If you’re lusting for HD-DVD playback, dazzling display, and powerful sound the Toshiba Qosmio offers but just can’t swallow the $2,000-plus price tag, you’re in luck. The new Qosmio F45-AV412 has many of the most desirable features of it’s older sibling, but its price tag starts at a reasonable $1,649. The fairly portable 6.6 pound F45-AV412 forgoes a 17-inch screen for a 15.4-inch 1280×800-pixel TruBrite display. You still get built-in Dolby surround sound technology and an HD-DVD-ROM/DVD SuperMulti+/-DL optical drive for enjoying the latest high-def movies. Connect this notebook to your HDTV via the HDMI port to get true 1080i resolution in your living room. This multimedia machine is powered by a 1.8-GHz Core 2 Duo processor and 2GB of RAM, and it comes with a huge 250GB hard drive to store all of your favorite movies, music and pictures.
Toshiba Qosmio F45-AV412; starting at $1,649; www.toshiba.com