Toshiba Qosmio G15-AV501

I used to be a big TabletPC fan. A year ago I purchased a Toshiba M205 TabletPC and I found it to be a fine machine. It was reliable. It had a great keyboard. It had a rotten screen for viewing. The screen resolution was incredible but it was like trying to see that resolution through a schmear of Vaseline. The M205 screen was so awful to view I ripped off the screen protector that Toshiba installed by default. With that low-grade protector gone from the screen I was finally able to see what I was working on and I had also nullified my warranty and my extended warranty and transformed my machine from a TabletPC to a regular notebook. The screen was quite fine after removing the filmy film and it reminded me of my bright, but tiny, Sony Vaio XBrite screen. The result of my rebellion was a sticky residue left behind on the M205 screen after I pulled off the protector. There was no easy way to remove the sticky residue and all the dirt and grime of the world made a permanent home on my new grungy, but viewable, M205 screen. I have had the Toshiba Qosmio G15-AV501 in my hands for about a week and it is an impressive machine. My M205 TabletPC is now sitting alone on the shelf. The Qosmio line of computers are not notebooks; they are desktop replacements in a giant laptop form. My Qosmio weighs in at around 10 pounds and that makes is solid in more ways that weight alone. The 17" screen is superbright at 60 nits and that high light output power is achieved through the use of two backlights instead of just one. I have 100 gigs of space divided between separate 60gig and 40gig drives. I have a built-in television tuner. I have Bluetooth and a/b/g Wi-Fi and Harman/Kardon speakers built-in. I have an even better keyboard than my M205. The Qosmio line is intended to be a computer and an Audio/Visual haven and the machine succeeds on all counts. Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 is also bundled with the machine and it makes the A/V experience exceptionally easy to set up and regularly enjoy. This Qosmio is a monster and I appreciate if I really need to go mobile I can but if I just want to have a powerful machine in a single frame for ease-of-use and mobility, I have it right here between my fingers. I was a founding member of Team Toshiba on CompuServe around 1993 or so and my day-to-day job there was to support Toshiba laptops. It was a joy to be a part of Team Toshiba because the laptops were solid and of high quality and the problems people had were mainly because of their own technological misfortune and not necessarily the inadequacies of Toshiba as a manufacturer. The Qosmio G15-AV501 rekindled my old flame for Team Toshiba and everything about this machine screams quality and purity of design that have always been hallmarks no other company can touch and those hallmarks are why those of us in-the-know have always loved Toshiba.