Some things in the PC universe can change a lot in a short period of time. We're now living in a world of touch screens, detachable keyboards, and 12-plus hours of battery life. Other things remain stubbornly the same, much like the Toshiba Qosmio X75, a thick throwback of a laptop packed with high-end CPU and GPU parts, a flashy red-accented body, and a lack of modern concessions (no touch screen here).
Toshiba Qosmio X75
The Good
The Bad
The Bottom Line
But, that's not to say sticking to your guns is necessarily a bad thing. Instead of a throwback, we might call the X75 a stoically traditional desktop replacement laptop. Sure, the design may have gotten a tweak or two, and the last couple of Qosmio generations are a little thinner and lighter than the models from a few years ago, but this is still a classic anchored-to-the-desk 17-inch laptop -- a category with fewer players right now than any time in recent memory.
The main difference between the new X75 and the X875, which was itself only launched at the beginning of 2013, is the move to the latest generation of Intel and Nvidia parts. This system has a fourth-gen quad-core Core i7 CPU, plus Nvidia's new GeForce 770M GPU, putting it fairly close to the top of the heap in performance. You could spec out more expensive systems with more bells and whistles from Alienware, Origin PC, and others, but the Qosmio is more interested in riding the line between gaming rig and multimedia machine (hence the recordable Blu-ray drive in our configuration).
This specific config, the X75-A7298, is $1,799, and includes the Intel Core i7-4700, the Nvidia GeForce 770M, a Blu-ray burner, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive/256GB solid-state drive (SSD) storage combo. If you can skip a few frills, the exact same CPU/GPU combo is available for $1,199, but without the Blu-ray, SSD, and so on. In terms of performance, I've got no complaints about the value here. On the other hand, especially for $1,799, but even at $1,199, this is essentially a big aluminum-and-plastic box that feels "budget" in the hand. Everything, from the clacky keyboard to the shiny red highlights, feels a bit subpremium. At least these don't have painted-on flames anymore. And don't get me started on a 2013 Windows 8 laptop, even one intended for gaming, not having a touch screen.
If I could insert the Qosmio X75's internal components into a nicer body, with a touch screen and a silent keyboard, I'd buy one today. Instead, what we have is the guts of a great 2013 laptop at reasonable price, stuck in a body that feels a few years out of date.