Notebook Hunter

The Toshiba Qosmio X500/04N is a notebook that’s meant as a long term desktop computer replacement, and while $2999 isn’t cheap it’s still a fair price considering this notebook is stuffed to the gills with the best of tech. The Intel Core i7-740QM processor is one of the fastest Intel Core i7 processors, and indeed one of fastest across the board. Although the 1.73GHz speed sounds lower than some processors, don't be fooled -- this chip has four processors in one (quad-core), so the PC will be able to handle many simultaneous tasks extra-smoothly. If you are running software that isn't optimised for running on multiple cores, and needs all the grunt it can get out of a single processor core, the CPU can automatically rocket up to 2.93GHz.

The NVIDIA GeForce GTS 360M graphics chip inside is also one of the fastest graphics processors around. The latest games like Metro 2033 will smoothly run on high settings, and you’ll be able to watch movies, handle massive photo libraries, and run many programs at once while maintaining snappy system performance. Overall the specs are great; you get a huge 1TB hard drive, just as huge 8GB of RAM, and a colossal 18.4in screen with native 1920x1080 native Blu-Ray resolution.

On top of all this you have a Blu-Ray burner and a high definition digital TV tuner (albeit an external USB one rather than a built-in one), ensuring that this monster will satisfy any entertainment needs you might have. It does weigh a hefty 4.64kg, so don’t expect to lug this around. At all. For that matter it’s physically chunky, with a 442.6mm width, 294.2mm depth, and 41.5mm thickness. That’s about the only downside really – otherwise, it would be hard to imagine what more they could have crammed into this notebook. If you can afford it or just need the absolute best, this monster notebook is priced fairly and is well worth your serious attention.

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