Ligth Weigth by HP EliteBook 2540p

The EliteBook 2540p is the latest road-warrior ultraportable notebook from HP. The 2540p offers a 12.1-inch WXGA screen, Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processors, built-in optical drive with select configurations, and a plethora of storage options. In our review, we put the new EliteBook through its paces to see how it stacks up against the competition.

The 2540p starts at $1,099, though with our configurations, it tops out at $1,629.

Our HP EliteBook 2540p review unit features the following configuration:

• Intel Core i7-640LM 2.13GHz Dual-Core Processor (4MB Cache)
• Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
• 12.1-inch WXGA anti-glare (1280 x 800)
• Intel GMA HD integrated graphics
• 4GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM (2GB x 2GB)
• 250GB 5400rpm 1.8-inch SATA II
• DVD+/-RW optical drive
• Intel 6200AGN Wifi, gigabit Ethernet, modem and Bluetooth connectivity
• 6-Cell 62WHr battery
• Three-year warranty
• Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.4 x 1.10 inches (with 6-cell battery)
• Weight: 3.97 pounds with 6-cell battery

Build and Design
The HP EliteBook 2540p is billed as an ultraportable business notebook, therefore corporations - and many consumers - expect a high quality of materials, excellent features and an innovative design. HP's other EliteBook notebooks meet or exceed those expectations, but what about the smallest member of the EliteBook family?

The main body of the EliteBook 2540p is covered in the new "HP DuraCase" and "HP DuraFinish," which is essentially a hard plastic and strong magnesium alloy inner shell - similar its predecessor - and strengthened by a brushed aluminum outer shell that even resists scratching from steel wool. The base of the laptop feels very strong and would definitely survive bumps and bruises that other laptops might not. There is absolutely no flex in the solid keyboard. The underside of the notebook is also similarly rigid and strong with just a tiny amount of flex in the area immediately under the notebook's optical drive.

The outer shell of the screen casing is metal, but the inner screen bezel is plastic. Unlike the 15-inch EliteBook 8540p we previously reviewed, the display lid flexes slightly when significant pressure is applied to the center of the lid. But it's still much stronger than what we typically see on other high quality 12-inch business notebooks.

When HP says that the EliteBook 2540p was designed "to meet the military standards (MIL-STD 810F) for high/low temperatures and dust," they mean the notebook is built to withstand years of use and abuse.

With all this rugged durability built into the design, you have to expect a trade-off, which in this case is weight. Some 12-inch business class notebooks tip the scale at 3 pounds or less. The EliteBook 2540p has a starting weight of 3.38 pounds with a 6-cell battery, but the added durability more than makes up for a minor weight increase.

Finally, in the same way that the gray and black exterior and smooth design suits a professional environment, so do the internals. The EliteBook 2540p uses three simple plastic covers on the bottom of the notebook (each held in place with Phillips head screws) so the hard drive, wireless cards and RAM are easily accessible for fast upgrades. There is a fourth tiny expansion slot cover on the bottom of the notebook, which is for the dedicated Bluetooth card. The rest of the notebook interior is protected by Torx screws that should deter employees from messing around inside their work-issued notebooks.

Screen and Audio
The 2540p comes equipped with a 12.1-inch anti-glare widescreen with a typical WXGA resolution. At 1280 x 800 pixels, the display displays fine details without making things too small to work comfortably while on the move. Of course, the resolution might be limiting if you use the notebook as a mobile video and photo editing platform, but most people interested in a 12-inch notebook aren't editing high-resolution photos on the road.

When viewing the screen from straight ahead, colors are rich and contrast is excellent. Full-screen movies look quite good, with deep blacks and good viewing angles. Horizontal viewing angles are particularly impressive so you shouldn't have trouble showing a presentation to multiple people sitting at a desk. The vertical viewing angle from above starts to wash out at extreme angles and colors begin to invert from below, but most users won't view the screen from high above or far below.

The built-in speaker is above average with a good range of highs, middles and acceptable lows that don't sound "tinny" like most mono speakers. High volume settings are more than loud enough to fill a small office with sound for a presentation, but are still clear and not horribly distorted. The only negative about the speaker is its location.

The speaker is located on the bottom front edge of the notebook, so the sound isn't projected upward at the user when the EliteBook is used as a laptop. In fact, our staff usually refers to laptop speakers with this type of placement as "crotch speakers" because the speakers are directing sound to your lap and waist rather than your ears. If you're using the 2540p on your desk, this isn't much of a problem, but if you're a road warrior constantly working from your lap then you might be annoyed by the speaker placement.

