA cores & non-Fermi, but the best deal for this price.
(2) The big screen absolutely ROCKS!
(3) Even though it weighs 9.5 lbs, its shape & texture make it quite comfortable to carry around.
(4) Excellent for casual gaming.
(5) Great for movies - especially Netflix online viewing in fullscreen mode.
(6) Very low machine noise - No hard disk grinding, DVD whining is low, the GPU fan(s) come on only when gaming, and the sound is not loud or unpleasant.
(7) The next-day delivery was AWESOME; the UPS guy actually waited for 2 mins. after knocking on my door, which was a very pleasant surprise. The laptop was not left on the doorstep - good job UPS & Amazon!
The following are the cons:
(1) Fingerprint magnet - I read other reviews about this, but they were understatements. The laptop has to be thoroughly wiped down at least once a day. I'm looking at this in a positive light, as now I'm forced to clean it regularly; so there's no dust buildup or dirt accumulation in any hard to reach corners etc.
(2) Weird/bad design for power cord plug to laptop - Instead of the simple plug that I'm used to, the plug to the laptop has a weird design that has sockets for 4 pins that you see in the laptop connector. Beware trying to plug it in any way other than the flat surface up - you could blow out a fuse, or worse, damage your laptop!
All in all, I feel I have gotten back my whole money's worth already. Since my professional life revolves around this laptop, the only thing I can ask for is that this machine be as reliable & long-lasting as my veteran Satellite. Hats off to Toshiba for once again delivering a solid product that's worth every dime & then some.
Like it
In spite of other guys I didn't have any problems with the item. I gave it only 4 start due to there is no button to switch off red lighted buttons on the left side of keyboard. They are too sensitive.
