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I have had mine about six months, and am impressed. I owned a Toshiba before this one, so I like the brand and return to it.

First of all thank you Toshiba for still including an actual HD DVD recovery disk. Most computers expect the consumer to make their own. The fit and finish on my unit are perfect. Very solid feel with stylish looks. The screen is beautiful. It is bright and clear and mine has no dead pixels. Keyboard seems great to me, though some express concerns, mine seems very solid and responds perfect. I had never used a fingerprint reader before, but am a believer now. It works great, and helps with security.

Everything i want for this little guy so powerful and i can bring it where i want...trust me

Good Product, Excellent!!!

I have had nothing but trouble with this Qosmio computer. Don't buy it.
No support either period from Toshiba..they just keep referring me
to Microsoft.

Save yourself lots of time, money, and headaches. Don't Buy Toshiba.

Like others have said, this has terrible battery life. The longest I've had it last is an hour and 15 minutes on the Power Saver mode. I haven't even tried the High Performance setting without it being hooked up yet. It is also a big hefty and transporting it can be a problem sometimes. Also, the top gets easily scratched up (in my case at least).

However, I've had no problems with it overheating and it's pretty good for most video games. It runs pretty smoothly and rarely gets stuck thinking.

I'm a video gamer, and this will run most semi-current games without a hitch, all settings at max, so long as they're not CPU-intensive. BioShock will run like a dream; Mass Effect, not so much (but there is a fix to make it much more playable).

I would recommend this to anyone who wants a semi-fast machine that can run movies with ease. Just make sure it's connected to power before you start.

This is a pretty cool computer with great media features BUT it has the poorest battery life ever and it's always overheating, not to mention it weighs a ton.

Although the screen is bright and the sound is amazing I still Will not recommend.

First of all Amazon sent me this laptop priority overnight (arrived the next morning, two hours after the e-mail notifying me it had been shipped) after I signed with a free trial of Prime. They also gave me a $100 discount toward the Qosmio purchase because I purchased two HD-DVD players from them back in late 2007 (when HD-DVD and Blu-ray were battling it out). What can I say? Amazon rocks! :-)

When my five-year old Medeon laptop died a few weeks ago I agonized whether to get a new laptop with HD-DVD or Blu-ray for under $1,000 as a replacement. I love high-def movies and own more HD-DVD's than Blu-ray now, but plan to get more Blu movies in the future. The Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV423 is the ideal laptop for my high-def viewing needs right now. If you value CPU horsepower, hard drive space, speedy performance, 3D-intensive computer gaming or anything not involving HD-DVD viewing (or prefer Blu-ray) there are better deals/laptops elsewhere. For road warriors that want some HD-DVD love on the go this Qosmio delivers the goods.

When hooked to my HDTV with an HDMI cable the F45-AV423 recognized it as a 1920x1080 LCD and filled the screen properly (at 1080p/60Hz). I had to turn off the laptop display on the Qosmio to see HD-DVD movies on my HDTV (regular computing applications can have both screens on). Except for some sparkles (visible only when I was really close to my HDTV) my HD-DVD movies looked as good on my TV set as my XBox 360 HD-DVD add-on (component) or Toshiba HD-A20 player (HDMI). I changed the laptop's sound output from 5.1 to 2.0 stereo and 2.1 surround, and that was reflected in the HDTV's speakers. Don't have a surround system but SPDIF is supported for surround systems without HDMI inputs). If you want to use a laptop as a primary or back-up HD-DVD player connected to an HDTV (surround system notwithstanding) the F45-AV423 passes muster.

Using the default Toshiba HD-DVD player software 18 of 20 HD-DVD's I tried on this laptop (including notoriously unreliable Universal combos like "Children of Men" and "Hollywoodland") played without a hitch. Downloading the newest/latest WinVideo program (which also supports Blu-ray) might do the trick for the few HD-DVD movies (like "American Gangster") that won't play. Even at 1280x800 on a 15.4" screen (which isn't true widescreen and has black bars) HD-DVD movies were much sharper than regular DVD's. My "Hot Fuzz" HD-DVD looked incredible (slight glare from a brightly lit room notwithstanding) and the sound was no slouch either. The Harman Kardon speakers and small subwoofer in this Qosmio are a step above the crap-for-sound audio from most laptops. The drive loads, plays and ejects discs (DVD or HD-DVD) silently, an improvement over the vacuum cleaner sound of my old laptop's drive spinning furiously when playing a disc. Other regular computer applications (computer games, web surfing, webcam, etc.) worked fine while an HD-DVD disc played, neither blazingly fast or agonizingly slow. And from a stylish point of view the black & white colors, combined with the button interface (love the wheel volume control) give this Qosmio an attractive look.

Its not all roses though. A battery that lasted 75 minutes after turning off all unnecessary applications (and a full recharge) hinders the F45-AV423's ability to function as a truly portable HD-DVD player. Even when not in use this laptop's battery loses power when the unit's unplugged. I knew when I bought this model that Qosmio laptops in general have poor battery life but this is ridiculous. Also having to settle for the 1280x800 rez of the F45-AV423 screen might not be easier for perfectionists used to the ultra-sharpness of 1080p. The amount of bloatware Toshiba shoves into the hard drive is a nuisance to get rid off. I don't use bluetooth but its exclusion in this supposedly advanced multimedia Toshiba model is puzzling (especially since its included in lesser brands/models). The laptop/keyboard looks great but the ergonomics feel a little bit flimsy and made of cheap plastic, like an expensive toy that you don't want to abuse for fear its going to break. The all-white keyboard and black exterior are just begging to get dirty and/or fingerprint ravaged. Depending on extensive usage you might also want to note that the F45-AV423 overheats a little around the portion that connects the screen to the keyboard (the plasticky construction material doesn't help). Did I mention the battery charge lasts less than the length of an average Disney feature-length movie?

In conclusion, if you're reading this you're either bargain shopping or want an HD-DVD laptop because you've invested (or were burned, take your pick) in HD-DVD movies. Everything else the F45-AV423 can do besides HD-DVD a lot of other computer brands/models can do just as good or better for less money. What the F45-AV423 offers is the most affordable path to portable HD-DVD entertainment from the company that created the now-defunct format. You're expecting reliability you're not sure you'll get from the few Acer or HP HD-DVD laptops still floating around. Whether HD-DVD is important enough for you to invest on this Qosmio model depends entirely on your portable computing needs and how many high-def movies you own (or plan to keep). Me? I love HD-DVD, plan to keep it (and buy cheap HD-DVD movies whenever I can find them) and want a laptop I can take with me to play some of that high-def goodness. For my particular needs (which might or might not mirror yours) the Qosmio F45-AV423 delivers the goods at an attractive price. Highly recommended, and will update is something happens (good or bad) over the next few weeks/months.