The headphone jack on the 2540p works well with two different brands of earphones I used during the test. No static or other noise was noticed through the jack besides imperfections in the audio source itself.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard's layout is slightly different than what you might find on other HP consumer notebooks. The individual key presses are quiet without loud clicking sounds as you type. Keys are flatter and have a little less space in between them. The key spacing had to make room for the addition of the pointstick.

The EliteBook 2540p also includes the same keyboard light as the larger EliteBook notebooks. Press the tiny light bulb button above the screen and a small LED pops out and shines down on the keyboard. The light isn't very bright, but it's bright enough so that if you're on an airplane for example, you can still see the keyboard in the dark without annoying the person next to you.

Above the keyboard rests a series of touch-sensitive media buttons similar to other HP consumer notebooks. There is an Info, Wi-Fi Toggle, Presentation Mode and Mute touch buttons on the glossy strip. Additionally, next to the Mute button is a volume control slider that can be used by sliding your finger across that area. One nice addition on the 2540p is a touchpad disable button that allows you to turn it off and just use the pointstick for moving the mouse cursor.

The touchpad also features DuraFinish so that oils from your fingertip don't build up on the surface and make the touchpad look weathered after just a few months. The Synaptics touchpad was very responsive to my touch, and the two rubber mouse buttons are quiet and about the right size. There is also a secondary set of mouse buttons above the touchpad to work with the pointstick that comes with all 2540p notebooks. The pointstick is amazingly accurate and comfortable to use.

Ports and Features
The EliteBook 2540p offers an excellent port selection, but depending on the model configuration, your options can change. For example the model without a built-in optical drive has a 2.5-inch hard drive and an extra USB port.

Left side: AC-power input, modem jack, one USB 2.0 port, optical drive

Right side: ExpressCard/34 slot, SDHC-card reader, FireWire, headset jack, USB port, VGA-out, DisplayPort-out, docking connector, Kensington Lock slot

Rear side: Ethernet, six-cell battery, two USB 2.0 ports

Front side: There are no ports on the front, just indicator lights and the mono speaker located on the bottom.

Performance and Benchmarks
System performance was very good and above what you might expect to see compared to thin and light notebooks on the market right now. The HP EliteBook 2540p and Lenovo ThinkPad X201 are the smallest powerhouse notebooks available today. We used the ThinkPad X201s for comparison because it has the same Core i7-640LM processor. The faster X201 would be equivalent to the base model 2540p, which has the faster Core i5-540m processor and a 7200RPM 2.5-inch hard drive. Both models excel at offering desktop-level performance in every way except 3-D performance. The Intel GMA HD graphics is better than previous generations but still lags behind a dedicated graphics card.

The Core i7-640LM can easily decode 720P or 1080P video, play HD Flash and even encoded movies in iTunes. The only system performance complaint that we found was the rather slow 1.8-inch hard drive in configurations that come with an optical drive. The model we were sent for review used a Toshiba drive that peaked at just under 50MB/s. Users looking for higher levels of performance should probably go with the non-optical drive setup that lets you install a standard 2.5-inch drive or configure the system with a SSD.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Under normal and even stressful operating conditions, the EliteBook 2540p kept cool and didn't become uncomfortably warm. The palmrest and most of the keyboard stayed just above room temperature, even under a stressful load, which is what we like to see on small notebooks. The bottom half of the notebook formed some hot spots near the exhaust vent, but only when the system was under stress.

Noise under a full processor load - heard only while running benchmarks - was just above what you might consider a whisper. Under normal activity, the system fan either turned off completely or stayed at a very slow speed.

Battery
The HP EliteBook 2540p offers very good battery life, but still fell short of what the Lenovo ThinkPad X201s offered with its 6-cell battery. In our battery test with the screen brightness reduced to 70%, Wi-Fi active and Windows 7 set to the balanced profile, the system stayed on for 6 hours and 1 minute. The ThinkPad X201s managed 7 hours and 13 minutes in the same test, and the primary difference is the lack of an onboard optical drive.

Battery life can also be extended using the "power saver" power profile in Windows 7 or with a 9-Cell (93WHr) battery.

