Toshiba Qosmio E10 P-M 735

Toshiba makes some bold claims for the Qosmio E10, with the name itself apparently representing 'my personal universe'. It's not a notebook, the company says, but a home-entertainment hub.

With an analog TV tuner built in, it's no surprise that this system uses Windows XP Media Center Edition. It also has an unusual array of connectors for hooking up other devices, with the aim of nestling into your existing home-entertainment setup. These include S-Video in and out, as well as composite video input and scart, enabling the Qosmio's screen to double up as a display for another device. A D-shaped 14-pin socket is supplied with two adaptor cables - scart to plug into a TV, and composite video/audio input for recording.

One of Qosmio's key attractions is instant-on, whereby a Linux application plays live TV, music and DVD movies without booting into Windows. We like the nine-second startup and the fact that you can display external video inputs in this mode, but it's severely hampered by not supporting MP3 files or the remote control (which needs a clunky USB adaptor).

Widescreen would seem to be the natural choice for a media-based system, but this model boasts only a 4:3 aspect ratio 15in TFT. It suits the analog TV tuner, but limits the Qosmio's appeal as a DVD player, with the hefty 3.61kg bulk also ruling out its use on the road. Thankfully, a Qosmio with a 15.4in widescreen is expected by the end of the year.

When you do use the E10's panel, you'll be impressed by the clarity and brightness. Toshiba has used a combination of hardware and software christened the 'QosmioEngine' to process the output from the graphics adaptor. As well as reducing noise and increasing sharpness, it also claims to correct time-based errors such as ghosting. The Clear Super View TFT gives a glossy appearance with vibrant colours and, with two florescent tubes, it's astonishingly bright (rated at 600cd/m2). It's certainly great for TV and DVD viewing, but you'll have to be careful with positioning since the surface also shows strong reflections.

Audio is supplied by two Harman Kardon speakers, placed above the keyboard. The company's heritage in high-end speakers is impressive, although these particular 2W per channel examples proved less so. They're fine for a spot of TV, but the lack of volume won't do justice to much else.

Our pre-production sample was supplied with a 1.8GHz Pentium M in place of the 1.7GHz CPU that will ship, and a 4,200rpm 80GB drive in place of the 5,400rpm drive required by Windows MCE. We therefore couldn't benchmark the system, but the final specification shouldn't have any issues handling pretty much anything thrown at it. The only area where it won't do well is gaming. The 64MB nVidia GeForce FX Go5200 will handle less-demanding older titles, but will seize up in fear at the latest blockbusters.

The E10 represents an ambitious attempt to merge computing and consumer electronics. Some good ideas are evident, but it's stuck in limbo: portable but not portable enough; instant-on yet no support for MP3s; a quality but not widescreen panel - the 16:9 version is a few months away. There will be more companies entering the fray, so watch this space.

Author: Roger kirkwood