Customer Reviews
Great Laptop 
2007-01-06
Pros: Display is clean and crisp, great for watching movies/ playing games. Handles most games at max settings like NFS Carbon, Half-Life 2, Doom3(at almost max settings). I use my Qosmio mostly for school work like programming and database design and no problems so far. Lots of cool features packed inside...really neat and convenient. Music is loud and clean for a laptop....no need to buy external speakers unless you want really LOUD audio....
Cons: Kinda costly....set me back ~$3,000.00US but i think its worth the price if you're into movies, music, large HDD space and high-tech stuff. Some may find it a bit heavy for a portable device but I`ve gotten accustomed to it and i find its ok....i don`t recommend this for those who have weak arms. Battery life could be longer but the power management software provided by Toshiba gives you a decent amount of time on battery power...but gettin a compliant battery that has more cells should fix that. The uderside of the laptop can get really warm when using for a long period.
Amazon shipped my purchase on time and with no trouble or harm to the laptop. In conclusion I am really happy with my purchase and i hope you will be too.
Qosmio Excels 2006-11-11
An excellent machine; unlike previous generations Qosmio has not crashed yet. One GB RAM seems sufficient for surfing internet and editing video. Bravo, Toshiba!
Kosmik Qosmio Experiences 
2006-09-01
The Qosmio is very well constructed, sturdy, heavy, very heavy, but should stand up well to constant use as a desktop replacement.
Weak points:
1. Truly inadequate customer support. Even when you push through to Level 3 (Toshiba employees in Irvine, CA), they are not even able to tell you what error messages generated by Toshiba software mean. "We'll have to ask Japan, and who knows if they will even reply". Other users report that on occasion, the Level 3 people will be able to solve problems, but this wasn't my experience. Level 1 and 2 are non-native-English-speaking outsource companies in Asia. American users apparently cannot use the worldwide Toshiba support forums, which is bizarre.
2. Truly terrible documentation (goes with 1). The product is essentially unsupported; you're on your own. Definitely not suitable for naive users.
3. High-gloss screen is a total pain. It is very hard to use in a normally-lit room. You have to adjust the screen very carefully to avoid reflections. The anti-reflection screens on other Toshiba units are vastly more practical (I own several of them).
4. HDDVD drive. This is still a work in progress. It sort of works, but requires updating drivers and applications. Check out the AVS Forum thread on the Qosmio for the latest instructions.
5. 1 GB of RAM shipped is marginal for power users.
Strong points:
1. Once you get the dual hard drives configured as RAID 0 (Striping), the machine is extemely quick. Good luck figuring out how to do it. The manual is useless, so is tech support.
2. The machine really can make use 2 GB of RAM. I'm running SQL Server, IIS, etc., which together eat up about 1.3 GB
3. Plenty of USB connectors
4. Good connectivity with 1 GB Ethernet and HDMI AV output.
5. Quiet, even then running at high CPU usage.
6. Decent sound quality for a laptop, with large, top-mounted volume control
7. Much better build quality than functionally-similar Dell units (which seem a bit weak mechanically, sort of cheap plastic appearance).
Who should buy this machine:
1. Not your elderly parents.
2. True desktop replacement, more or less portable.
3. Check for discounts or rebates.
Overall:
A rating of 4.0 is a bit generous; more like 3.5. I considered sending the machine back on more than one occasion. Lots of raw power, lots of frustrations getting the !@#$@#$ thing running properly.
The review below reflects many of my feelings as well.
No perfect in any shape or form, but still good for what it says it does... 
2006-08-27
I had a lot of mixed reactions about this laptop. Most of the features were like... "oh it has this" shortly followed by "but wait, why?" You'll understand what I mean later on.
PROCESSOR:
This laptop came out at a very bad time. Granted the Core Duo with 2.0GHz is a step up from the AV600 and has much better clock speeds, it could have still been upgraded to the 2.16GHz. Also, with the Core 2 Duo processor line coming out in the very near future, it's a wonder why Toshiba didn't wait. With a premium laptop, the latest and greatest is always welcomed.
MEMORY:
Not bad. This laptop has two 100GB hard drives, allowing for 200GB of storage at a steadily quiet 5400rpm. The RAM however is very disappointing. Toshiba actually doesn't let you upgrade before you buy. What they do do is stick you with dual channel 512 sticks making 1GB total. Now, 1GB is pretty good for a casual laptop, but this is a PREMIUM laptop. 2GB would have been nice here. This laptop can actually be upgrades to 4GB, but I don't know how well it would run that, or if it would recognize all of it.
DESIGN:
Pretty nice. TV tuner built-in, nice media reader. Card reader. Everything else is pretty standard. The media controls are pretty nice, and I like the added security and the shortcuts on the trackpad. Keys are nice size, and the screen is really nice and bright at 1920 x 1200 maximum resolution running at a possible 1080p (only 1080i externally though). The black is very sleek and the build is pretty decent. The AV650 is heavier than Sony's AR190, so that's also kinda disappointing.
