Customer Reviews

Toshiba Qosmio X305-Q711 17.0-Inch Laptop

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've had this laptop for a while now and have loved it every minute I've had it.

Pros - The Dual graphics cards, the processor speed, 4 GB RAM, good display and very good overall machine everything works well together. Laptops of equal capabilities cost significantly more.

Cons - Weight, Battery life, finger print magnet, lack of choice on colors (even just a black color alternative would suffice)

Notes on buying from Amazon.com - I got the laptop from Amazon for a cheaper price then anywhere else I found it. The delivery was right on-time and the packaging was done very well to protect the product. I was hesitant to order such an expensive electronic device from an online third party distributor but was very impressed with how it was handled and the quality of the product.


Graphics -
The dual video cards running with just over 1g dedicated memory really make my games run smooth. I haven't experienced any lag in my online gaming since I started playing them with this laptop.

Processor -
The dual processor at 2.26GHz and 4G RAM are very efficient at handling anything I've tried to run on it so far, and believe me I've tried to push it.
Note: you must load 64bit Vista version or it can only use 3Gb of the ram.

Display -
The screen is beautiful, it displays colors without any odd shadow spots or fuzzy areas on the edges. The only downside I've seen with the screen is on the default resolution settings without perfect vision some text can be a little difficult to read without moving your eyes closer then arms length.

Hard Drive -
The 320Gb HDD is ample space for a laptop.

Optical Drives -
The drive loads anything you put it in very quickly and quietly. I have not had the opportunity to test out the DVD LabelFlash, but it was just a weird addition to this laptop and I don't see myself using it much if at all.

Bluetooth -
The Bluetooth links up quickly and doesn't fluctuate, I use a bluetooth mouse and it feels more precise then my Razor Diamondback I use on my tower.

Webcam/internal microphone -
The webcam is extremely clear and everyone I have used it with say that it does not jump or static at all even with fast or jerky movements in front of the camera. The microphone is pretty good, sometimes I'm told I sound distant. It is very good about canceling out sounds coming from the laptop. I still prefer my headset over this mic however, it just isn't quite as clear as a headset.

Media buttons -
The touch buttons at the top of the keyboard are a little odd to me, I try to keep my hands away from the top of the keyboard because they are so sensitive to any touch.

Sound -
The four main speakers and the subwoofer are great, I don't know why they put the subwoofer on a laptop but it does add a nice feel to a game when you've got it in your lap.

Battery/ AC Adaptor -
The AC adaptor is a massive 5Ibl brick, but considering what it's powering that isn't too surprising. The battery in this laptop is nearly worthless, you can adjust the settings as to what is actually running when you switch to battery power, but this still will only get you thirty to forty-five minutes of power. I only use the battery if I am switching rooms or plugs. If your battery dies while you're running your laptop it switches to what Toshiba called lockup mode, you have to plug the AC adapter in get a good 15-20 minutes charge on the battery. Then remove the AC and battery for 1 minute reseat the battery do not plug the AC in and power it up to get it out of Lockup mode. Annoying, but supposedly it protects your system from negative side-effects of loosing power while running. Something else of note, The back side on the bottom gets VERY HOT very quickly, make sure you have good airflow or a cooler pad.

Software -
I've barely found any use for the preloaded software, The Speech system is useless without training yourself to speak abnormally. The Norton and Office trials are full access trials which is nice, but ultimately useless after 60 days. The full version of Microsoft works is also very pointless unless your just using it for personal stuff, most professors or businesses wont except MSworks formatted documents. I haven't had a chance to test out the Face recognition, Disc Creator and Ulead DVD movie factory.

Weight/Size -
This is a beast of a machine, though it is a laptop you almost can't treat it as such. It weighs 15.09Ibs which is very heavy for a laptop. It also is extremely large on most of its dimensions. It is a 17" screen but when it is closed there is an additional 1/2" of computer in front of the screen, so it is too big for 90% of all laptop bags that would hold a 17" laptop. It is also 2.5" plus feet on the back side which is too thick for most pouches that laptop bags use to hold the laptop in place.

Design/Colors -
The only color this laptop comes in is flashy, if you like that kind of thing it works. If you don't you don't have any other options. The keyboard is overly shiny, it shows every single fingerprint and after an hour of working on an essay my keyboard looked five years old and gritty till I polished it over with a lentfree cloth. The touchpad uses a heavy duty surface, but this causes it not to register your movements all the time, sometimes you'll slide your finger across and the mouse will stop moving for a second halfway across the screen. Not a big issue but annoying when it stops just short of what you're trying to get to. It also does not have a scroll pad or wheel which is just an inconvenience. I have taken to only ever using my external mouse. The display screen is also a finger print magnet. I don't recall ever touching my screen, I use the edges of the monitor to open and close it, yet there are prints on the screen in many places.

