Need Some Advice

I am by no means a Toshiba hater but I think that if you are looking to spend $2k or $3k on a notebook the G30 isn’t really the way to go, especially if you are looking to go closer to $3k, unless you really need an HD DVD drive right now. Personally I believe that if you are going to be spending more than $2500 on a notebook it should have at least a nVidia 7800/7900 or comparable ATI card.

Look at what’s out there:
Nicely speced Sony AR170 for around $2300, that has a 7600GT
Dell XPS M1710 with a 7900 GS for around $2300
Dell XPS M1710 with a 7900 GTX for around $2700
Dell E1705 with a 7900GS for around $1700
Toshiba P100 with a 7900 GTX for $2000 - $2800
Toshiba P105 with a 7900GS for around $2000
Alienware m5750 with a X1800 for $2100-$2500

And that’s just a partial list, I have no idea what companies like Sager, Asus, Fujitsu, etc. are offering when it comes to 17” notebooks, but I am sure they have some 17” powerhouses. I don’t know much about the G30/G35 so maybe there is something special about them, I am not aware of, that warrant that relatively high price tag even for the models without the HD DVD drive. So if you know that the G30 has some features that fit you better than the other notebooks out there than that’s the choice for you, but if you are just looking for a fast processor and strong graphics card I think there may be a few more suitable models in that price range.

thanks heaps jav, that info was more than helpful. I think I was too blinded by the specs of the toshiba g30 that I failed to see the current uselessness of the HD DVD drive.

The Dell XPS M1710 7900 GTX has really caught my eye so I think I might go for that one now.

Anyway thanks again for the great info, your a champ.