New Qosmio X505s

The GTX 460M equipped 18.4" Qosmios are finally revealed.

X505-Q892 - i5-460m, 1680x945 - $1,279.99
http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/qosmio/X500/X505-Q892

X505-Q893 - i5-460m, 1680x945, backlit keyboard - $1,299.99
Amazon.com: Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q893 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black): Computer & Accessories

X505-Q894 - i7-740qm, 1680x945 - $1,599.99
Amazon.com: Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q894 18.4-Inch Laptop (Fusion Finish in Omega Black): Computer & Accessories

X505-Q896 - i7-740qm, 1920x1080 - $1,699.99
Amazon.com: Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q896 18.4-Inch Laptop (Fusion Finish in Omega Black): Computer & Accessories

X505-Q898 - i7-740qm, 1920x1080, 64GB SSD - $1,999.99
http://www.amazon.com/Toshiba-Qosmio-X505-Q898-18-4-Inch-Laptop/dp/B0041O5YXY/

It should be noted that those are all retail prices, and almost certain to drop, perhaps significantly, in the following weeks and months.

 

Meh, I am happy with my Q885. I pay about 250 less than the new one that would be similar. Plus I have it now. lol

I could of waited, but in this game you will always be behind.

 

.... and you could just buy a new GPU board (and maybe a heatsink) and replace it yourself

 

I tend to agree, Richard. You can't complain about a 300 dollar discount. I am still actually considering the 885, since I believe it is the single best laptop at its proce point in the world right now. but man that 460 is really tempting. That is, from what I can see, all you are getting for with the $300.00 difference. Now lets see if some of the major online retailers start a bidding war with the new Qosmios. Because once that happens, you know Amazon will be the cheapest price to pay. I am still trying to decide if it is worth paying $300.00 just for the 460 over the 360. Not to mention I am still not exactly enamored by the i5's, though I admit that a4500435 makes a convincing argument for them.

One more thing: I know you anwered this in another thread, but how do you find the 1620 X 945 resolution on the Q885? Also, how are the "whites" for programs like MSword. I am a very serious writer, and need to know that if I am spending five+ hours writing on a white page that it is going to look really good on my eyes, not to mention any brightness issues.

 

How is the display on the Q885 in terms of brightness, color, contrast, and off angle viewing?

 

Ha! I beat you to it, Seasalt.

 

Like on this site, the white background if looking straight on isn't that bright and I am in a dark room most of the time. The brightness isn't over whelming with other colors or in games. Then again, I haven't played with the settings at all.
I'd say the colors are sharp and rich. The viewing angles from the top looking down, is not terrible, everything is readable and for the most part the correct color. Except for whites, like this little box I am typing into and the background. It turns a shade of periwinkle. It gets a bit dark too.

I'd say it's fine, as I really don't have much experience with the high end notebook screens.

 

That's my problem, I do. I am totally spoiled in terms of monitor balance by a very old dinosaur of a Dell XPS Gen2 laptop. it is 17 inches and the resolution is actually 1920 X 1200 and the brightness is awesome, the whites crisp and sweet, and the colors beautifully balanced. Now as I have said several times in this forum, if I buy a laptop that is supposed to be new and current and I have to settle for resolution that is lower, colors that are not as vibrant, whites that are not very white, and brightness that is not very bright when my SIX YEAR OLD, antiquated cinderblock of a laptop is going to make me feel like I downgraded in some ways, then I simply won't be happy with it.

That is my dilemma. I love the look of the qosmio, the sound is supposed to be great, and the 18.4 inch display, but I don't want to feel that I was cheated out of a true upgrade because Toshiba is too cheap to put a nice screen on what they call their "high end gaming rig."

 

If that's actually feasible, that might not be a bad idea. I doubt a 460M would go under $300 though...

At least on the Q885 I saw, whites were not bad. With the Q885 and G73JH-A1 side by side, there actually wasn't a big difference in color and brightness, which was surprising. Yes, the G73's screen is better, but the difference isn't so big that it leaps out at you (unlike the Q890 1080p screen). Calibrating the Q885's screen also helps somewhat.

