Toshiba Qosmio DX730-10U review

If you walked into a room and saw the Toshiba Qosmio sitting on the desk, you’d be excused for thinking it was a TV – and, in fact, it comes loaded with a range of multimedia features. It sports an impressive multitouch 23in screen running at 1,920 x 1,080, with a nice sharp image and bright colours. To make full use of the HD screen Toshiba has included a Blu-ray/DVD rewriter combo drive, which enables you to play HD movies and burn files to disc; the former isn’t particularly useful in schools.

The multimedia features sit alongside impressive stereo speakers with a built-in subwoofer, an HDMI input to connect a laptop or media player, a built-in digital TV tuner, and a Windows Media Center remote control. All of this is powered by a dual-core i5-2450M processor, 6GB of RAM and a 2TB hard disk.

The side of the display features the headphone and audio jacks, a memory card reader and two USB 3 ports, so the Toshiba can take advantage of the faster transfer speeds on offer from USB 3 peripherals. At the back are four USB 2 ports and a Gigabit Ethernet socket. A built-in 802.11n Wi-Fi transmitter has wireless networking covered.

As with most all-in-ones, the Qosmio is supplied with a wireless keyboard and mouse. Both have the same glossy finish as the PC, which isn’t a problem on the mouse, but results in fingers slipping off the keys when typing.

The case is made of strong plastic and sits on a pedestal-style base; the screen can easily be tilted to find the optimum position. The Qosmio is certainly an impressive all-in-one, and its benchmark score of 0.63 proves it’s an excellent performer. A worthy home could be found in some media suites, where its impressive multimedia features could be exploited. However, desirable as it is, it’s out of place in the average classroom or ICT suite – and you have to really want those extra features to make the expense worthwhile.

Author: Jamie Stephens