July 2006
First look: Two high-end laptops that play high-def DVDs
The Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650 and Sony VAIO VGN-AR190G
With Sony and Toshiba competing over the new high-definition DVD formats, it was inevitable that they would use their laptop
lines to showcase these competing (and incompatible) high-def discs. Toshiba came out first, with the Qosmio G35-AV650 ($3,000)--a
souped-up version of the G35-AV600 we recently tested, with an HD DVD player (see our Ratings, available to subscribers). Sony responded with the VAIO VGN-AR190G ($3,500), the flagship in their new AR line of Qosmio-killers. It sports a Blu-ray
recording drive.
Besides their high-def drives, these laptops have 17-inch high-resolution, high-contrast displays for showing 1080p movies. They also have HDMI ports for playing HD movies through your home theater. And their internal TV tuners allow to you watch and record programs, though only from standard-definition TV.
These models perform as well as the most sophisticated desktop computers. As high-def DVD players, they're competent, with fine HD images. However, we had to do some time-consuming fiddling on first use to get them to work well with high-def discs, and battery life is an issue for portable use. And don't plan to use either as your component high-def DVD player or TV set-top box; they simply don't work well with many TV sets.
Toshiba Qosmio G35-AV650
PROS
Sharp display. The 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) display delivered crisp images. While playing HD DVD movies, picture quality was outstanding; we noticed details in the background that didn't show up in regular DVDs. Compared with the non-HD DVD version of the Qosmio, images were sharper, but the display wasn't as bright and the colors were less vibrant. Overall, we rated the display very good.
Very good feature set. The Qosmio comes with an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, two 100-GB hard drives, and a 256-megabyte Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video adapter. It also comes with Bluetooth, a PC Card and an Express Card slot, a memory-card reader, a remote control, and a fingerprint reader. Toshiba includes an IR blaster to control a digital-cable set-top box.
Excellent computing performance. The Qosmio is a fast laptop, suitable for playing 3D games, editing video, and running other demanding applications. If you're willing (and able) to reformat its two hard drives, you can set them up in a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) for potentially better performance.
Great sound. The Qosmio's Harman/Kardon speakers delivered some of the best sound we've heard from a laptop, with very good fidelity and deep bass.
CONS
HD DVD playback. While the G35-AV650 delivered on its promises of sharper video, our HD DVD experience was far from ideal. HD DVD movies didn't automatically play when we inserted the disc. Out-of-the-box playback was choppy. A software update provided smoother playback, but we could still notice jitter in moving images. At its best, overall picture quality was still quite impressive, nonetheless. Volume from the built-in speakers was very low, even at maximum levels. You'll want to attach your own speakers to get decent sound from HD DVDs.
The Qosmio features two other ways to experience your music and videos--the full-screen Windows Media Center interface and the instant-on Qosmioplayer, which saves you from booting up Windows. But both features don't work with HD DVDs. In the Media Center interface, there is an option to play HD DVDs. But selecting that option takes you out of the full-screen interface and back to the desktop. The Qosmioplayer gave errors when we tried to play an HD DVD.
HDMI connectivity problems. As a set-top HD DVD player, the Qosmio had problems when connected via HDMI. On our Sony WEGA KD-34XBR960 1080i set, we couldn't get a picture. On three 1080p HDTV sets (a Sharp AQUOS LC-37D90U LCD, a Westinghouse LVM-42W2 LCD, and a Samsung HL-S5687W rear-projection set), we got a picture but no sound. The picture was in1080i resolution at first, but you can change to 1080p resolution if you dig through the video card's settings. We tried the HDMI audio output through a Samsung HT-Q80 home-theater system, which gave us audio, but it was out of sync with the images. We fixed this by digging through the sound card's settings and disabling Dolby Digital Live. If you don't have a receiver that supports HDMI (or if you experience problems with the HDMI audio), the Qosmio does have an optical S/PDIF port.
To watch HD DVDs on your TV, you will have to switch between outputting video to the notebook's LCD display and an external HDTV. The software does not allow you to mirror HD DVD video on both displays at the same time. We noticed that WinDVD sometimes crashed when switching between video outputs.
Tiny text. To deliver native 1080p video, the Qosmio has to display a very high resolution (WUXGA, or 1920x1200). While great for viewing videos or photos, text is tiny and may be uncomfortable to read for an extended period of time. You can change the DPI in Windows, but the changes are not universal. You can also lower the resolution; however, that makes text readable but somewhat fuzzy.
Limited portability. If you thought this laptop would allow you to enjoy HD DVD movies on the road, think again. At 10.3 lbs., it's one of the heaviest laptops we've tested. Battery life is slightly below average, at 2 ½ hours while running applications. HD DVD playback under battery was only 68 minutes.
Sony VAIO VGN-AR190G
PROS
High-resolution display. Like the Toshiba Qosmio, the 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) glossy display delivered crisp images, especially while playing Blu-ray movies. Unlike the Toshiba, it features an anti-reflective coating that decreases reflections from overhead lighting. We found the display had slightly better color saturation and contrast, and we rated the display very good overall.
