Toshiba's New "Sandy Bridge" Qosmios

A couple of new Sandy Bridge-equipped Qosmios have shown up at Sears:

X505-Q8100 - Intel Core i5-2410M Processor 2.3 GHz (2.9 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 3MB L3 Cache - $1299.99

X505-Q8102 - Intel Core i7-2630QM Processor 2.0 GHz (2.9 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology), 6MB L3 Cache - $1599.99

One thing I think is wrong is the specs for the Q8100 that say it has a 1080P screen. I highly doubt that's possible at that price.

So it looks like the Q8100 is the replacement for the Q892 and the Q8102 is the new Q894. Conceivably, if there is another Amazon-exclusive Qosmio, it'll be named the Q8101. Currently, they all carry the same GTX460M current Qosmios carry, so if there is a GTX560M coming, it'll probably launch with the next refresh of the Qosmio series.

Another development is the existance of a glasses-free 3D Qosmio prototype.


Video: Eyes-on with Toshiba’s Glasses-Free 3D Laptop Prototype

So far, it looks to be just a prototype, not production, and I'm not sure if that chassis design is intended to be a future Qosmio or just a quick plastic case for testing. Either way, it looks like Toshiba is serious about positioning the Qosmio line into direct competition with Asus' gaming lines.

 

Also the 14" Best Buy Blue Label E305, PCMag. Has USB 3.0 and hybrid hdd.

 

Nice, perhaps there's a chance the new Qosmios will have USB 3.0 as well.

 

I am guessing they will given that they are using new architecture for the Sany Bridges CPU and Mobo. So, a4500435, are you going to get one of these new ones or wait for yet another price drop for the Q893?

 

Well, if the Q893 drops to $900 again, it'll be mighty tempting, but the new Qosmios might drop very quickly as well. It didn't take 2 weeks for the Q893 to drop $200, if you remember.

I guess I'll wait a few months to decide. I am leaning towards the new Sandy Bridge Qosmios, especially if there's another Amazon-exclusive with the backlit keyboard and maybe USB 3.0. With Sandy Bridge, performance and efficiency really get a big boost, a laptop like the Qosmio might even be able to hit 5-6 hours of battery life on regular usage (not gaming, of course).

The new Qosmio's use the HM65 chipset (the old ones used HM55), so it's certain that the Mobo will be new.

 

I have a question,

If I wanted to upgrade in the future, could I buy the Mobo for a sandy bridge x500 qosmio and install in my current qosmio chasis?

My thinking was, as long as the chasis is the same (x500 series), then the mobo should fit and the "hookups" (usb, power, headphone jacks, etc) should be in the same place.

If so (I don't see why not), then I'll just plan to upgrade my lappy once they discontinue the x500 series and move onto their next Qosmio series.

 

That's my thinking, with my Costco 90 day return policy, if they get the Sandy Bridge Qosmios, and the price is comparable, I might have to "switch" laptops. We'll see.....

 

I really think that would work, since what I've been reading about on the sandy bridge cpu is that it requires a new mother board. But, I would say its not worth the time and effort. I have a new i7 940xm, that I want to drop into my 505-898-BUT when I got the back off I saw that it was going to be a hell of a project to get to the processor. I simply closed it up, and I'll try it when I have a full day to take the lappy apart. This is the very reason, I strongly thought of getting a sager lappy. With those its just a simple thing to remove the back, and everything is right there in the open cpu, cards etc.


If you have the time and desire-GO FOR IT. Good luck if you do.

 

If I do upgrade my motherboard, I probably won't do it for a couple years.

You said you bought a 940xm chip. Can the 940 be used on i7 boards? If so that's great news !

 

I got the i7 940xm from a friend to settle a debt. I traded because I saw other Qosmios buying sold with the i7940xm on ebay by a reseller. Truth is if I had knew this I would have gotten mine from there.


Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q896 i7-940XM 8GB RAM 1.5TB 7200rpm - eBay (item 290502468779 end time Jan-18-11 15:46:04 PST)

 

Hmm, I have an interesting situation: I came across a Craigslist ad for the X505-q898 for $1400. That's a great price, but I'm really not interested in spending that much money; could it be possible for me to resell it for $1700-1800? That'd be a nice profit to put in the Qosmio fund...

 

Does this SB qosmio come with switchable graphics? Unfortunately Sears specs aren't too detailed and there's nothing at Toshiba's site either. And what kind of optical drive? Blu-ray?

That price is right up my alley. Was hoping for about $1500 for a decently equipped SB DTR notebook, preferably with Blu-Ray and 1080p.

 

Of course there'll be switchable graphics, the i5 Qosmios have Optimus RIGHT NOW.

