The case of the 17“ notebook was entirely made of plastics. It is quite robust and provides the notebook with enough stability to handle it without problems, despite its enormous size. Not an easy task considering the weight of 4.3 kilogramme. The case can even be lifted up on only one side, although it creaks slightly.

Only the area between display and keyboard, as well as the backside of the display lid showed weaknesses under point pressure.

Overall workmanship is very good. We didn’t notice any sharp edges or unattractive gaps between the components. Even the touchpad shows a pleasant, smooth transition to the case, without annoying edges or corners.

Toshiba chose full red and orange colours, and a flame pattern for the Qosmio X300. The pattern puts more emphasize on how the notebook should be used – for gaming. Furthermore, the whole surface besides the bottom has a glossy finish. Even the keyboard got this surface treatment, but it turned out to be a weakness during the test. While the glossy finish gives the big and heavy Qosmio X300 an elegant touch, it also makes every fingerprint visible. Therefore after the first gaming or working sessions on the notebook, it becomes clear that the keyboard needs a lot of care and cleaning to prevent it from degenerating.

Although Toshiba didn’t implement a closing mechanism despite the size of the notebook, it doesn’t seem to be a problem for the Qosmio X300. The display lid of the test sample shut neatly and stayed that way even during transport. Opening the display is thus very simple, user friendly, and noiseless. Once opened, the hinge keeps the display firmly in position.

Worth mentioning is also the height of the case. The notebook is 43.2 millimeter high at the front and “grows” to remarkable 62.5 millimeter at the back. Finding a suitable notebook carrying case for the Qosmio X300 is thus not going to be easy, and the notebook is certainly not going to score high in the mobility and battery life sections of this review. The Qosmio X300 is obviously designed to be a desktop replacement and as such it is a serious competitor to many desktop computers and other gaming notebooks.

The Qosmio X300 offers all current interfaces, like USB, audio ports, FireWire, etc., which are well distributed around the case.

The front is free of connections, apart from a WLAN and Bluetooth switch, as well as the DVD drive. In our opinion it would have been better to put the optical drive on the left or right side of the notebook, because of the carriage, but that is a matter of taste.

Located on the right side are a volume control, audio ports for earphones and microphones, two USB 2.0 ports, modem connection, and a 5-in-1 card reader (SD memory card, memory stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, xD-picture card).

On the back side of the Qosmio X300 are a Kensington Lock, FireWire, power supply, fan, HDMI port, VGA-out, and the LAN connection.

The left side is rather empty in comparison. There are only a combined eSata/USB connection, a standard USB 2.0 port, and an express card slot 54.

We were slightly disappointed by the Vista performance index of only 5.3 points. However, the detail listing confirmed what we’ve already suspected. The CPU is the limiting factor of the Qosmio X300. While other components, like RAM, GPU (application), and GPU (games) received a performance score of 5.9, the Core 2 Duo P8600 and the Hitachi hard disk got only 5.3.

The two Hitachi hard disks have a capacity of 160GB each. They are pretty fast 7200r/min disks, with access times of only 15.2ms and similar transfer rates as comparable hard disks. However, a big problem was that the Qosmio X300 took relatively long to start Windows and some programs.

System Noise

As usual with most notebooks nowadays, the Toshiba Qosmio X300 increases the fan speed in several steps until the maximum speed is reached. The notebook keeps not only surprisingly silent during this process, but also relatively cool.

We measured a maximum noise level of 36.7dB(A) in idle mode, but that is the exception, not the rule. Our measurement tools usually showed a value between 33.4 and 34.1dB(A), which is acceptable in our opinion. Only the Hitachi hard disk was louder in idle mode, with 36.1dB(A) while accessing data. The noise level rose under load to 38.4dB(A) and to the max value of 39.8dB(A). Therefore the notebook noise keeps even under load below 40dB(A).

Temperature

The temperature measurements on the top surface showed satisfactory results. We measured a maximum temperature of 40.1 degree Celsius in the upper middle area, which is pretty much exactly where the fan blows the hot air out on the backside. All other sections of the notebook stayed cool, especially the area on the left and right of the touchpad barely warmed up to 30 degrees.

The bottom of the notebook kept cool as well. The maximum temperature on this side was 35.3 degrees Celsius on the center of the surface. We were positively surprised by that value, but a touch confirmed the measurements. The temperature is lukewarm at best.

Please note that the temperatures refers to the test sample with P8600 CPU and a GeForce 9700M GTS. The high end Qosmio X300-13E with Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100 processor and 9800M GTX is probably significantly hotter.

The large and heavy Qosmio X300 is obviously not the best choice for mobile usage and the rather weak battery life isn’t helping. But this is neither a surprise nor a real issue, since the Qosmio X300 is clearly a DTR (desktop replacement). The lithium ion battery has a capacity of 4000mAh (14.4 volt, 57.6Wh), which doesn’t last long.

The Qosmio X300 manages only 101 minutes with the 4000mAh battery, even in the BatteryEater idle mode test. A rather modest result in our opinion. In the stress test with the same tool (BatteryEater classic test) and maximum brightness, activated WLAN, Bluetooth, and maximum load, it only took 61 minutes until the lights went out. The battery didn’t last much longer when using the notebook to surf the internet over WLAN and with the display brightness between high and maximum. The power hungry Qosmio X300 depleted the battery in 69 minutes. DVD replay of movies with a normal length of 90 minutes and maximum display brightness is impossible as well. The battery lasted not much longer than 71 minutes.

The battery hasn’t got enough capacity to turn the otherwise satisfactory Toshiba Qosmio X300 notebook into a useful mobile work- or multimedia station.

Please note that the battery measurements refer to the test sample with Core 2 Duo P8600 CPU and GeForce 9700M GTS. The high end version of the Qosmio X300 with Core 2 Extreme X9100 processor and GeForce 9800M GTX has probably even lower battery life.