I think Toshiba took a gamble that the 18.4" screen would separate them from the 17 incher crowd (and they were right about that), but the flip side is there's only one manufacturer of these panels, and they pretty much have to make do with it. I don't think it's a matter of Toshiba being cheap...they just don't have a choice. They definitely put quality components in their laptops when they can (Harmon Kardon speakers, for instance).

One surprise is the new i5-460M. I hadn't even heard of that CPU. It's a nice bump in speed.

EDIT: I just checked the Toshiba website, and there's also a Q892 model! So there's now 2 i5 equipped models. Looks like the difference is a backlit keyboard and $20. I've updated the original post with the link.

 

Odd that a company would offer high end components, just to skim out on one.

How does one calibrate this screen?

 

This also makes me wonder if the reviewers aren't being super nit-picky, which is their job. I have always noticed that sometimes reviewers, who are paid to ferret out every flaw no matter how small, are going over the products with a magnifying glass. I went to Costco yesterday in the hopes of seeing a Qosmio up close, but apparently they don't stock them. I think that I am going to have to find a way to see one up close if I am going to invest over a thousand dollars in the unit.

I know I am safe with the G73JW, but the 18.4 inch screen and the built in sound system is very attractive.

 

Yeah it is, especially considering the only $20 difference. The Q893 seems to be an Amazon exclusive...I have no idea why.

You can do a simple calibration in the Windows 7 control panel.

 

By the way, I thought that all the Qosmio keyboads were backlit?

 

The Q885's is not. Obviously, Amazon noticed the discrepancy and requested a backlit keyboard for their base offering.

 

Well that is assuredly worth the 20 bucks.

 

Richard, if it's not too much trouble, I think it would be helpful if you post a pic or two of the screen of your Qosmio while browsing the web or editing a Word document.

 

I guess I could, if you don't mind a cell phone picture from my Omnia.

 

I would like to see them, but it's up to you really. No worries.

 

It wouldn't really give you a proper idea, because of metering, which you can't control in a cell phone camera. I guess I could go to my local Fry's and take some pictures if you really want them, they have the Q890 and Q887 on display.

BULLETIN: J&R is carrying most of the new Qosmios with discounts, even the Amazon 'exclusive' Q893 model. Most importantly however, the descriptions on all the models include a 'flat MATTE keyboard', with all of them (except the Q892) being backlit. The old Qosmio descriptions are not the same.

This could mean that Toshiba HAS changed the keyboard, not in layout, but from glossy to matte. That would go a long way in increasing comfort.

 

Hey, thanks for the offer. It's ok, it's not that important. I was interested not only in the quality of the screen, I also wanted to see the viewing area and compare it to my 17'. I wonder if it would be easy to see two word documents side by side on the lower resolution screen, for example. But it's ok, I am sure there must be lots of pics from users online. Apparently I suck using Google lol. I'll try again later, feeling a little sick now.

Thanks again.

 

I'll probably stop by there anyway, it's only 3 miles away from me. If so, I'll bring my camera.

Another difference I've noticed between the Q892 and Q893 is that the Q892's DVD drive has Labelflash. So I guess it's a tossup between that and a LED backlit keyboard. Personally, I've never used Labelflash, so it doesn't really matter to me.

Does anyone know if the disk drives on the Qosmios are interchangeable? Could I take a Bluray drive from a Q890 and stick it in a Q885 or Q893?

 

Without knowing the absolute answer, I would say yes, there should be no reason why not. It is the same chassis, and parts like optical drives, RAM, HD's and CPU's should be readily swappable. Basically, the rule of thumb with laptops, even the ones that are not as customizable as say a Clevo, is that if it is available in the same chasis as an upgrade feature, you can swap it out later on. Sometimes you have to open the lappy up and get into the blood and guts of it to do so, but I see no reason why you will not be able to at will.

My guess is that it is a one screw then slide-out swap for DVD to Blu-ray later on.

 

I remember an old laptop that had switchable drives. One for CD and another for floppy. The times......

