Until Sunday Harvey Norman is cutting 40% off the normal price of all of their Toshiba notebooks, and among the pile of bargains the real stand-outs are the entertainment notebooks. Because stocks are limited we’re going to cover the two best examples on offer, so if you can’t find one then there’s a chance you can at least grab the other one without sacrificing any functionality.
See the description of the 40% off discount at Harvey Norman here.
The best buy is the Toshiba Satellite P500/11S with a normal price of $1,899 that is dramatically reduced to just $1,139.40 after the 40% discount. It has a nearly HD resolution 18.4in screen, a TV tuner, a Blu-ray burner along with a massive hard drive to store lots of videos, movies and music. For a price not far above most first generation Intel Core i7 allrounders, this is one of the best entertainment notebook bargains we’ve seen to date.
A first generation Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz) processor can happily run the TV tuner and the Blu-ray burner simultaneously. This means that you can simultaneously record or watch TV with the TV tuner while burning huge amounts of data or watch Blu-ray movies with the Blu-ray burner. The 4GB of RAM is a respectable amount that will ensure good overall systems performance. There’s also an older but still functional NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card, and in addition to general graphics rendering it can run new games like Cal of Duty: Black Ops at medium settings without too much drama.
The colossal 18.4in (1,600x900 resolution) screen won’t quite show Blu-ray in native HD, but the visual quality is still excellent. A 750GB hard drive pairs well with the TV tuner and the Blu-ray burner, pretty much ensuring that you can store lots of videos and movies before even thinking about an external USB hard drive. However, the P500 is not portable by any stretch of the imagination; 4.4kg is heavy, and 442.6mm width, 294.2mm depth and 42.8mm width is decidedly bulky.
See the Toshiba Satellite P500/11S in the Notebook Hunter database here.
Next there’s the Toshiba Qosmio F60/05E that normally sells for $1,899, but with a 40% discount it becomes a seriously low $1,139.40. Compared to the P500 it has a smaller screen but more RAM, so while the P500 is the better buy the F60 is still an excellent product. You still have a Blu-ray burner, TV tuner and a giant hard drive to let you give both entertainment features a thorough workout. Entertainment notebooks rarely get this affordable.
The Blu-ray burner makes it possible to watch Blu-ray movies and burn them to the expansive 750GB hard drive, while the TV tuner lets the F60 function as a TV outright and also record TV as well. Although the screen is only a 15.6in (1,366x768 resolution) model that’s still enough to get your money’s worth.
Keeping the F60 hammering along is an Intel Core i7-740QM (1.73GHz), which along with a hefty 6GB of RAM can happily multi-task with entertainment features like the TV tuner along with intensive productivity applications. An NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M graphics card isn’t overly powerful, but it can still handle modern titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops at medium settings. Due to the smaller screen portability is far better than the P500, as the F60 weighs 2.8kg and measures 34.8mm thick, 266.8mm deep and 387.6mm wide.
See the Toshiba Qosmio F60/05E in the Notebook Hunter database here.