Toshiba upgrades Qosmio laptop line with HD DVD recording
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(Credit:
Toshiba)
The oddly named Qosmio series of laptops from Toshiba has always been a favorite of high-end home theater types, combining big, bright screens with HD DVD drives and Harman Kardon speakers.
The latest update, the Qosmio G45-AV680, adds a recordable HD DVD drive (not as common as recordable Blu-ray drives) and keeps the line's built-in Dolby surround-sound technology and high-resolution 1,920x1,200 display. The G45 returns to Toshiba's glossy white "piano finish," unlike the recent G35's matte gray look, and has both a large, circular volume wheel and an AV control wheel.
Other highlights include an HDMI port, draft 802.11n Wi Fi, built-in subwoofer, an external USB TV tuner, and a DirectX 10 video card, the Nvidia GeForce 8600M GT.
Of course, all this multimedia power doesn't come cheap. The Qosmio G45-AV680 (with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7300 CPU, 2GB of RAM and dual 160GB hard drives) is a whopping $3,199, and is available starting today.
New York native Dan Ackerman, a former radio DJ turned journalist, has written about technology and music for publications including Spin, Blender, The Hollywood Reporter, and USA Today. He hosts the weekly Digital City podcast and the New York edition of Editors' Office Hours. Dan's new album, Tales Out of Night School, is available now. E-mail Dan. 