 

i want to know are there 2 hdd bays in the usd 1299 qosmio? i would a ssd hopefully later

 

I am 99% sure that there are two HD bays in all the Qosmios. I think you just have to be certain that whatever the GB size of your machine is, whether they are using one large drive or two smaller ones, as in the case with the TB sized Qosmio.

 

You might have to buy a HDD bracket though, that's something every manufacturer skimps on. Some people just use plastic washers or piece of cardboard.

 

If you guys want a very high end beautiful display, get an AW M17x-R2 with RGB LED 1920*1200 display. It's 320 nits and has >100% color gamut.

 

Thanks for the ad, but I could buy 2 Qosmios for that price...

 

Still, he is offering a pretty sizable discount on that laptop. If the 3 year warranty he purchased is the "Complete Care" then I believe that laptop goes for over 4K the way he configured it. Honestly, if I were in the market for a laptop that high end, I would seriously consider buying his. But it is a little out of my price range, unfortunately.

 

Which is why we lurk in the Toshiba forum, and don't frolic in the Alienware forum...

 

Not necessarily. I have never been crezy about Alienware lappys, to be honest. I think they are overpriced for what you get, and as a writer, I find that they are too blocky and they keyboard a little on the bulky side. lol They have always reminded me of huge, Fisher Price toys for adults. Great gaming rigs, though, if that's all you're using them for. Thge problem is I am also a writer and if I have to do both wiring (for hours at a time) as well as gaming, the Alienware laptop might annoy me. Then again, who knows?

 

Here's a review of the X505-Q893:

Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q893 18.4-inch Gaming Laptop Review

It's pretty general, but fair and I agree with her conclusion it's a great gaming/multimedia laptop for those who don't want to spend ~$1,700 on a G73JW.

 

Honestly, that article reads more like an overview than an actual review. I wouldn't judge anything based on such a peripheral handling lacking any and all salient details. I am not saying I need full blown benchmarks, but to be frank, you or I could have written ANYTHING in that alleged review just from reading the Qosmio stats page on Amazon.

 

Yeah, I know. Traditionally, the Qosmios don't get as many reviews as some of the more popular models though. It'll probably be a while until reviews of the new Qosmios trickle in. Notebookcheck's is pretty detailed anyway.

J&R is discounting $50 off the Q893 already...hopefully it'll keep dropping until I'm ready to bite.

 

I am waiting for the same thing. I'm hoping that since these lappies were all released now, in plenty of time for the holidays, that online merchants will star a bidding war with one another and lower the price more than just $50.00. In addition, I hope that since Toshiba and Asus now seem to be in direct competition for the same medium-end gaming laptop market (where the different GPU's in the previous line separated the customer base somewhat) that both of those manufacturers will start trying to undercut one another.

Honestly, I am still not sure which laptop I want. The pro's for the Qosmio are the sound system, the aesthetics of the actual laptop, and the built in sound system. The cons are the 1080p screen, the -poor one year warranty, the fact that the chasis seems to be more "plastic" than the other more durabel laptops, at least according to old Qosmio reviews.

 

I really hope that by the time the new Qosmios are released that Toshiba and/or Microsoft get the "sound enhancement" issues resolved. I don't know how many Toshiba models or if any other brands have this "sound enhancement" issue, but from what I've read, this has been an issue for the past year and I have yet to read a resonable way of fixing this issue.

The "sound enhancement" is the sound during music and movie playback gets louder and quieter. I've read that this is a Win 7 enhancement, but what matters is that this issue needs to be resolved. It shouldn't matter who's responsible, it's Toshiba's product and they're installing Microsoft programs, so either one should fix this issue.

I've basically seen two ways of correcting this "enhancement" on my 4-week-old Q890. Disable all sound enhancements and listen to things like they're coming out of a 1976 AM radio. No bass--nothing. Or I can use extrernal speakers. I bought a laptop for it's portability. I'm already hauling a 10-pound laptop, a 2-pound power supply, among many other things in my Targus backpack, I not lugging speakers around too.

The point of this post is to say that I hope they get this issue resolved before they release the latest Qosmios. I say this because I can't find a decent solution to this problem for current Qosmios.