In other news, I came across this more detailed Q8100 spec sheet from Buy.com.

Buy.com - Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q8100 18.4" Notebook, Intel Core i5-2410M Processor (2.3GHz up to 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost), 4GB DDR3 Memory, 500GB (7200rpm) HDD, DVD Super Multi-Drive, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M, Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (Black)

Now, I don't know how much to believe this, because this spec also lists a 1920x1080 screen, and I still don't believe that Toshiba would offer such a screen for >$1300. The other specs are pretty much copied over from the Q892: 4 USB 2.0 ports, 500GB 7200RPM, etc. Some upgrades (other than the CPU) seem to be the new 1333MHz RAM, and Bluetooth v3.0; again, whether that's legit or not is up for debate at this time.

No backlit is mentioned for the keyboard, here's hoping Amazon adds one on again.

EDIT: Heh, no wonder you're looking at the Qosmio, the SB Asus G73 won't have switchable graphics!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...-laptop-g73sw-coming-soon-10.html#post7024231

Wow...that's just...wow...

 

Dang, I might have to go for the Sears one if it truly has 1080p. Only need to know if it has Blu-Ray.

 

I called Toshiba and asked about the specs of the machine. After being bounced around about four different times, I finally went on hold for about ten minutes and hung up.

The few people I talked to had nothing on file for the X505-Q8102 at Sears. One rep even told me the model was discontinued. I laughed and told her it has the new Intel CPU that hasn't even shipped in any laptops yet.

 

That's kinda tactless of you, there's no way a company can comment on a model that hasn't been officially released yet.

And it appears the official announcement has been made:
Toshiba updates Qosmio X505 with new Core 2011 processors and NVIDIA graphics -- Engadget

 

I don't agree that it was tactless. The fact is that the model is already on Sears's website, so it is inexcusable that Toshiba sales/tech-support reps have no solid information about it.

 

I'm sure they do have the relevant information, but they can't talk about it. All of the Sandy Bridge vendors were bound by Intel's NDA till literally less than a day ago.

Sears putting the info up was probably an error.

 

Doubtful, but even if Sears put that info up in error, the cat's out of the bag, and Toshiba reps look pretty infantile irrespective of whether they don't know what's going on OR cannot talk about it.

 

*sigh*, then I'm afraid you don't understand the legal procedures behind these products. Events like CES would be pretty meaningless if any company just talked about it's products anytime they wanted to. It's not a matter of looking infantile...Asus isn't talking officially about its new G73SW either, and NVIDIA isn't discussing the GTX560M, even though we know they're coming.

 

*Sigh* then I am afraid you don't understand logic and reason.

lol Seriously, the cat is out of the bag and a huge company like Toshiba needs to ADAPT! Surely if you and I (and everyone in the forum) knows that Sears put up a page for the coming model then Toshiba knows. So how stupid to they look now denying any knowledge of what Sears has clearly confirmed.

When things like this happen, a huge company like Toshiba needs to either push up their dates of information dessemination OR demand that Sears and buy.com remove the page from their sites.

Since NEITHER of those things has happened, Toshiba reps now look impotent and moronic for very obvious reasons.

 

Your post is neither logical nor reasonable. Stuff like this is leaked all the time (remember iPhone4?), doesn't mean companies have to scramble to change their release dates just because of a website.

 

lol and your post is bizarre and without merit.

Pay attention: Obviously Toshiba released the information to at least some of the retailers of this product. That means that said retailers have the information. Now that the information has been released, regardless of whether or not it was supposed to be, it is released, period, the end. Toshiba now needs to GET AHEAD OF THE CURVE.

Hahahaha! Denying information about a product that is on official merchandise sites is even dumber than your posted defense.

Oh and by the way? You are SPECULATING about whether or not the information was "leaked." Even if your premise was reasonable, which it is not, you have absolutely no leg to stand on because, for all you know, the information is supposed to be out there from several different sites and the reps that htwingnut spoke to were clueless, brainless morons.

 

this seems pretty true, the fact that they arent talking about it leaves speculation about the product instead of offical information and less speculation about the product, personally i think this gives the consumer a want to ''try'' ''test'' or ''buy'' the said item, also i think if a company out and about talks to much about their item it may also make people interested in the ''next'' generation of product line. and not so much about the up and coming product.

i also agree that the cat is out of the bag as far as the newer qosmio line, it seems like they are changing the line of qosmios pretty often, for the better hopefully, but as far as benchmarks are concerned how ''much'' better are they are the previous line?

if i was toshiba i would conjour up a list of faults this current line has or the past generations of the x500-x505 line and go with replacing some of the issues ie: the small mouse pad, the glossiness of the laptop bottom and top case,the sound system (very low end quality if you ask me) and the line should come with 1080p standard period. thats just what i think personally. the qosmio x505 line seems to leave alot to the imagination and alot to want for, grantit i love mine but there is alot i would change if given the chance, which is something i think toshiba should look at and do to the fullest extent.

