Laptops Toshiba Qosmio or Dell XPS- Help me deide

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roy_sam

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I'm looking for a decent laptop.
1. Budget is max 1600USD
2. Will be buying and using it in USA.
3. Most important requirement is reliability, trouble free and something that will last for at least 4 years.
4. Need a portable laptop( no 17 inchers, too heavy and I'll be adding a separate monitor, speaker as well)
5. Will be using it mainly for Photoshop CS3, Movies, Games, Music.

I'm currently looking at Dell XPS and Toshiba Qosimo. A friend of mine told me Toshiba Qosimo are the best multimedia laptop, but I do not have any kinda information on their reliability and support etc. Do you guys know about Toshiba reliability and service ?
Sony Vaios , in my opinios are not VFM, you pay too much for the looks.

Here is what the Dell XPS 1330 and the Toshiba Qosimo F40 are offering

Dell XPS M1330
----------------------

  • SYSTEM COLOR Tuxedo Black
  • PROCESSOR Intel® Coreâ„¢ 2 Duo T5250 (2MB cache/1.5GHz/667Mhz FSB)
  • OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vistaâ„¢ Home Premium Edition
  • LCD AND CAMERA Standard Display with 2.0 Megapixel Webcam
  • MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
  • HARD DRIVE Size: 160GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)
  • OPTICAL DRIVE CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW Drive)
  • VIDEO CARD 128MB NVIDIA® GeForceâ„¢ 8400M GS
  • WIRELESS CARDS Intel® 3945 802.11a/g Mini-card
  • BLUETOOTH OPTIONS Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
  • BATTERY OPTIONS 56Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)
  • SOUND OPTIONS Integrated Sound Blaster Audigy HD Software Edition
  • FINGERPRINT SCANNER No Fingerprint Reader

Total 1699 USD

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Toshiba Qosimo F40
----------------------
  • Intel® Coreâ„¢2 Duo Processor T7100 (1.8GHz, 2MB L2 cache, 800MHz FSB)
  • Operating System >Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32-Bit
  • Office Software > Microsoft® Office 2007 Suite Ready
  • Memory > 2048MB PC5300 DDR2 667MHz SDRAM (1024MBx2)
  • Disk Cache > No Onboard Intel® Turbo Memory
  • Graphics Controller > NVIDIA® GeForceâ„¢ 8600M GT w/128MB DDR2 discrete graphics memory + plus up to 256MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory using NVIDIA® TurboCacheâ„¢ technology
  • HDD > 160GB HDD (5400rpm, Serial-ATA)
  • 2nd HDD > No Secondary Hard Drive Installed
  • Optical Media > DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) with Labelflashâ„¢ drive
    Sound > Built-in harman/kardon® stereo speakers with subwoofer, Sound Volume Control Dial, Built-in microphone
  • Communications > Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel, Modem16
    10/100 Ethernet, Intel® Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n), Bluetooth® version 2.0 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)
  • Expandability >
    o 2 main memory slots. Both slots may be occupied.
    o ExpressCardâ„¢ slot (ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54)
    o 5-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter
    ​
    • Secure Digital, Memory Stick™, Memory Stick PRO™, Multi Media Card, xD Picture Card [shared slots]
  • Ports >
    o Video
    • RGB (monitor) output port
    • HDMI output port​
    o Audio
    •
    S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port)
    • Microphone input port
    • Headphone output port​
    o Data
    •
    i.LINKâ„¢ IEEE-1394
    • USB v2.0 – 4 ports​
    o Security
    • Fingerprint reader​

Total $1,565.10 USD

Also kindly note that the following items are coming free with the Toshiba
  • Toshiba 1GB USB 2.0 High-Speed Flash Drive
  • Toshiba Mobile Backpack - Black and Brick Red Free
  • Epson® CX5000V All-In-One Printer

Not that I need them, but free stuff is always welcome.:ohyeah:

----------------------------------------------------------------------

I feel the Toshiba is more VFM, but I;m not too sure about the reliability, service. Basically I want a decent multimedia laptop which wont give me any headache and will last at least 4 years.
Any suggestion will be much appreciated. Sorry for the long post.
Thank you all in advance.
 
Even better VFM and system for you will be the Asus G1S. It has a better graphics card and build quality. Another option is HP 8510p.
 
@ethanhunt

Thanks a lot. The Asus one seems great but on a bit pricier side. The best price I got online is USD 1749 Asus G1S-A1 15.4" WSXGA+ T7500/GeForce 8600GT 256MB/2GB/160GB/Bluetooth/WiFi-N/LightScribe/Vista : GenTech PC Store

My original budget was 1500 USD. Nevertheless I can stretch it by 200$.

How about Asus reliability ? I have not have too much experience with Asus notebooks. When I return to India( after about two years) do I get service there ?

The HP one is coming out to be $1,905.00 when configured with 2GB RAM, 160GD HDD etc

Which one to go for between the Toshiba, Dell and Asus. Anything else I should look at ?

Thanks
 
Toshiba's Build quality has been unmatched from what i have heard . It should be a safer bet . DELL on the other hand , i know has some issues here and there but there are also instances where it too has worked perfectly fine .

If i had to make a choice , Toshiba would be it . I recommend waiting for a few more comments before you make up your mind .
 
Thanks Sharekhan. I'm not buying the laptop before October middle.
So I have time in hand to take a call.
Waiting for others to give their feedback.
Thanks.
 
