Toshiba DX735 All-in-One: Notebooks Without Batteries
by Dustin Sklavos on November 22, 2011 12:00 AM ESTConclusion: Straddling the Fence
My recommendation for the Toshiba DX735 is a bit of a sideways one. I will say that of the three all-in-ones I've tested recently, I like it the best, because Toshiba was able to find the kind of balance that eluded Dell and HP. Each of those systems had major strengths, but they also felt half-baked in other ways. For better or worse, Toshiba played it safe with the DX735 and came out at the end with a machine that at least seems like a reasonable option.
Where the DX735 falters is honestly the software and the price. Toshiba doesn't seem to have even really tried as far as the software goes; that bulletin board application is a holdover from older touchscreen systems. I reviewed a laptop with a touchscreen for PC World in the summer of 2009 that ran the exact same application, and at least there it made sense that the software referred to the computer as a laptop. There aren't any allowances for taking advantage of the touchscreen, it's just there.
And then there's price. While the DX735 surpasses the HP and Dell units I've tested in some ways, I can tell you right off the bat I wouldn't recommend it. I like the mobile i5 in this particular configuration, but power users are going to want to upgrade to the i7-2670QM model while others will probably be served just fine by a similar unit from a different vendor at a cheaper price that runs an AMD Athlon II or Intel Core i3. (I wouldn't recommend any Dell units using their current chassis given its heat problems with the hard drive.) This Toshiba sells for $899 $849 at Best Buy and that's not bad, but it's not stellar. We dinged the Dell and HP units for including subpar discrete GPUs, and Toshiba manages to avoid that pitfall by eschewing discrete graphics entirely; the problem is that the price is such that you'd expect to find a bit more muscle inside.
That leaves our DX735 in kind of a weird space, just like its peers. This is a situation where the old axiom "there are no bad products, only bad prices" would seem relevant, except the price is basically right for the hardware included. Unfortunately, for its intended market I just don't see what good spending up on a mobile Core i5 will really do compared to a desktop Core i3. If you want performance a model that includes an i7-2670QM is also available for under a grand at Best Buy, if you're interested.
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piroroadkill - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Someone I know was looking at iMacs, because they're tasty looking, and for many reasons I agree.Why won't a PC manufacturer make a good all-in-one? A decent graphics card and an IPS panel is all you need to match an iMac, but it would still not cost as much as an iMac..
With TN screens and integrated graphics (the guy would want to run AutoCAD and Inventor on it) it is absolutely useless.
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Anyone who wants to run AutoCAD on an all-in-one is barking up the wrong tree.brybir - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
I agree with the author here, very much not the target market for these machines. Unless he has a really constrained space, he would be better off getting a nice HP Elitebook with freestanding monitor for the same price, and then getting the added benefit of portability when he needed it. Or, he could get the same PC + freestanding IPS monitor and save a considerable amount of money.piroroadkill - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
I agree. Guess it would be nice to be able to suggest an all in one that is at least as capable and has a nice screen like an iMac.Once people get it in their heads they want something that pretty, it becomes difficult to sway them.
ggathagan - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
If we look at the demographic that the AIO seems to be targeting, it's the casual-to-medium duty market.
While not always the case, the last several generations of iMAc have certainly been more than adequate to that task.
Aesthetics is certainly a valid reason to like the Apple in this market, especially since the screen on an iMac *is* far better.
In addition, if someone has the know-how, or knows someone who has the know-how, the boot camp option takes care of any platform-specific needs.
Ironically, I think that Apple shot themselves in the foot somewhat by going to a 21.5" screen for the smaller iMac.
When they decided to go from a 24" screen to a 27" model for the larger iMac, they should have moved to 23" for the smaller model.
That is one factor that may attract shoppers away from the iMac, even if other aspects of the PC AIO's don't match Apples's quality.
vozmem - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
I thought it was a Toshiba TV.Dribble - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
That gets a GT 555M, various processors, nvdia 3d vision. Would be more the sort thing I would be after as a replacement for my acer 8920G laptop for the family to use - for surfing, ms office work, kids gaming, watching stuff, viewing 3d photos (yes I own a 3d camera).JarredWalton - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
I'll tell Dustin to try asking for a review unit, but considering Lenovo hasn't been willing to ship us any laptops for about two years, I doubt it will happen.Roland00Address - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Thankfully you can always plug in external speakersGolgatha - Tuesday, November 22, 2011 - link
Needs a TV Tuner and VESA mounting holes so I can mount it on a wall in my kitchen. Would love to have a networked TV with a full fledged Windows PC capable of being the perfect HTPC in a highly integrated package. Would be nice to be able to plug in a portable Bluray drive or mount Bluray ISO rips into it for high definition movies in the kitchen too.