 

And how is it tactless? It's up on a vendor's site. If they truly couldn't or can't talk about it, then they need to state something along the lines that they cannot disclose that information at this time. Not give me misinformation or send me on a wild goose chase. I wasn't even trying to ask about the Intel CPU anyhow but screen and optical drive.

 

Exactly, htwingnut. Even if this was supposed to be a big secret, which I seriously doubt, misleading you and giving you disinformation is a colossally stupid way of handling the situation.

 

OK cool off guys.....

Anyways, all I know is if Costco get the new Qosmio's within the next 2 months, I'm exchanging my current model for a new one. TY Costco! (YES, I can do this, benefits of membership).

 

Hmmm... So I'm Reading false information on the Sears website about sandy- Qosmio?

 

No, we have no confirmed facts yet, which is what I was trying to get.

 

W T F?! T_T <------ me crying profusely because I just got the dang q892 in november.....Merry Christmas and a Happy New year....T-T <----crying even harder

 

Heh, maybe my missing the Lightning Deal Q893s in December will turn out to be a blessing instead of a curse...we'll just have to wait and see.

 

I think that this is an unnecessarily negative way to look at the situation. Look, you have to buy in at some point, right? The moment you do, within weeks or months new tech comes out, prices of the previous lines drop to make room for the new lines, and that's that. If you would have waited for the Sandy Bridges Qosmios then you would NOT have had the Q892 you have now AND you would just end up kicking yourself in the Spring when Toshiba upgrades the Qosmios yet again.

This is why, in my honest opinion, it is best to buy as close to the release of the "new line" as possible, because this way it is "new tech" for a little longer. Obviously if you were looking to buy a Qosmio right now then waiting would be advisable to either get the SB based Qosmios OR to get a knock-down rate on the Q89x line. Either way, you have had two months of use of your laptop and I have had over three months of use of mine. I absolutely DO NOT regret the purchase, nor do I kick myself for "not waiting," because I bought my machine weeks after it launched, as soon as Amazon lowered the price by a few hundred.

Hell, I don't even regret not waiting 4-6 weeks for the lighning deal. Because there is a better than even chance I would have missed out on the $900.00 unit. So you know what? I am happy with my Qosmio, and if I decide I want a more advance gaming laptop, say next Fall when the Qosmios launch a new line, say the Q600 series, then I will sell my Q893 on eBay. As long as I keep it perfect, or close to it, I don't see any reason why I won't get $500.00+ for it, or about half of a next generation gaming Qosmio, if I decide to go that route.

The moral of this wall-o-text post is be happy with what you bought because unless you plan on buying a new computer every three months you will NEVER have the newest technology for very long.

 

Sound advice ChiroVette. Tech changes so fast, that six months is a long time in tech world, but realistically, you can't really update your machine every six months. I do it about every 18 months, mainly because I want a decent gaming laptop. But my next one I expect to get 24 months out of it. After 12 months it'll seem ancient, like my current Sager is only a little over 18 months old, but feels like ten year old tech only because there's so much else out there that's more powerful. My main reason for upgrading right now is this laptop is quirky and USB ports don't work half the time. But I figure if it can hold out for another month or so I will but if it dies, guess what? I buy what's available right now.

 

I'm thinking of exchanging for the new Sandy Bridge hoping the upgrade capabilities would be greater than the current i7 chipsets.

In other words, the current i7 chips are capped at i7-9xx versions, with ram capped at 1333. Would the new Sandy Bridge chipsets have the capabilities of upgrading to components that would be released 2-3 years from now?

 

Alexmuw, I really think that tech changes far too quickly at this point to be worried about how your laptop will play games that are current 2 and 3 years down the line. The fact is that you can reasonably expect that with any GeForce 460m based laptop that one year from now, most or all games released at that time will be playable at high to very high settings, and two years from now most of the current games released then will be playable at medium settings.

Look, I have to be honest here and say that in my honest opinion, regardless of whether you have an i5, i7, Sandy Bridges, 1333 memory, 1066 memory or anything currently available right now or in the next couple of months, that the effect on gaming is going to be negligible. Look, the jump from the 360m to the 460m was huge in my opinion for gaming. I just don't see ANY of the current processor/mobo/RAM combinations being that significant two and three years from now. The most gaming lifespan you are going to get from a new PC is going to come from the GPU not the CPU. Say what you like about Sandy Bridges, but it is still basically the same architecture.