Get a LCD upgrade (must have) on the XPS1330 to the LED backlighted one and you will be good to go.....

You may also want to compare the India site prices for the XPS1330 against the one on the US site as the India site should be pretty much the same if not less but with one year additional complete cover
 
Where are you located? I would buy depending on that.
Notebooks are very service dependent if something goes wrong, you can't just open it up like you do with your desktop.

I for one do not like going to the service center and wasting a day to get service, AFAIK Dell is the only one providing onsite service for notebooks in India, and of course totally customizable.

I also notice from your post that the Dell is considerably underpowered when compared to the Toshiba. Why not reconfigure the Dell to be on par and then compare the cost.

Notebooks its a good idea to go in for a 3 year warranty, and the complete cover from Dell is brilliant. Notebook covered even if you drop it off the table and it breaks in two - or if you spill your soda over it. :D
 
I'm currently in India (Kolkata) but will be shifting to USA soon (Oct 1st week) for about two years. Hence the need for a laptop, otherwise I'm very much desktop person. I'll be buying and using the laptop in USA.

The Dell is underpowered , mainly because after configuring it with 2GB RAM and 8400M GS gfx it already exceeded my budget by 200 USD.

I'm looking to keep everything around 1500 USD but willing to spend 200$ or so more if its worth going the extra mile.

@superczar

The Dell with LED backlighting is very tempting. It kinda exceeds my budget ( also the LED backlighted once comes with only VGA webcam) but still considering it.

Thank you both for your inputs. The XPS looks sexy to the hilt with the LED backlighting and Toshiba is looking very good VFM. Any other model I should consider ?
 
I want a windows machine ( I know I can install windows through bootcamp but doesnt really want to justifies the cost to buy a macbook pro) as I'll be installing few Appllication and database servers for my office work.

The macbook pro will cost near 2000USD which is way out of budget.
 
roy_sam said:
I'm currently in India (Kolkata) but will be shifting to USA soon (Oct 1st week) for about two years. Hence the need for a laptop, otherwise I'm very much desktop person. I'll be buying and using the laptop in USA.

The Dell is underpowered , mainly because after configuring it with 2GB RAM and 8400M GS gfx it already exceeded my budget by 200 USD.

I'm looking to keep everything around 1500 USD but willing to spend 200$ or so more if its worth going the extra mile.

@superczar
The Dell with LED backlighting is very tempting. It kinda exceeds my budget ( also the LED backlighted once comes with only VGA webcam) but still considering it.

Thank you both for your inputs. The XPS looks sexy to the hilt with the LED backlighting and Toshiba is looking very good VFM. Any other model I should consider ?
Click to expand...

If you are buying in the US - Dell/others have specials for colleges, and they have amzing rebate coupons, look for those, you could get at much at 4-500$ off

Depending on how much extra you are paying for the memory, it may work out cheaper to buy the bare basic memory and then upgrade via newegg.com

Someone mentions Apples here - they I think will be way out of your budget.

And I would seriously recommend 15" or sell if you are going to be carrying it around, the 17" while nice, is simply not portable generally.

And think if you really want to spend bucks on a GFX card, does your use and application warrant it ?

Also, Dell prices should take a knock sometime now, so in 2 weeks everything should be in ur budget :hap5:
 
starchazer said:
Dell provides onsite warranty ? Is it only available within Bangalore ? or all over India ? :)
Click to expand...

Anywhere in India, for all their products, and the service is amazing.
 
1500 USD ? Well then go for Dell 1520. On the US site you can nicely configure it with a 8600 GT and 2 GB RAM for under 1500.

Asus is one of the better built systems out there. Plus they have a 2 yr global oth ways shipping paid warranty so you dont have to worry.

Asus G1S - I found it at 1699 http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=10005761&prodlist=pricegrabber with a further 40 dollar mail in rebate. It also comes with a free backpack and Logitech gaming mouse. Also, it has a GDDR3 8600m GT which is miles ahead of GDDR2 8600m GT in Dell and others.

HP 8510p - The price on HP site is 1479 USD. Buy 1 GB of RAM aftermarket for around 50 USD, and u will have it around 1550 USD. http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/e...5-321838-3329741-3355678-3355680-3544128.html

Also, mind you HP is a business laptop so its build quality will be miles ahead of any consumer Toshiba/Dell laptop.

Also, read anywhere on the net, Asus's build quality and service support are miles ahead of Dell/Toshiba etc. So i would definitely recommend one of Asus G1S or HP 8510p.
 
If you plan on buying the Dell XPS 1330, buy it from india.. u can get a much better proccy for the same price. Just check out the dell india site. But if i were you id buy the qosmio... much much more VFM! and if u dont mind staid and simple looks try the Dell Vostro 1500. I specced mine to a C2D T7300, 3GB RAM(yeah can u believe that!?), 8400m GS, 120 GB hdd, SXGA+ diplay(1680*1050)... that as top of the line as u can get! all for less than $1100. just give it a shot! dells are sturdy and heavy but they last long!!!!
 
one more difference is that the toshiba has a much more powerful grraphic card...

maximum that u can get with dell XPS is 8400 GS... and that card is quite a bit underpowered to play current games. esp upcomin games like lost planet....

The only thing is that XPS will be much sleeker and lighter, but qosmio should be the one if u are thinkin of multimedia machine.....
 
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