3. A Beautiful Monster

If pressed to describe the Qosmio in two words, we would choose "beautiful monster." That's because while this laptop is very good-looking - downright stylish, in fact - it's also big and heavy. The unit is 1.9" thick, 11.5" deep, and 16" wide (4.8 x 29.2 x 40.6 cm) and weighs in at 9.5 lbs (4.3 kg) by itself, with another 2 lbs (900 g) for its brick of a power supply. To its credit, Toshiba bills the Qosmio as a desktop replacement rather than a laptop. Indeed, the unit is big enough that travelers crazy enough to lug one and want to use it on a plane will simply have to fly first class, because the Qosmio is bigger than a typical tray table in economy class.

The G25 is also too big to cram into any of our hard or soft-sided briefcases, which is also probably why Toshiba includes no carrying case with the unit (though they will sell you a Zero Halliburton case especially designed to accommodate this sleek beast of a machine). Well yes, the G25 does come with a lightweight bag with a flap that closes with Velcro, but that bag is only good for extra protection after the computer is stored in a much safer case.

Once you get past the machine's format and layout, there's a lot to like about the Qosmio. Enough, in fact, that we need to tackle this review in multiple parts. You'll find us dealing with the Qosmio from multiple perspectives on the next few pages, assessing how it works as a:

Media Center PC, both as a personal and a family entertainment center Conventional Windows XP machine Standalone media player, using the Toshiba Qosmio player software

Along the way we'll also share our likes and dislikes regarding this interesting and capable computer.