Rating: 9/10
All audiophiles know that component Hi-Fi systems are the way to go when searching for ultimate sound quality. While these may be able to pump out clear crisp tones and connect with your fleet of home-entertainment equipment, they come into their own once you've invited your friends round. You can only impress yourself so much, after all.
With its black lacquer finish, subtle blue lighting and silver, component Hi-Fi style feet, the Toshiba G20 could slot in seamlessly with your vision of minimalist, technological chic - nestled near the plasma television no-doubt. Feature-wise, this is the perfect habitat for Windows Media Center Edition 2005. Though in its multimedia role you may well spend more time utilising your television to view the G20's display output, either through S-video or the supplied composite lead, watching analogue television on the seventeen-inch widescreen Trubrite screen is, quite simply, a joy. Colours are vibrant and blacks are beautifully black, thanks in part to a glossy and more reflection-prone screen coating.
The rest of the G20's chassis is similarly impressive. It manages an imposing presence without being overbearing. Again, this bodes well if you're on the lookout for a new home-entertainment playmate, though it's cruelly easy to go from smart to scruffy by adorning your new toy with scores of fingerprints. Polishing will soon become second nature.
Even though it's at the top end of the G20 range, the specifications are not the most powerful of current laptops. Internals are still impressive though. Hard drive configurations range from dual 60GBs to dual 100GBs, capable of Raid 0 and 1 settings. CPUs range from a 1.73 GHz Intel at the bottom end, to 2.13 GHz in the most expensive incarnation. While RAM also grows from 512MBs to a substantial 1GB, video capabilities come courtesy of an NVidia GeForce Go 6600 chip, capable of a respectable 2413 score in the 3DMark 05 standard benchmarks.
Of course, all this technological prowess comes at a price. Battery-life is limited at best with two hours being the most time you can expect to be free of a main outlet for. Similarly unsurprisingly, you're not going to be able to go for too long with the G20 slung over your shoulder as, at 4.3kgs it's not especially light. These are by no means unexpected imperfections as this is more of a desktop-replacement than a petite portable. By way of recompense for its shortfalls, the G20 holds the party piece of being able to play DVDs, Audio CDs and even show television broadcasts without loading Windows. Though the laptop is far from sluggish when booting up, this can ensure even faster access to entertainment and valuable lengthening of battery-life when on the go.
Ultimately, Toshiba have been careful to pay attention to details with the G20. Even sound, a traditional stumbling block for laptops, has been well thought out with integrated Harmon Kardon speakers. Certainly, it doesn't come cheap but is worth serious consideration for those looking to invest in a home-entertainment centre, although television enthusiasts may wish to wait for integrated digital TV tuners to grace the Qosmio range.
For more information, visit Micromart.co.uk