The laptop I brought is fast. I already own a fast desktop that has a Windows Vista rating of 5.0. This machine is 5.9 but that extra point 9 seems to make it twice as fast logging into the internet, downloading, and gives a nice edge with computer gaming.

I got this machine to replace my aging desktop that wasn't worth another upgrade. The day of the P4 is over. The specs on the Q720 are amazing and cost a lot less than my "state of the art' desktop did in 2003. This machine has done an excellent job of handling the daily tasks I throw its way: CAD, graphic design (CS3 and Corel X4), gaming, and digital DJing (M-Audio Torq).

Although I am overall very happy with the system specs, there are a few things I do not like about the Q720. The glossy keyboard gets pretty nasty, a short battery life (to be expected, really), the max resolution is low for a screen this size, the integrated webcam sucks, there is no internal Bluetooth and the design on the lid is just awful. I already dealt with the lid by wrapping it with a custom decal I made at work. Call your local digitial printer/sign shop if you're bothered by the design.

I consider most of the above problems to be rather trivial based on my usage and I still give this laptop a 5 star rating based on performance. The negatives of this laptop are easily compensated for by the dual NVidia 9800M GTS, 4 GB of DDR3, 64 bit OS, a Quadcore at 2.0Ghz and other little features such as wireless USB and a built in FM tuner. I also appreciate the quality sound hardware. After a few cosmetic alterations, the Q720 is the laptop that I was waiting for.

I puchased a Qosmio and right after the warranty ran out the lcd screen went blank. Turns out this laptop has a defective motherboard and it costs as much to fix this as it would to just buy a new laptop. I contacted Toshiba and although this is a known issue (found through search on the internet) they will not back up a defective product. We have other laptops older than this one that have worked wonderfully for over 5 years. I would not trust the Toshiba motherboard in the Qosmio - they are defective and Toshiba will not stand behind their product.

Awesome Laptop for a portable Gamer. Little on the heavy side and the battery life isn't great. But what do you expect with a Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX?

This is the second Toshiba laptop I have owned. The first was a Toshiba Satelite. The Qosmio I bought as a gift for myself after completing a seven month deployment in Iraq. I expected this to be an awesome gaming machine with good performance at a low price. Also, since my first Toshiba survived the deployment in a Pelican Case, I would go ahead and stay loyal to Toshiba. This laptop is a waste of money. The keyboard is designed sub-par and is very frusturating when I am typing on internet explorer, and the page goes back mysteriously. Also, it is poorly ventilated and easily overheats then shuts off. I even bought a cooling fan to help vent, and it still occasionally overheats. Overall, this machine has shut off about 150 times in the last year. Also, I cannot play Crysis because it freezes during videos. Battlefield BC2 doesn't work either because it freezes when loading levels in both multiplayer and campaign. Even Modern Warfare 2 was having some difficulties, and it froze three times in a row during campaign mode. I had to shut off the system and reboot each time. After hours of troubleshooting, updating drivers, and such, My conclusion is that the hardware was designed poorly. So when I get out of the Marine Corps next year and purchase a laptop for college, it will not be a Toshiba.

I bought this laptop because it had the best combination of features and specs that I could find. The machine itself is very nicely constructed and has a solid feel to it. As others have pointed out, it's impossible to keep fingerprints of it's many shiny surfaces so a cleaning cloth is a must. I have been able to play any and all current generation PC games with all setting set to maximum and experienced no lags in framerate (at all). Also the sound quality from this thing is really impressive. I travel quite a bit and it's nice to set the machine up in a hotel room and listen to soothing music.

One gripe I have is that the USB charging function does not seem to work at all! I have a wide variety of USB devices and have tried them all. None of them receive any charge from the machine when it is off. This "Sleep and Charge" function was one of the major considerations for me when I was looking for a new laptop, so it was a big disappointment to have it not work.

The fiery red color scheme is a bit much. I get what Toshiba was trying to do, but if I would have had a choice (like Black), I would have definitely opted for something less "Hot-Rod".

All in all, I am pleased with this machine and would recommend it to anyone considering a high-end laptop.

This is one of our laptops and we love it. It is on the heavy side and has short battery life, but we use it as a replacement for a desktop tower--so it works for us. We have a smaller Toshiba for on the go, etc. The speaker quality is AWESOME. WE are not techies, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but we are happy with our purchase going on 8 months or so now. :)

It is true that if you are looking for a slim light weight computer the Toshiba Qosmio X305 is probably not the best notebook, it is a little big and heavy but it compensates on processing power, sound and video card. I just installed the latest games and they run smoothly, the sound has a nice bass from the subwoofer and applications open really fast. I would recommend it as a powerful machine. Amazon delivered on time and very good shape.

Received the goods as described per ad. Couldn't tell if it was a good
deal or not cause it wouldn't finish booting. Could have happened in shipping. No harm/ no foul..