Conclusion
The HP EliteBook 2540p easily ranks among the better 12-inch ultraportable business notebooks we've seen. It offers exceptional build quality and a well-crafted design on par with its main competitor, the ThinkPad X201, and offers a very similar parts configuration. In terms of beating the competition, the 2540p offers a built-in optical drive whereas the ThinkPad X201 doesn't. For some users this isn't generally a problem and the X201 managed to get higher battery life figures from the same hardware configuration sans optical drive even with a higher resolution screen.

When it comes down to which company makes a better business notebook, I think HP and Lenovo both offer exceptional products. Although in the end, it's about the look and feel you prefer. The HP EliteBook series offers a more refined brushed-metal appearance, while the ThinkPad line has a more rugged rubberized-paint old school-look. Overall, both notebooks deserve equal consideration if you're looking to buy a 12-inch business notebook.

Pros:

• Great build quality
• Good looks
• Excellent keyboard

Cons:

• Very costly to customize
• Slow 1.8-inch hard drive

Read rest of entry

Thin and Strong with Lenovo ThinkPad X100e

Business owners rejoice! The first affordable ThinkPad ultraportable laptop has arrived. The ThinkPad X100e is an 11-inch notebook packed with a low-voltage AMD processor, powerful ATI integrated graphics, and one of the best keyboards we've tested on an ultraportable laptop. Is this the ideal companion for road warriors? Take a look at our review to find out.

Lenovo ThinkPad X100e Specifications:

• 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo Single-Core MV-40 Mobile Processor
• 2GB PC2-5300 DDR2 (667MHz)
• Windows 7 Professional 32bit
• 11.6" WXGA HD anti-glare LED Backlit display (1366x768)
• 250GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
• ATI Radeon 3200 Graphics
• 802.11b/g/n, Gigabit LAN
• 4-in-1 card reader and 0.3-megapixel webcam
• 6-Cell Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: (W x L x H) 11.1" x 8.2" x 0.6"/1.2"
• Weight: 3.3 pounds (with 6-cell battery)
• Price as configured: $569.00

Build and Design
If there is a single laptop brand name that is synonymous with business it has to be ThinkPad. Extremely solid build quality, excellent keyboards, precision TrackPoints (that red dot in the middle of the keyboard) and fantastic warranty support have been the cornerstones of the ThinkPad legacy going all the way back to the days when IBM still owned the brand. The Lenovo ThinkPad X100e continues this tradition with one of the best built ultraportable notebooks we've seen in our office.

With a starting weight around three pounds and a simple black industrial design, the designers of the ThinkPad X100e attempted to deliver the ThinkPad heritage at an extremely affordable price. Lenovo admits that their customers have demanded a "ThinkPad netbook" for several years now, but the ThinkPad engineers debated whether it was possible to deliver a durable, reliable, business-class laptop at "netbook" prices.

The solution? Don't call it a netbook. That might sound funny, but it's no joke. Lenovo engineers started from the ground up with the goal of creating an "affordable ultraportable notebook" at a netbook price. In ThinkPad terms, engineers had to deliver a product that was built for business in terms of durability, usability, connectivity, serviceability, and warranty coverage ... all while keeping this laptop as inexpensive as possible. Businesses still demand the best, but in this economy they now also demand it for less money.

At first glance, the exterior of the ThinkPad X100e shares many of the same design features as the rest of the current ThinkPad lineup. Indeed, the 11-inch X100e borrows much of its looks from the 12-inch ThinkPad X200 business notebook. The simple plastic rectangular screen lid on our review unit features a "midnight black" color scheme and, just like the new ThinkPad Edge series, the X100e is also available in "heatwave red" in case your workplace needs a splash of color.

Those customers familiar with the famous ThinkPad keyboards will probably notice the new layout of the ThinkPad X100e's keyboard. The new "Chiclet" keyboard is a radical shift from the traditional ThinkPad keyboards and is again similar to what you'll find on the ThinkPad Edge series of notebooks. That said, this is still a ThinkPad keyboard in every way that matters. Lenovo uses a new keycap design that prevents the caps from popping off like they would on cheaper keyboards. The key spacing and support structure underneath the keyboard help deliver a fantastic tactile feel an prevent typing errors despite the small footprint of the keyboard.

