Toshiba Qosmio G15-AV501/R 17" Notebook PC (Mobile Intel Pentium M Processor 745 (Centrino), 512MB, 100 GB Hard Drive, DVD SuperMulti Drive)

Rating:
Summary: Amazon.com does not pay rebate on the Toshiba G15
Review: Don't buy this notebook. I have been waiting for a $100 rebate since last December 2004 after purchasing the Toshiba G15. I have made four inquiries on their website regarding payment of the rebate. They have not responded to any of the inquiries. I have filed complaints with the Federal Trade Commission and the BBB regarding these delays.

Rating:
Summary: Toshiba does it again
Review: I have had several Toshiba notebooks, and have never had a problem with one of them. They all still work, but I retired and/or donated them due to technological improvements. I am VERY pleased with this new model. Not only is it incredibly fast for day to day computer tasks, but the screen is awesome! DVDs look great, and unlike the prior reviewer, with the unit hooked up to my DirecTV, the TV quality is also great. Even the sound is pretty good with just the computer's speakers.

Main drawbacks: the manuals could be better, both in terms of explaining how to set and utilize the many features, but also in terms of interfacing the set up with the Windows Media Center 2005. For example, the remote for the computer doesn't sync up with what the Windows guide assumes you have in terms of ability to plug in numbers on the remote key pad. Ditto for other types of accessories, like the D-Link Media Player, Rhapsody, AOL Radio, etc. (although all of these company's customer service, with the exception of AOL, which saw a tad better, SUCK at this). It took a couple of tech geeks to get it all set up and working (Kudos to the Geek Squad for getting the all the features set up on the notebook and getting the D-Link up and running, but the notebook was really the least of the problems, it was really getting the router, D-Link media player, Rhapsody and AOL to all work together). It was worth it though, because the Rhapsody running through my Denon receiver on 5 channel stereo through my home stereo speakers ROCKS!!!! A sleep timer would be nice for dozing off to the TV, and more choices on the remote, since turning the unit on by the remote boots up the computer. A separate button to turn on the TV, DVD only would be nice and make sense.

Bottom line, buy it and have a brave new world of multimedia possibilities open up to you at home and on the road!

Rating:
Summary: Poor TV quality
Review: If you are looking at this computer for its TV tuner, don't bother. I have a 6 year old (ATI)video card in my old desk top computer that has a much better TV image. There are other problems besides the image:
1. The sound doesn't quite synchronize with the image
2. Most channels have an annoying bar of flickering pixels at the very top of the screen.
3. They tout the instant on feature without booting Windows, but don't tell you that only channels 2-13 are available in that mode.

You are better off getting a cheaper laptop and small portable LCD TV than this one computer.

Rating:
Summary: Toshiba! Once again....
Review: Quote
"
1. The sound doesn't quite synchronize with the image
2. Most channels have an annoying bar of flickering pixels at the very top of the screen.
3. They tout the instant on feature without booting Windows, but don't tell you that only channels 2-13 are available in that mode.
"

1- I bought the same model and dont have any problems at all... but I can suggest while you are using tv feature, you should close all other background processes (personal ones of course). That should overcome the problem!
2- That is not caused by TV card mostly it is from broadcasted channels. I used 2 different types of TV cards on my desktop before and they had the same flickers due to the broadcasted channels! normally you wouldnt see it on you tv because it is probably over sized from the back tube! or TV res is too low that you cant really realize!
3- Totally you are wrong! Because there is a setting if you press F2 key while watching tv which will bring up setup menu so you can rescan all channels so they ll show? Why should you do that? Because it is not windows and not using windows settings!! It is qosmio player which I assume there is another chip that controls this features! If you press F1 you ll see guides menu which shows what each button stands or sets for!

All in all, I m pretty satisfied with this laptop! I currently owned a p15 s479 and this one came on right time to replace it :) For new bees, I suggest you to click buttons and discover instead of complaining! :) and read the manuals! although you may find it boring, in some parts there are really cool informations! If you have money and like the state-of-the-art stuffs you should buy it! But once again, you must be open to discoveries :) google is there and keys are under yyour kontrols if you dont know search it!