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E3 2008: Toshiba is a lonely hardware vendor

New gaming laptops from Toshiba

Dan Ackerman Editorial Director / Computers and Gaming
Dan Ackerman leads CNET's coverage of computers and gaming hardware. A New York native and former radio DJ, he's also a regular TV talking head and the author of "The Tetris Effect" (Hachette/PublicAffairs), a non-fiction gaming and business history book that has earned rave reviews from the New York Times, Fortune, LA Review of Books, and many other publications. "Upends the standard Silicon Valley, Steve Jobs/Mark Zuckerberg technology-creation myth... the story shines." -- The New York Times
Expertise I've been testing and reviewing computer and gaming hardware for over 20 years, covering every console launch since the Dreamcast and every MacBook...ever. Credentials
  • Author of the award-winning, NY Times-reviewed nonfiction book The Tetris Effect; Longtime consumer technology expert for CBS Mornings
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Dan Ackerman

As one of the only PC hardware vendors at this year's stripped-down E3 video game trade show, Toshiba at least hasn't had to compete with bigger names such as Alienware and Voodoo for attention.

The company is here at the Los Angeles Convention Center to show off some of its latest laptops, including the just-announced gamer-friendly Qosmio X305-Q701--a 17-inch Best Buy exclusive. (Matt Elliott has previously blogged about Toshiba's direct-sale version of the redesigned X305).

It's not exactly cutting edge, with an Nvidia GeForce 9700M graphics card and an Intel Core 2 Duo P7350 CPU, but at around $1,500, it's a decent deal on a dual-purpose gaming and multimedia rig. Gateway has had a lot of success recently with similar midrange gaming systems designed for retail shoppers.

We've always liked the Qosmio line for its attractive designs and excellent build quality, and Toshiba has recently expanded the line to include its gaming laptops (now decked out in a fiery red chassis), which previously were part of the more pedestrian Satellite line. Stay tuned for a full review of this new X305, which we expect in the CNET Labs shortly.