Screen and Speakers
The 11.6" LED-backlit screen on the X100e is similar to the 1366x768 display used on most ultraportable budget notebooks. The biggest single advantage of this screen over ultraportables like the Alienware M11x or the Dell Inspiron 11z is the fact that this screen features a matte surface. Unlike the glossy displays on consumer notebooks, the matte screen on the X100e doesn't reflect sunlight or strong indoor lights, making it easier to read what is on the screen in any environment. Horizontal viewing angles are good out to at least 60 degrees to either side before you start to notice color distortion. Vertical viewing angles are below average as the display becomes over exposed or colors begin inverting after moving the screen 15 degrees forward or back.

Speaker quality is average as the maximum volume output is loud enough to fill a large meeting room with clear sound. There is a little distortion at the maximum volume setting and bass output is minimal, but the speakers deliver good enough quality for a good video conference or webcast. That said, the speaker location on the bottom of the notebook means sound is directed down and away from you rather than up toward your ears. If you plan on using the X100e like a "laptop" rather than using it on a desk then the speakers might be muffled on your lap.

Keyboard and Touchpad
As previously mentioned, the new "Chiclet" keyboard on the X100e is a radical shift from the traditional ThinkPad keyboards. Despite the change, this keyboard maintains the same level of quality that business users expect when they hear the ThinkPad name. Lenovo uses a new keycap design that prevents the caps from popping off like they would on cheaper keyboards. One of the main benefits of choosing a Chiclet-style keyboard is that it allows for more space in between the keys on an ultraportable laptop. This means fewer typos compared to netbooks with cramped keys. The individual keys on the X100e have a springy, responsive action and each key has a curved surface similar to the traditional ThinkPad keyboard. Typing noise is minimal, with no loud "click clack" noises while typing. The palmrests are a little small for average adult male hands but they support the wrists without causing additional stress points while typing.

It's hard to complain about this keyboard since it is genuinely fantastic, but if there is one flaw to the X100e's keyboard it is the lack of backlighting. We're starting to see more and more laptops with backlit keyboards and business travelers would likely appreciate the ability to see their keyboards on dimly-lit airplanes.

The Synaptics touchpad and TrackPoint provide a fantastic pair of control points for moving your cursor in various applications. If you regularly use the larger touchpads found on MacBooks and desktop-replacement notebook PCs, you might consider the tiny touchpad on the X100e to be a little cramped. However, compared to the touchpads on most netbooks, the X100e delivers a great touchpad surface with a nice pair of touchpad buttons. The TrackPoint buttons include the traditional middle button found on most ThinkPads. Overall, the touchpad and TrackPoint were both a joy to use, with a fast response time and no discernable lag. Sensitivity was excellent and no adjustment was needed out of the box. This particular touchpad has some multitouch capabilities, including pinch-to-zoom and pivot-rotation. I didn't have any problems with the smooth touchpad texture even after weeks of use. The touchpad buttons seem to have a slightly shallow clicking depth compared to other ThinkPads, but they still provide a deeper press than most netbook touchpad buttons.

Ports and Features
Port selection is good enough to get the job done while on the road. In fact, the port layout on the X100e looks almost identical to what you'll find on most consumer netbooks. Unfortunately, most ultraportable notebooks with Intel-based low-voltage processors now also feature either HDMI or DisplayPort. In addition, since the X100e is aimed at business professionals we would have liked to see either an eSATA port or a USB 3.0 port for extremely fast data transfers.

Front: Indicator lights

Rear: AC power jack, battery, and VGA out

Left: Heat vent, two USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, and combo audio jack

Right: 4-in-1 card slot, one USB 2.0 port, and Kensington Lock slot

Performance and Benchmarks
When we first tested the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor inside the HP Pavilion dv2 more than a year ago we were reasonably impressed by the performance. While this single-core processor was an excellent choice in 2009 it is starting to show its age in 2010. The Athlon Neo certainly performs better than a single-core Intel Atom processor, but for roughly the same price you can buy a netbook equipped with a dual-core Atom or Intel CULV processor that delivers faster multitasking and quicker application switching.

In terms of day-to-day activities like working with Microsoft Office or browsing the web it's fair to say that most business users won't notice much (if any) performance difference between the ThinkPad X100e and an Intel Atom-based netbook. HD video playback for both 720P and 1080P content was flawless, and unlike Intel-based netbooks, the ATI Radeon 3200 graphics are powerful enough to handle video without stressing the processor. This means you can run Office and a video player at the same time without as much lag.