If bragging rights is what you want, then by all means wait, or better yet, just spend four grand on a laptop and have the best of the best of the best...well at least for three months. lol

In your case, it might be worth it to make the exchange because I believe you can do it for free. My point is only that given the difference in gaming performance both now and projecting 2-3 years down the line, I DO NOT think it is worth taking a financial hit for upgrading. New GPU? Yeah, absolutely. They release a 560m and it is 40% faster than the 460m, then by all means take the financial hit to upgrade. But with CPU/Mobo/RAM that is all basically within the same generation, I just don't see the point.

Thanks, htwingnut.

 

I think your right Chiro. Plus I was thinking, I could always just order the Sandy Bridge Qosmio mobo for the x500 chassis if I ever wanted to upgrade.

I was concerned mainly because I wanted to buy a top lappy that would be a beast for a minimum of 6 years. I knew Sandy Bridge was coming out before I bought this, but I didn't think about the upgrade capabilities the laptop would have years down the road. It seems the current i5/17 chipset has already hit the limit for upgrades, whereas the new chipset (motherboard mainly) still has aways to go.

I put a financial investment in this with money I don't really have, so I want something that will last. My previous computer is a Dell Dimension made in 2002 (so you can see I will put as lot of mileage on my comps) [I also built an ASUS comp in 2003, which crapped out a few years later, hence back to the Dell].

I do play games, but once I start med school that'll be to an end. The Qosmio will be my desktop. I just want something that will last. Thus, I'll probably stick with this 894; I'd hate to exchange this comp (no problems yet) for a lemon with better specs. YIKES!

Thanks for listening to my rants. I feel better now! And thank you for the advise.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...3-forget-huron-river-22nm-ivy-bridge-way.html

States: Sandy Bridge Sockets will support 3rd generation Ivy Bridge CPUs.
Maybe another reason to get Sandy Bridge ?

 

Glad I could help.

There are definitely good reasons to get a lappy with Sandy Bridges, I just don't believe that for most purposes it is going to make a difference years down the line, much less in the present. Look, if you were doing Auto CAD or a ton of CPU driven multitasking, professional photo and video editing, and a lot of high end business tasking, then that is where you will see most of your benefit from Sandy Bridges. Since we are talking about gaming, within reason of course, your GPU is much more significant.

As for your goal of 5-6 years, GOOD LUCK! lol You may have a "functioning" laptop in that time, but it will be a dinosuar. Since you won't be gaming in med school, then to be honest, ANY laptop will help you at that point.

Research, note taking, study guides, and that sort of thing could all be done on a $200.00 desktop. You won't even need a beast of a gaming rig, antiquated or otherwise.

 

Good point. I've been trying to push my processors, but I can't get them past 20% under normal conditions for me (includes doing all at once: gaming, word, IE, Chrome, downloading, internet radio, email; plus toggling between them every few minutes).

Ya, i7 alone is a beast!

 

Toshiba rolls out sandy bridge laptops- The Inquirer

Says new Sandy Bridge Qosmios due out this month (Jan 2011). Will also have USB 3.0 technology.

 

how much can you oc the gtx 460m in your current qosmios with p55/h55 chipsets?

 

Wrong, read it again. Qosmio won't get USB 3.0, at least not for this generation.

 

I'm confused. It says:

 

Another spotting, but already sold out.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Toshiba...lack/1805714.p?id=1218293492945&skuId=1805714

 

It says sold out, but probably just not stocked yet.

BB links don't work decently half the time. Try this link: http://bit.ly/fYJoTT

 

ToshibaDirect.com has a high-end Qosmio with i7 sandy bridge for sale.

Qosmio X500-Q930S Laptop

 

Either way, the Sager / Clevo SB notebooks are now available as well:

NP8130: 15" 1080p LED, i7-2630QM, GTX 460m, 8GB DDR3, 500GB 7200RPM HDD, DVDRW for $1172 starting

NP8170: 17" 1080p LED, i7-2630QM, GTX 460m, 4GB DDR3, 320GB 7200RPM HDD, DVDRW for $1346 starting (configurable with GTX 470m or 485m as well)

 

I wish i5 SB + 945p lcd for ~$1100

 

u guys r so lucky in USA. it takes ages in uk for a laptop to come out, prices are sky high thanks to vat plus not many options in terms of specs.... uk website is still advertising old qosmios. only one option is available with 460 gtx.

 

So, as of right now, what's the best 18" Qosmio for gaming? Does the SSD in the Q898 make it faster (besides start up)or better than the Q8104? I'm ready to buy!

Thx!