It's fully loaded. The Sony laptop has an excellent array of features, with specs similar to those of the Toshiba: an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 200-GB hard drive, a 256-MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video adapter, Bluetooth, a PC Card and an Express Card slot, a remote control, and a memory-card reader. While it doesn't have a fingerprint reader, it does have a webcam and a better software bundle.
Excellent computing performance. Under AC power, the Sony performed extremely well, particularly on 3D games. However, system performance while running on the battery was below average for its class.
CONS
Blu-ray playback. Compared with the Toshiba, playback was smoother but still had many of the same problems. Blu-ray discs don't automatically play when inserted. Again, you'll want to attach your own speakers to play Blu-ray movies as the built-in speakers are not very loud. You also can't play Blu-ray movies through the Media Center interface.
We didn't encounter the same HDMI audio problems we had with the Toshiba. But when we compared its Blu-ray performance side to side with a Samsung Blu-ray BD-P1000 set-top player, motion seemed less natural, with more picture jitter. Further, the WinDVD software doesn't let you mirror the Blu-ray video to both the laptop display and the HDMI port, forcing you to switch outputs. This sometimes caused the WinDVD to crash.
Blu-ray recording. While we had no problems capturing 1080i video from a Sony HDR-HC3 HDV camcorder and burning it to a Blu-ray rewriteable (BD-RE) disc, getting it to play back on our Samsung Blu-ray set-top player caused that player to hang. Burning data to our BD-RE requires patience--it took more than 3 hours to burn 25 GB of data. Finally, Blu-ray discs are expensive, at $20 for a 25-GB Blu-ray writeable (BD-R) and $25 for a 25-GB Blu-ray rewriteable (BD-RE).
Tiny text. Like the Toshiba, text on the Sony's display is tiny and may be difficult to read.
Limited battery performance. The Sony ran for only 2 hours on a charge while running applications. When playing a Blu-ray movie, it managed 64 minutes. Playback under battery was very choppy.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In our preliminary coverage of HD DVD and Blu-ray players, we advise holding off on buying until the war between those formats is settled, and you don't risk investing in equipment or movies that may soon be obsolete (see High-def DVD: Why you should hit 'pause' for more on the battle and our recommendations). The same advice applies for these laptops if they interest you primarily for their high-def DVD performance. Buy them on the basis of their other attributes only, and consider their ability to play movies in high-def--on their screen only, and after some work on your part--as a bonus feature.
If you're looking for a full-featured 17-inch laptop now, there are less-expensive models that offer everything these machines do, except high-def DVD playback; see our laptop Ratings, (available to subscribers). If you really want the capability to play high-def movies on your new laptop, more models will be coming later this year, hopefully with the bugs that hampered these players fixed.
Besides their high-def drives, these laptops have 17-inch high-resolution, high-contrast displays for showing 1080p movies. They also have HDMI ports for playing HD movies through your home theater. And their internal TV tuners allow to you watch and record programs, though only from standard-definition TV.
These models perform as well as the most sophisticated desktop computers. As high-def DVD players, they're competent, with fine HD images. However, we had to do some time-consuming fiddling on first use to get them to work well with high-def discs, and battery life is an issue for portable use. And don't plan to use either as your component high-def DVD player or TV set-top box; they simply don't work well with many TV sets.
PROS
Sharp display. The 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) display delivered crisp images. While playing HD DVD movies, picture quality was outstanding; we noticed details in the background that didn't show up in regular DVDs. Compared with the non-HD DVD version of the Qosmio, images were sharper, but the display wasn't as bright and the colors were less vibrant. Overall, we rated the display very good.
Very good feature set. The Qosmio comes with an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 1 gigabyte of RAM, two 100-GB hard drives, and a 256-megabyte Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video adapter. It also comes with Bluetooth, a PC Card and an Express Card slot, a memory-card reader, a remote control, and a fingerprint reader. Toshiba includes an IR blaster to control a digital-cable set-top box.
Excellent computing performance. The Qosmio is a fast laptop, suitable for playing 3D games, editing video, and running other demanding applications. If you're willing (and able) to reformat its two hard drives, you can set them up in a RAID (Redundant Array of Inexpensive Drives) for potentially better performance.
Great sound. The Qosmio's Harman/Kardon speakers delivered some of the best sound we've heard from a laptop, with very good fidelity and deep bass.
CONS
HD DVD playback. While the G35-AV650 delivered on its promises of sharper video, our HD DVD experience was far from ideal. HD DVD movies didn't automatically play when we inserted the disc. Out-of-the-box playback was choppy. A software update provided smoother playback, but we could still notice jitter in moving images. At its best, overall picture quality was still quite impressive, nonetheless. Volume from the built-in speakers was very low, even at maximum levels. You'll want to attach your own speakers to get decent sound from HD DVDs.
