Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q850

The Alienware M17x (*Est. $1,500 and up) is the undisputed king of gaming laptops, but the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q850 is considered a great value -- especially when you consider that the M17x isn't fully unleashed without the upgrades and add-ons that easily push its price northward of $4,000. This Toshiba laptop boasts impressive components for the price, including an Intel Core i7 processor, 6 GB of memory, Blu-ray drive, 320 GB hard drive and a 64 GB solid-state drive. The 18.4-inch, 1,920-by-1,200-pixel display looks great, especially when used to watch HD video, and the built-in speakers are praised for offering good audio quality.

Game play is good, but the Toshiba laptop has just one graphics card (Nvidia GeForce GTS 250M), so it has lower frame rates than the Alienware M17x. That means that hard-core gamers may want to look elsewhere, such as at that M17x, and be prepared to spend more. On the other hand, less expensive configurations of the Toshiba X505 are also available, including the Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q830 (*Est. $1,450 and up). That version includes the same i7 processor, Blu-ray drive and 320 GB hard drive as the X505-Q850, but it has 4 GB of memory and lacks the solid-state drive.

The Toshiba Qosmio X505-Q850 is relatively new, so it has yet to attract a great deal of coverage. The best reviews of the Toshiba gaming laptop come from CNET and Laptop Magazine. Both sites conduct extensive testing on the laptop and rate it on a 5-point scale. CNET's coverage is especially helpful since reviewer Dan Ackerman compares the Toshiba Qosmio X505 to the Alienware M17x. PCMag.com has yet to rate the laptop, but it offers a helpful first look.