Indeed, if you compare the X100e against a typical netbook with a single-core Intel Atom processor and Intel integrated graphics then the X100e is an obvious winner. Unfortunately, the performance of the X100e looks less impressive compared to dual-core Atom netbooks and netbooks with Nvidia ION now on the market.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 measures overall graphics performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):

CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
Noise levels were average during normal daily use. The default fan speed is always on at a low setting, pushing hot air away from the CPU and out of the notebook. The fan doesn't get much louder even if you stress the system with a game or video encoding. Unfortunately, the quiet fan means you get higher than normal case temperatures when the notebook is left on for more than 30 minutes. The external case temperatures on the X100e are quite a bit higher than similar-sized netbooks and ultraportable notebooks on the bottom surfaces. The bottom of the X100e nearly reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit after 40 minutes of moderate use (one wPrime test, watching several YouTube videos, and typing a text document). This makes the X100e less "lap friendly" than business netbooks like the HP Mini 5102. You'll probably want to keep it on an airline tray table or a hotel desk when working on the road. All temperatures shown below are listed in degrees Fahrenheit.

Battery Life
Although the AMD Athlon Neo MV-40 processor offers as much (or more) performance than the Intel Atom in day-to-day tasks, the AMD processor simply didn't deliver as much in the way of battery life. In our battery test with the screen brightness set to 70%, wireless active, and Windows 7 set to the "balanced" profile the system managed 3 hours and 41 minutes before shutdown. This is more than enough battery life for business travelers who are only crossing a few time zones during a flight, but if you need "all day" battery life you aren't going to find it here.

Granted, it wasn't too long ago that we used to praise any notebook that delivered more than three hours of battery life. Unfortunately, the ThinkPad X100e competes against netbooks and ultraportables that get six or more hours of battery life on a single charge. Three and a half hours might be "acceptable" to most business professionals, but it isn't as impressive as the competition.

Conclusion
The ThinkPad X100e is an extremely well-designed business ultraportable that will no doubt meet the needs of most business travelers who are looking for a small, ThinkPad-quality laptop at a low price. That said, this configuration of the X100e falls short in two key areas: processor performance and battery life.

Lenovo should have avoided using last year's single-core AMD processor and stuck with the latest generation of low-voltage dual-core processors from AMD. Lenovo will begin shipping the X100e with the dual-core AMD Turion Neo processors soon, and the higher performance and better battery life of the new processors will make the X100e a far more compelling option.

As it currently stands, the ThinkPad X100e is a surprisingly solid little netbook (Yes, I called it a netbook. Sorry, Lenovo.) that would have been perfect if it delivered just a little more in terms of performance and battery life. This configuration falls just a little short of earning our Editor's Choice Award, but we still think it will be a popular choice for a number of business buyers.

Pros:

• Great keyboard
• Good integrated graphics performance
• Solid build quality at a low price

Cons:

• Weak processor (as configured)
• Average battery life
• Keyboard not backlit

Read rest of entry

Big Screen Feeling with Toshiba Qosmio X505

Aimed at both media enthusiasts and gamers, the Qosmio X505 is Toshiba’s largest and most powerful desktop replacement machine featuring a quad core processor and a mid-range nVidia GPU. Does the X505 live up to expectations? Read our review to find out.

Our Toshiba Qosmio X505 review unit has the following specifications:

• Intel Core i7 720QM (1.6GHz, 6MB L2 Cache)
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium, 64-bit
• 18.4-inch WUXGA glossy screen (1920x1080)
• 6GB DDR3 1066MHz RAM
• 64GB Toshiba SSD
• 500GB Hitachi HDD
• nVidia GTS 360M, 1GB VRAM
• Internal fixed Blu-Ray optical drive.
• Realtek 802.11n Wi-Fi, Atheros Gigabit Ethernet
• LED Backlit Keyboard
• 12-cell 8000mAh battery
• One-year warranty
• Dimensions: 17.4 x 11.6 x 1.63 inches
• Weight: 10.5 pounds, not including the 2 pound power adapter
• Price as configured: $1,899

Build and Design
Our first impression of the Toshiba Qosmio X505 is that it is big, heavy and is a champion when it comes to build quality. When it comes to design, the X505 has a very sophisticated look. The piano black finish with metallic red highlights could appeal to people who never would have considered a “flashy” notebook. The glossy surface is a fingerprint magnet though. Even the LEDs on the notebook match with the black and red theme.