The Qosmio features two other ways to experience your music and videos--the full-screen Windows Media Center interface and the instant-on Qosmioplayer, which saves you from booting up Windows. But both features don't work with HD DVDs. In the Media Center interface, there is an option to play HD DVDs. But selecting that option takes you out of the full-screen interface and back to the desktop. The Qosmioplayer gave errors when we tried to play an HD DVD.
HDMI connectivity problems. As a set-top HD DVD player, the Qosmio had problems when connected via HDMI. On our Sony WEGA KD-34XBR960 1080i set, we couldn't get a picture. On three 1080p HDTV sets (a Sharp AQUOS LC-37D90U LCD, a Westinghouse LVM-42W2 LCD, and a Samsung HL-S5687W rear-projection set), we got a picture but no sound. The picture was in1080i resolution at first, but you can change to 1080p resolution if you dig through the video card's settings. We tried the HDMI audio output through a Samsung HT-Q80 home-theater system, which gave us audio, but it was out of sync with the images. We fixed this by digging through the sound card's settings and disabling Dolby Digital Live. If you don't have a receiver that supports HDMI (or if you experience problems with the HDMI audio), the Qosmio does have an optical S/PDIF port.
To watch HD DVDs on your TV, you will have to switch between outputting video to the notebook's LCD display and an external HDTV. The software does not allow you to mirror HD DVD video on both displays at the same time. We noticed that WinDVD sometimes crashed when switching between video outputs.
Tiny text. To deliver native 1080p video, the Qosmio has to display a very high resolution (WUXGA, or 1920x1200). While great for viewing videos or photos, text is tiny and may be uncomfortable to read for an extended period of time. You can change the DPI in Windows, but the changes are not universal. You can also lower the resolution; however, that makes text readable but somewhat fuzzy.
Limited portability. If you thought this laptop would allow you to enjoy HD DVD movies on the road, think again. At 10.3 lbs., it's one of the heaviest laptops we've tested. Battery life is slightly below average, at 2 ½ hours while running applications. HD DVD playback under battery was only 68 minutes.
PROS
High-resolution display. Like the Toshiba Qosmio, the 17-inch WUXGA (1920x1200) glossy display delivered crisp images, especially while playing Blu-ray movies. Unlike the Toshiba, it features an anti-reflective coating that decreases reflections from overhead lighting. We found the display had slightly better color saturation and contrast, and we rated the display very good overall.
It's fully loaded. The Sony laptop has an excellent array of features, with specs similar to those of the Toshiba: an Intel Core Duo T2500 processor, 1 GB of RAM, a 200-GB hard drive, a 256-MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7600 video adapter, Bluetooth, a PC Card and an Express Card slot, a remote control, and a memory-card reader. While it doesn't have a fingerprint reader, it does have a webcam and a better software bundle.
Excellent computing performance. Under AC power, the Sony performed extremely well, particularly on 3D games. However, system performance while running on the battery was below average for its class.
CONS
Blu-ray playback. Compared with the Toshiba, playback was smoother but still had many of the same problems. Blu-ray discs don't automatically play when inserted. Again, you'll want to attach your own speakers to play Blu-ray movies as the built-in speakers are not very loud. You also can't play Blu-ray movies through the Media Center interface.
We didn't encounter the same HDMI audio problems we had with the Toshiba. But when we compared its Blu-ray performance side to side with a Samsung Blu-ray BD-P1000 set-top player, motion seemed less natural, with more picture jitter. Further, the WinDVD software doesn't let you mirror the Blu-ray video to both the laptop display and the HDMI port, forcing you to switch outputs. This sometimes caused the WinDVD to crash.
Blu-ray recording. While we had no problems capturing 1080i video from a Sony HDR-HC3 HDV camcorder and burning it to a Blu-ray rewriteable (BD-RE) disc, getting it to play back on our Samsung Blu-ray set-top player caused that player to hang. Burning data to our BD-RE requires patience--it took more than 3 hours to burn 25 GB of data. Finally, Blu-ray discs are expensive, at $20 for a 25-GB Blu-ray writeable (BD-R) and $25 for a 25-GB Blu-ray rewriteable (BD-RE).
Tiny text. Like the Toshiba, text on the Sony's display is tiny and may be difficult to read.
Limited battery performance. The Sony ran for only 2 hours on a charge while running applications. When playing a Blu-ray movie, it managed 64 minutes. Playback under battery was very choppy.
THE BOTTOM LINE
In our preliminary coverage of HD DVD and Blu-ray players, we advise holding off on buying until the war between those formats is settled, and you don't risk investing in equipment or movies that may soon be obsolete (see High-def DVD: Why you should hit 'pause' for more on the battle and our recommendations). The same advice applies for these laptops if they interest you primarily for their high-def DVD performance. Buy them on the basis of their other attributes only, and consider their ability to play movies in high-def--on their screen only, and after some work on your part--as a bonus feature.
If you're looking for a full-featured 17-inch laptop now, there are less-expensive models that offer everything these machines do, except high-def DVD playback; see our laptop Ratings, (available to subscribers). If you really want the capability to play high-def movies on your new laptop, more models will be coming later this year, hopefully with the bugs that hampered these players fixed.