PERFORMANCE:
As I mentioned before the processor is a 2.0GHz processor... but besides that being slightly disappointing, so is the graphics card. Very similar to the AR190, this device also has an nVidida 7600 GT. Now if you compare this device to the AV600, it's a step up from the 7300, than it sounds like a good jump. But when you compare it to Toshiba's P105, which is almost a grand cheaper, and has a 7900 GS, you have to questions Toshiba's motives. This is far from a gaming machine, but it is still a pretty powerful machine.
I also have some major gripes with the HD DVD features. For one, it's only readable. Unlike the AR190, you cannot directly burn onto the large capacity discs. Also, there are some hiccups in the viewing. And the software that runs some of its other features are pretty bad.
BATTERY:
Not bad. A big improvement over the AR190. I got about 165 minutes from one charge on very demanding setting. On normal usage, I got 181 minutes, so I was happy about that. It does tend to get pretty warm, so I wouldn't recommend keeping this on your lap, because it gets hot, and it's heavy, so it's best to leave this on a desk.
BOTTOM LINE:
It really is too early in the next generation gap to be dropping over $3,000 for high end media input computers, so I still say wait it out. I have already see price drops from various vendors on the AR190, and I will suspect he same will also happen with the AV650. This machine has a lot going for it, but I still say to just get something to hold you over. There are 19" SLI laptops out there for just a little more, so if you really want the ultimate computer, that's the way to go. I recommend the AR190 over this, and you can view that review that I wrote.
The Best from the Best 2007-07-14
I have been using computers for 40 years, since my first computer class in high school in Covina, CA in 1967.
I took my mother shopping for a laptop in Sept. 2006 as her Toshiba Laptop that she bought in 1997 was more than a little tired.
We stopped by Best Buy in Apple Valley, CA and found a Toshiba Qosmio G35-650 and bought it. Since she has been using it every day and has never had a problem.
While my mother a Real Estate Broker may not test the capabilities of a computer, I as a graphics artist, do very intense graphics at sometimes better that 30 frames per second at very high resolution, and can test the abilties of a computer very in very short order, am completly satisfied with the performance of this machine.
I am personally using a Compaq Presario 1800T that I had built in June of 2001 and will never use a Compaq or Hewlet Packard product again.
Great Machine 2007-02-21
I have had nothing but a pleasurable experience with my new laptop. I am kinda glad the stupid burglars stole my old laptop...I didn't know what I was missing. I haven't bought any HD DVD's yet, so I don't know how well it plays them. My wife, who is techno. illiterate, said she didn't know what the hype was about hi def and didn't know if she would be able to tell the difference in picture quality anyway. I left my laptop on for a while when she was near it and the "aquarium" screen saver came up. She immediately asked me if the computer was hi def., which I replied it was. If she noticed it, there's a big difference. There's a lot to brag about on this machine...would take a lot of time. I would recommend it to anyone. I payed $2099.00. I think it came out at $2999.00. I believe I got a good deal.
Qosmio G-35 
2007-01-30
Several items make the Laptop not the best for travel due to size and weight. It has a problem with locking up for periods of time and then all of a sudden it is back if you wait it out. The sound quality is great for its size. The picture seems be collapsed to fit the rectangle screen. I like the layout of the keyboard of all the laptops I have used this is the best layout.
STAY AWAY FROM TOSHIBA QOSMIO 
2007-01-26
I purchased a av-650 in October. I had problems out of the box. HD DVD did not play. Lots of system errors. Many hours spent on the phone and reinstalling system did not seem to help. Though there support team is friendly they were not much help. I finally found a level 3 person that did know what he was talking about. They sent a "tech" out to reinstall the HD drive. Did not work. Sent it to the depot. They said send softwear that I use and they will install it one by one to see if there is a conflict. Had UPS pack my orig. box and softwear. They lost everything. Got the system back, still not working. Sent it again. Came back running way worse. Tons of error message, crashes cannot open any programs. So far I am stuck with this usless piece of junk. They said customer service will contact me, never did. I will have to file a lawsuit to recover from this mess. Whatever you do dont buy any toshiba products, they will not stand behind them. They settled a $20 million class action lawsuit for knowing selling defective junk. There are many other actions pending.
STAY AWAY FROM TOSHIBA QOSMIO AND ALL TOSHIBA PRODUCTS
My most enjoyable "Notebook" yet 2007-01-12
I purchased this "PC replacement" for work, since the 1 year older Sony laptop I had would barely run under Vista, and I was a Vista Beta tester. This Toshiba is fantastic! "Oblivion" runs effortless at all advanced settings (as a benchmark).
There are only two minor glitches, depending on the use to which you intend to put the system. First, it is big! It really is a PC replacement. Calling it a notebook really isn't descriptive of its actual size. The screen is big, as well as fantastic! It's really spoiled me, relative to liquid crystal screens. Although it is portable, given a large enough pack, and while the computer itself is not that heavy, the adapter is. It will only run for a couple of hours without the adapter.
The second glitch is that while there is a HD DVD drive, and while it does work, the software HD WinDVD player could not play "V for Vendetta." However, this is a software problem, not a hardware problem: the visual display was garbled.
