Toshiba QOSMIO x505-g898 questions/comments.

All,

I'm looking at the qosmio as a possible new development rig and have a few questions I hope someone can enlighten me about.

1. I've noticed a couple threads about the bottom 1/8" of the screen being darker / shadowed. Is this normal for the system or just isolated units?

2. Anyone have experience with the 1080p and 1680x1050 screens that could tell me how they compare. Brightness, viewing angles, etc.

3. How is the keyboard for typing?

Thanks,

Dan

 

1. Don't know. I've heard of the "dim-line" on the 1080p screens. Not sure if it affects all Qosmios with 1080p screens.


2. The 1080p screens and the 945p screens (1680x945) have the exact same brightness. There was a BIOS issue where the 1080p screens had a dimmer screen, but that was corrected with the 2.90 BIOS update.


3. The keyboard to me is superior over others. Most manufacturers have the flat, "island" set keys. Qosmio does have the flat keys, but they are closer together (as compared to ASUS and SONY). Because there is little to no space between keys, it makes it more comfortable to type.


ASUS keyboard




SONY keyboard




Qosmio Keyboard





Good luck. You might want to wait a few weeks for the Sandy Bridge refresh of the Qosmios.

 

Hello,

1- I remeber those threads, but I never noticed it on my lappy. But, there is supposed to be a bios fix for that problem on the Toshiba website.

2- I don't know.

3-I find the key board to be solid. There is no flex, again on my lappy. I greatly appreaciate the chicklit like keys, they are my favorite. However, some people hate them (can't please everyone). I do have my lappy resting on an angle atop a cooler. So, my typing experience is easier, than having the lappy on a flat surface.


If possible check one out in a store before you buy. Also, if you can why not wait until the sandy bridge mess is over and buy that model? From what I've been reading its supposed to be over all a better version (latest, greatest).


Good Luck

 

I have a 1080P screen and the 2.90 bios definatly made the screen a lot brighter. Also the colors the screen produce along with image quality are simply amazing. Other than the humongous size I really love the machine.

 

I would love to check one out in stores somewhere but right now noone locally carries them. Waiting for the sandybridge models would be great in fact I was about to buy a sager np8130 when the recall hit.

Now, its looking like it could be april or later before SB models hit the streets again and I'm not sure I can wait that long. So I started looking at what non SB i7 notebooks with good video are out there. I do alot of 3d modeling and animation, gaming and software development so need the power of a gaming system for most of my tasks.

Unfortunately there arent alot of options for that class machine right now...

Asus has the g73 but it has rather rampant keyboard issues which make it a no go for me. They also have the g53 and Ive heard that its having similar issues.

MSI has some interesting options but seem to generate alot of heat and really think their orange lights are a lil tacky.

Toshiba has Qosmios out there, mostly clearing out old stuck while waiting on SB. But you can get an 898 for about $1800 if you look.

Sager is competely out of the game, clevo had already switched everything to SB so when it recalled they only have one model left to sell and its in the 2200-2800 range which is more than I want to part with.

So counting out the Asus, its either Qosmio, MSI or wait. I may wait if they get things going before too long, but if its apriil I'll need to get something before then.

The only negatives I see with the Qosmio is its limited to 8gb of ram and its 1066 speed and it doesnt support 1333. The only other worry is the shadow / dark area on the lower portion of some 1080p screens.

 

I had read about the bios update which is great. Still have question on the backlight, is the bottom of your screen evenly backlight or is there a shadow/line about 1/8" from the bottom of the screen running across the screen through the task bar area if your in windows.

 

The Qosmio supports 1333 MHZ RAM. It just doesn't come stock with it.
There's a few posts on here that show users upgrading to it with good results.

Also, the 89X series is also becoming hard to find (as Toshiba ramped production to the SB 8100 series). You might be able to find some good deals. Newegg has refurbished 88X series with i7 BUT GTS 360 GPU for $1100; out of stock now but getting more on 2/21. Just an option.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834214084&cm_re=Qosmio-_-34-214-084-_-Product

Good luck

 

alexmuw


Maybe is not the time to buy a qosimo x505-898. I was looking around on amazon- there is price gouging going on. The 898 is listed at over 2400USD eek: : -I only paid 1899USD for mine. LOL, the SB mess is making some places money.

 

Ya. Most of the 89X series Qosmios are WAY over priced.
The only decently priced Qosmio I saw was the 898 at Newegg for $1800.

Examples:
Amazon had the 892 for over $1300. Walmart carried the 892 for months (before they sold out) for $1080. Now Toshibadirect.com has the 892 for nearly $1300.

I bought my 894 for $1400. Newegg had it for $1600, Amazon has it for $1500.

Prices just going wacky. Even if I wanted to rebuy my 894, I would be spending MORE money now, than I did back in December, makes no sense.

 

Yea, the newegg 898 is probably the best deal right now, and the one I'm looking at possibly purchasing.

 

All 1080P screens is affected with the shadow bar at the bottom of the screen, other than that its a great laptop

 

All? Wow, seems like a major oversight on toshibas part there. I mean you could get away with that like 10 years ago but in the age of LED backlit screens it should be a thing of the past.

I want 18.4" 1080p but not thrilled bout that at all.

 

That's a little over stated. Like I said earlier my screen was fine, and I did not use the bios fix.

 

I thought you had said that. Good to know its not all of them. Do you know if your screen is LED backlit?

 

NOT LED backlit. 1 major downfall of screen. It is CCFL.

 

Toshiba says all 1080P screens is like that because of the lcd panels "nature".

Scanner do you still have your Qosmio?. If so i am sure you see the stripe at the bottom if you hide the toolbar.

 

LOL, I remember the very first time I bought a computer and I was playing around touching everything and the task bar disappeared, and I didn't know how to get it back. Thanks for the laugh OK, I hid the task bar, and I had to put my nose right up to the screen and there is a very fine line there. I really had to look for it. Also, I never noticed it playing games, watching movies or anything else. If you hadn't told me to hide the task bar, I would not have ever known it was there.

 

I was wondering about that one. talked to Toshibadirect chat and they said it was LED but nowhere any any literature does it say its LED. That would probably help explain the line near the bottom too... CCFL wasn't as even a backlighting.