I look forward to seeing the new Qosmios and to find out if they've resolved this issue yet.

T Bone
Qosmio X505-Q890
Bought on 09/03/2010
Came with "sound enhancement" issue

 

The new Qosmios are released already. Not sure about whether or not this issue has been addressed, to be honest, or how widespread the problem is.

 

Just a quick update on 460M equipped Qosmio prices:

Most of the new Qosmios on Amazon have rebates of $30-60, not particularly significant, but understandable since it's only been ~2 weeks.

The big difference is the Q893, which just dropped again on Amazon to $1,149.99, $150 off!!!

Amazon.com: Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q893 TruBrite 18.4-Inch Laptop (Black): Computer & Accessories

My ideal price was $1100 (I kinda doubt the 460m Qosmio will ever drop to $999 like the Q885) and I thought it would take until Nov. or the holiday season for the price to drop near there. Now that it's only $50 away, I'm seriously feeling the urge to pull the trigger...

 

From what I hear, Amazon is usually very good at refunding you if the price of an item you bought from them drops within 15 or 30 days and you ask them to match the price difference. At least I know it has happened with books, DVDs, or Kindles. Not sure about computers, though, but I would think it's the same.

Anyway, that's a great price. What are you going to do with those 50 bucks that it's so important that you can't pull the trigger now?

 

Yeah, I know what you're talking about, it's not Amazon's official policy though:

Amazon's secret price guarantee! - By Timothy Noah - Slate Magazine

As for your other question...maybe it'll drop another $100??

 

Get well soon, ChiroVette!

(Obviously, if he hasn't said anything about this price drop, he must be sick, right? Hopefully it's just a cold and he'll recover right away.)

 

LMAO F*ck you! nah, I kid.

Seriously, I haven't really been on this site much as I didn't expect the price to move AGAIN this soon. Man, that is a killer price! If Toshiba gave a better than one year warranty, I would almost have to just pull the damned trigger right now. but like a4500, I think I will sit on my hands another few weeks or a month or two and see what happens. Also, in that other thread, and all those complaints about the sound quality of the Qosmios (which I always took for granted that it was supposed to be great) I want to see what more Qosmio owners say.

 

If the price drops again (unlikely, but all the other drops were also unlikely ) I'm certainly not waiting anymore, I'll get it and I'm sure I'll like it. Only thing that puzzles me is the lack of any user reviews for any of the new Qosmios so far...they seem to be selling though.

 

The only thing that still sucks is sales tax. Amazon's price is good and all, but I need to find a reputable site that is not based in NY that will compete with Amazon's price.

 

You can't find anybody in NJ or the Tri-State area that can buy it for you? I'd help, but I'm on the wrong coast...

 

Nah, because Amazon has too many outlets, I believe in most states. Why? Do you know for sure that Jersey is all right for Amazon as far as sales tax goes?

 

I am really considering getting the Qosmio X505-Q898.

Is the screen that bad comapred to the Asus or is it barely noticeable?


What do you guys think about the Qosmio X505-Q898? Worth the price tag of $1,918.57 (Amazon)?

 

Also does anyone know whether the new X505 (X505-Q898) more specifically has any heating issues?

In other words if I play games for 3 - 4 hours straight on this laptop will it shutdown by itself for overheating or it should be fine?

Thanks

 

I haven't seen the screen, but I have heard literally nothing good about the 1080p Qosmio screen. It is supposedly very dark. As for gaming, I doubt it will overheat after many hours. The only thing I would suggest is at the price point of the Q898, I think you are better off with the G73JW. To my way of thinking, the Qosmio is only worth it if you are trying to save money. Once you get to and over $1.5K, I think the Asus is the better buy. I believe that the Q893, for instance, is an absolute steal. Anything above that and you are at the $1,500.00 range and I don't think it is a good deal compared to the Asus.

 

I would get the G73JW in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the small screen.

If Asus had a 18 or 19 inch monitor that would be perfect because I find the 17 inch Asus monitor size too small for gaming.