Despite the X505's all-plastic design, build quality is superb. The base of the notebook uses high quality plastic that should brush off bumps and bruises easily. The palm rest and other areas of the notebook are satisfyingly firm and gives us the impression that the internal design and structure of the notebook was carefully planned. The LCD housing does a good job of protecting the screen as well. We were not able to produce distortions on the screen with poking or prodding on the back side of the LCD housing, and it also resisted twisting motions well.

A notebook this large has to have a solid screen hinge to support the weight of the LCD, and Toshiba delivers in that respect. The hinge is firm enough to keep the notebook closed and open when needed, but the screen wobbles a little when bumped and the hinge occasionally squeaks. It also takes some effort to open the notebook.

Screen and Speakers
The Toshiba Qosmio X505 comes with a glossy 18.4-inch CCFL backlit screen with a native resolution of 1920 x 1080 (the 16:9 equivalent of WUXGA). Colors are bright and vibrant, text is crisp and sharp and videos are smooth and clear. With a maximum measured brightness of about 141 nits, it is a little dim compared to LED backlit screens and will be unsuitable for outdoor use, but indoors (like on the desk that this notebook will rarely leave) the screen is stunning.

The X505 has eight distinct levels of screen brightness that can be adjusted by using Fn+F6 and Fn+F7 key combinations. The brightest settings on the notebook won't wash out colors or strain the eyes, and the dimmer settings for the screen are great for darkroom entertainment. During normal use, we would usually have to leave the screen at one of the four highest brightness levels for comfortable use.

Notebook screens tend to have poor vertical viewing angles, and the X505 is no exception. Colors and text fade fast when viewing the notebook screen from above or below. Horizontal viewing angles are much better and are quite impressive. Even at the far left or right field, the screen is still easily readable and the visual quality of text, images and videos were consistent throughout.

When we typically see that a notebook with Harman/Kardon speakers, there are high hopes that we are going to have a great listening experience. The two very large front speakers live up to our expectations with excellent audio in the treble range, but the bass range is non-existent. Music fades when there is low volume in the treble range. For a notebook this large, the lack of perceptible bass is a big disappointment.

Keyboard and Touchpad
The X505 has a comfortable keyboard that easily outperforms many other notebooks. The LED backlit keyboard uses a fairly standard layout and design that has a great amount of feedback but is just a hair too springy. The spacing and feel of the keyboard is just about right and we think many people will like it.

At first, the glossy finish on the keyboard was a drawback; the keys seemed to grab our fingers a little bit. After a day or two, with a sufficient amount of oil building up on the keys, that problem was resolved. The only unresolved problem that is that we cannot find a way to turn the LED backlight off on the keyboard...

The large amount of palm rest real estate on an 18.4-inch notebook means that the X505 has a full size keyboard, a number pad and a few inches to spare. Toshiba uses that space by including eight capacitive touch special function buttons to control media playback, volume and power settings on the notebook. It's a nice feature but there are two big problems with these buttons: they are easy to accidentally trigger and they always beep at you when you hit them. Even the mute button beeps at you when you hit it.

Like the keyboard, the touchpad requires a little bit of oil to build up for optimal use. At first we found ourselves running off of the flush touchpad, but we adapted quickly. The tactile feedback provided by the touchpad was excellent and its responsiveness was equally satisfying after we updated the touchpad drivers. The touchpad also has an on/off button (and a giant red LED indicating if that the pad is on or off) that you can deactivate if needed. The two large touchpad buttons are red and hard to miss, but they are also difficult to work with since they require a lot of force to get them to register a click.

The Synaptics touchpad on the X505 also has a few other productivity features like circular scrolling, multi-touch zoom and multi-touch rotation motions, and even two-finger scrolling, which required us to space our fingers uncomfortably far apart for the touchpad to acknowledge the gesture. The rest of the features worked well.

Ports and Features

Let us be real – this is an 18.4-inch desktop replacement machine. Toshiba has the room to put any type of port on this computer that they want, and they did a good job of including the essentials. With three USB ports, one combo eSATA/USB port, audio ports, a Firewire 400 port, SD card slot, Ethernet port, VGA out and HDMI outputs, the notebook has almost everything a user needs. The X505 also has an ExpressCard/54 slot above the optical drive so you can expand upon the notebook as you see fit. There is even space for a DisplayPort connector on the notebook, but we are unsure why Toshiba chose to omit that feature. Our only complaint is that we wish there were more USB ports. The VGA port might baffle you a little, but Toshiba smartly figured that a lot of HDTVs have VGA ports dedicated for computer connections (and not all HDTVs have enough HDMI inputs). Let’s have a quick look around the notebook.

