Toshiba Qosmio G30

As a desktop replacement, portability isn't too important, but you should certainly note the Qosmio's 4.8kg weight. The battery life is reasonable for a system of its size, with 3hrs 11mins light use time and 1hr 49mins under intensive use.

The G30 offers a superb media centre experience, and the HD DVD drive makes it a must-have for early adopters. But everyone else should consider how badly they really want that drive: the G30 is similarly priced to the Evesham Quest A620, but comes nowhere near that for power in either 2D or 3D applications. The screen resolution and speaker quality of the G30 are major plus points and, if you want the best Windows Media Center notebook, there's no competition. But as the first discs are only just available, we'd be inclined to let the format war play out a little before investing this heavily.

Author: David Bayon