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Review Toshiba Qosmio G30

HD capable LCD TV, DVB t tuner, Dolby Home theatre, Harman/Kardon boxes, HD DVD drive assembly and besides a gaming computer. This sounds like high end equipment of a modern living room is now realized in a laptop: in the Toshiba Qosmio G30.

Case

Like already the Qosmio F20, also the Toshiba Qosmio G30 is perfectly processed. Particularly the top side of the laptop proves particularly stable against pressure due to a large aluminum part, which covers the entire keyboard.
In addition the area in front of the keyboard remains always cool or lukewarm because of the outstanding heat transporting of the aluminium.

Again very concisely is the appearance of the two Harman/Kardon boxes, on the left and on the right above the keyboard. The cover of the boxes is quite open in contrast to the Qosmio F20 and also can be removed, e.g when dirt penetrates in the noble diaphragms.

Right beside the keyboard the wheel for the volume adjusting is positioned, which is typical for Toshiba.

The battery with a capacity of 7050 mAh is attached below the front of the notebook at the right side. A foot is on the battery case. If the battery is removed, the cover with the foot remains at the laptop. So an operation without battery is no problem for the stability. (see the image at the right side)

The display is characterised by a special rigidity against flexing. The hinges could not really convince. They permitted a severe wobbling of the display. Whether they can keep the display safe even over longer time is not sure.

The connections are mainly at the back or on the right or left side in the rear This is suitable for a desktop replacement. Instead of a DVI-D connection a HDMI exit is offered.

connections
connections at the front
connections at the right side
connections at the lleft side
connections at the back

Input Devices

The keys failed are somewhat sharp-edged, which can be felt clearly during writing. In addition some keys (Tab, Space and Enter) are rather small, which sometimes causes wrong tapping.

Also the position of the Enter key, right beside the space bar, is somewhat habituation needy. However the Windows key is positioned on the top at the right side.

The tapping feeling of all keys is very pleasant. They can be pressed easily but have a clear pressure point.

Somewhat unpleasant is the height chassis unit. When tapping particularly the left hand can scrubble in the range of the wrist, since a small burr surrounds the case. This lack of processing can be repaired with a nail file or with fine sandpaper within a short time.

The Touchpad remains without objections. The pertinent keys can be handled with appropriate force and can be perceived by clearly distinguishable clicking noises.

touchpad
keyboard

Display

colour diagram

Without any doubt the HD-TV suited 17 inch WUXGA "TruBrite" display with a 1920x1200 pixel resolution is one of the highlights of this notebook. Reasons are also a maximum brightness of 262.1 cd/m² and a brightness distribution of good 82.4%.

In the Pixperan readability test level 7 could be achieved. Also respective the creation of cloudy streaks resulted well with the Qosmio G30.

216
cd/m²
262.1
cd/m²
222.8
cd/m²
218.1
cd/m²
256.1
cd/m²
234.4
cd/m²
237.9
cd/m²
268.3
cd/m²
229.5
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
Maximum: 268.3 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 238.4 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 81 %

Although the used display is a reflecting panel, the mirroring remains quite bearable. No doubt, the horizontal stability of viewing angles can be rated with very good. In the vertical range strong deviations from the ideal viewing angle may cause clarifications/darkening. Nevertheless also within the vertical range: very good.

Blickwinkelstabilität.

Performance

With the NVIDIA Geforce Go 7600 a video adapter of the 2. class of our comparison of mobile video cards was implemented. So a video card with high performance, but not high end is inserted in the Qosmio G30. Additionally with the Core Duo T2600 a mobile processor with the - yet - highest performance is packed into the laptop.

Furthermore altogether 2GB RAM of modules (533 MHz) are implemented and two 120 GB hard disks (RAID is possible) are integrated.

Altogether this is a laptop with very high performance, which excels particularly with the multimedia tasks. By the mean of the benchmark comparison can be recognized, that the Geforce 7600 is in about on a level with the ATI X1600.

benchmark comparison
benchmark comparison 3DMark
benchmark comparison PCMark
3DMark 2001SE Standard
21450 points
3DMark 03 Standard
9384 points
3DMark 05 Standard
4056 points
3DMark 06 Score Unknown Setting
2092 points
Help
PCMark 04 Standard
5989 points
PCMark 05 Standard
4145 points
Help
240 GB - 5400 rpm
Transfer Rate Minimum: 15 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 34.5 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 29.8 MB/s
Access Time: 16.3 ms
Burst Rate: 64.4 MB/s
CPU Usage: 4 %

Emissions

Warmth

As already mentioned, the top side also after extensive gaming sessions remains without considerable heating up. At the bottom in some areas somewhat higher temperatures may arise. Since however this is a desktop replacement, which anyway probably exclusively is used upon the desk, this heating up can be neglected throughout.