Left: Ethernet, combo eSATA/USB, another USB port, HDMI out, Firewire 400, Blu-Ray optical drive and ExpressCard/54.

Right: Audio in/out, 2x USB ports, a VGA out port, AC power and a security lock slot.

Front: Wireless on/off switch, SD card slot.

Back: Nothing.

Performance and Benchmarks
The Toshiba Qosmio X505 is among the largest notebooks we've seen, and it packs an equally large punch in the performance sector thanks to a powerful quad core mobile i7 processor, 6GB of DDR3 RAM, a strong nVidia GPU and a fast solid state hard drive.

A quick look at these performance numbers reveals that the Toshiba OEM SSD keeps up with the aftermarket competition fairly well. The critical figure, 4K reads and writes, is still 10-15 times faster than a traditional hard drive and as a result, the notebook feels much more responsive. Given our experiences with current aftermarket SSDs, it's difficult to differentiate the performance between the Toshiba OEM SSD and the competition.

wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):

PCMark05 measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):

3DMark06 comparison results against notebooks @ 1280 x 800 resolution (higher scores mean better performance):

The Toshiba Qosmio X505 also scored 9250 PCMarks in PCMark Vantage, and 5766 3DMarks in 3DMark Vantage.

CrystalDiskMark hard drive performance test:

Heat and Noise
During light and medium workloads, the X505 is nearly silent. While we can sometimes hear the LCD inverter buzzing and the fans gently running in the background, for all intents and purposes, the machine produces very little noise during normal use. It also produces almost no extra heat, except around the rear center of the notebook. Considering that it comes with a powerful dedicated GPU and a quad core CPU, it is impressive that the notebook is this cool and quiet.

During gaming or benchmarking runs, it was a slightly different story. The hot spot of the notebook got little bit hotter, but the fans were much more noticeable. They were not high-pitched, whiny or obnoxious, but the fans make their presence known. Users playing games or running power hungry applications might want to turn up the volume a little.

Battery Life and Bundled Software
The X505 is stocked with high performance components to help reduce power consumption. Toshiba included the "eco Utility," which is a custom power management suite. Does it affect anything? Aside from altering your display brightness settings, Windows 7 power configuration settings and turning off a few LEDs … not really. When enabled, a little green LED turns on, so you get a warm, fuzzy feeling that you are helping to save the planet.

However, the "eco Utility" is useful for reliable power consumptions readings and shows a graph of how much power the computer is using. Even when the display is down to half brightness and Windows 7 running on a "balanced" power setting, the computer still manages to pull between 35-45W.

With that power draw, the notebook manages to run for one hour and 35 minutes before the battery drops out. It's not great, but it's also not bad for a desktop replacement, either.

But what is bad is the amount of bundled software that came with the X505. Trial bloatware for backup tools, office tools, anti-virus software, financial management software, online/social gaming applications and much more was found on this system. By the time we installed a few of our own benchmarking tools and one game, only 5GB of space was left on the primary hard drive. Between the Toshiba restoration partition, the OS and bloatware, more than 40 GB of the 64 GB SSD was used up. As a point of reference, Windows 7 installation with Microsoft Office included would use about 20 GB of space.

Conclusion
The Toshiba Qosmio X505 is a gigantic notebook that is more than capable of handling many things thrown its way. Designed for both gamers and computing enthusiasts, the notebook offers a great screen, decent keyboard, above average build quality and a high performance platform that stays cool and quiet.

It is not without flaws though. The most pronounced negatives on the notebook is a lack of audio capabilities in the bass ranges and the amount of bloatware that came pre-installed on our test system.

Ultimately, it's a nice machine, but is it worth $1,899? That is a question best left to you, but for the performance and quality that the X505 delivers, it could be.

Pros:

• Massive, beautiful, 18.4-inch screen
• A ton of power, yet little heat or noise
• Nice build quality

Cons:

• Poor speaker performance (no bass)
• Mouse buttons are difficult
• Bloatware and spammed advertisements

Read rest of entry