Technology news and Jobs arrow Radioactive IT arrow Review: Toshiba Qosmio X300 gamers laptop
Review: Toshiba Qosmio X300 gamers laptop E-mail
by Mike Bantick   
Friday, 26 September 2008

The X300 was put through its paces with a warm up on Command and Conquer Tiberium Wars.  No Sweat, with the graphics levels pumped up to Ultra, the GeForce 9800M hardly started to puff as the crisply presented NOD and GDI forces went at it on screen.

Pfffftt!, Real Time Strategy games are no way to test out the dual core power of this machine.  Look what just came in the mail! Crysis Warhead, that is more like it.

Loading up CW put more strain on the X300.  When asked to detect and apply suitable graphically settings, CW set the game to GAMER mode under Direct X10, one step down from the ENTHUSIAST top setting.

Great, but unfortunately the game, being the intense first person, nano-suited experience it is, is pretty much unplayable at this level on the X300. 
Through a little tweaking however, an acceptable frame-rate in a gorgeous looking tropical environment is achievable, something my current desktop is struggling to achieve with the game.

Sound through the 4.1 harman/kardon setup is nice, though interestingly when playing a FPS such as CW, using the traditional W,A,S,D keys for movement means your palm rests smack bang on the left hand speaker.  I also found that some strain is put on the left wrist for long periods of FPS play in this way due to the elevation of the keyboard.

All in all, the X300 achieves what it sets out to do; it is a flashy piece of hardware that will attract a crowd.  It can handle just about anything thrown at it right now.   The only real decision is the gamble of throwing AU$4000 at a machine with only RAM as an upgrade. 

Soothing this decision will be, if you love the gaudy looks and the portability (Though this puppy chews through the battery life when off the mains (like 2 hours or so when viewing a movie or similar) of the package.qosmiox300_prod_full_mid11.jpg

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