Top Side
area in front of the keyboard max.: 29.4 °C
max.: 37.7 °C
average: 33.5 °C

Bottom
max.: 42.1 °C
Durchschnitt: 35.7 °C

diagram noise ambience

Volume

The operation of the Qosmio G30 constantly is accompanied by a noise level of approximately 34,8 dB (also without load). This is clearly perceptible, but not necessarily disturbing. Under load the fan winds up over several levels to maximally 40,7 dB. Between that levels still another level could be measured with 39.5 dB. A remaining on this level is possible for longer periode.

The HD-DVD drive assembly announced itself with inescapably audible 42,1 dB, which could not not be reduced with the installed "drive accoustic silencer" software.

Battery Runtime

 

Quite acceptable battery runtimes could be measured due to the giant 7050 mAh battery:

Battery Eater Readers Test – corresponds about the maximum runtime
(min. brightness, WLan off, current saving on)
achieved battery runtime: 3h 5min

Battery Eater Classic Test – corresponds about the minimum runtime
(alles max., WLan etc. on)
achieved battery runtime: 1h 30min

Current Consumption

minimum (all off or at minimum): 38.0 Watts
idle (max. brightness): 49.4 Watts
+ WLan: 50.1 Watts
maximum (load inkl. WLAN): 80.4 Watts

Verdict

Toshiba Qosmio G30

The Toshiba Qosmio G30 is the enhanced version of the Qosmio F20, which we already reviewed. Tuned in various regard:

Display: high resolution Toshiba TruBright display with very good stability with viewing angles.

Performance: T2600 Core Duo processor and Geforce Go 7600 video card for full multimedia power.

Drive assemblies: HD-DVD drive. Terribly expensive and hardly useful at the moment, nevertheless an investment in the future. Two 120 GB hard disks allow hard disk copying (RAID1) for data protection and/or faster access rates possible.

As usual in addition there are accessories plentifully such as a remote maintenance, antenna, adaptor cable etc.. We missed a demo DVD for a test of the HD-DVD drive, since still at the moment there are no data media available at the market.

For a lot of money one receives a solid multi-functional allround notebook, which is quite able to replace TV unit, recorder, hi-fi unit and satellite receiver.

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tested: the Toshiba Qosmio G30

Specifications

Toshiba Qosmio G30
Processor
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce Go 7600 - 256 MB VRAM
Memory
2048 MB 
, DDR2, 533 Mhz, max. 4098MB, 2x1024MB
Display
17.00 inch 16:10, 1920 x 1200 pixel, WUXGA TruBright TFT Display
Mainboard
Intel 945PM
Storage
240 GB - 5400 rpm, 240 GB 
, 5400 rpm, 2x120MB RAID: 240GB, 5400rpm
Connections
4x USB2.0, Firewire, LAN, modem, S-Video out, S-Video in, VGA out, Kensington Lock, audio (headphones and micro), Line in, antenna, HDMI out, 1x Express Card, 1x PC Card
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 53 x 455 x 406 ( = 2.09 x 17.91 x 15.98 in)
Battery
, 7050 mAh lithium-ions
Additional features
HDD: 240GB, 5400rpm, 2x120MB RAID, SigmaTel High Definition Audio, DVDW/HD TS-L802A,
Weight
4.69 kg ( = 165.44 oz / 10.34 pounds) ( = 0 oz / 0 pounds)
Price
3499 Euro

 

The Qosmio G30...
...access to the two 120 GB hard disks is possible...
At the bottom of the laptop...
The keyboard can be handled pleasently, but some keys are rather small.
good interface equipment as usual like HDMI exit
Premiere: HD-DVD drive in the Qosmio G30
Weak part? The hinges permitted a clear wobbling of the display.
...and pleases by Gimmicks like a large volume adjutment wheel.
...impresses by full sound from the Harman/Kardon boxes...
...which are protected by specially formed covers "HDD-Dome".

Pro

  • pleasent keyboard
  • high resolution display
  • very good stability of changing viewing angles
  • good sound
  • numerous accessories
  • DVB-T tuner
  • 2 hard disks, RAID possible
  • HD-DVD drive
  • good performance data
  • Contra

  • habituation-needy keyboard layout
  • height and frontal border disturb while writing
  • display cloese not completely
  • mediocre noise ambience
  • Similar Laptops

    Rating

    Toshiba Qosmio G30 - 08/31/2007
    Josef Simon Leitner

    Chassis
    84%
    Keyboard
    86%
    Pointing Device
    88%
    Connectivity
    92%
    Weight
    50%
    Battery
    75%
    Display
    92%
    Games Performance
    95%
    Application Performance
    96%
    Temperature
    78%
    Noise
    72%
    Add Points
    90%
    Average
    83%
    88%
    Gaming - Weighted Average
    Josef Simon Leitner, 2006-08- 8 (Update: 2013-05- 8)