Toshiba Qosmio F755-3D290: Glasses-Free 3D?
by Dustin Sklavos on November 23, 2011 1:10 AM ESTConclusion: A Clear Miss
Reviewing Toshiba's Qosmio F755-3D290 was unfortunately both very easy and very difficult to do. It's easy for anyone to gripe about something and as a reviewer I take my job seriously; you're going to be a lot more miffed about an unpleasant surprise with your new purchase than a pleasant one. The fact remains, though, that I do have to go back and deal with a product's reps and PR, and I have to explain to them why that product reviewed poorly. I'm also personally a fan of Toshiba's products; Toshiba makes good hardware for people on a budget and I've always been happy with that, even failing my complaints over their stylistic decisions.
The problem is that the Qosmio F755 isn't remotely improved from when I saw the prototype back in January. The demonstration there looked promising, but with the final product in hand all I have to show for my time is mediocre 2D-to-3D video conversion, 3D Vision that appears in software but doesn't actually work, and 3D calibration software written in Engrish. Toshiba makes matters worse by offering the F755 with a baffling hardware configuration. It even goes downhill from there, with the dire battery life. Unfortunately, there's just more to dislike about the F755 than there is to like.
Toshiba's base model is $1,299 and the only loss is on the CPU, downgrading to an i5-2410M. At that price it's still not acceptable and worlds away from alternatives from Dell or Compal. You're paying for the glasses-free 3D screen, but the problem is that the 3D is busted from the factory and barely works. In exchange, you sacrifice battery life, mobility, and overall screen and build quality, and that's before taking the price tag into account. If the 3D at least worked, you could probably make a case for that novelty, but it doesn't and I don't think it's going to be fixed anytime soon.
As I said, I generally love working with Toshiba's hardware because I can usually make a case for it. The Qosmio F755, unfortunately, feels misconceived from top to bottom. The screen technology doesn't appear to be ready for the mass market, at least not from this encounter, and the software underlying it needed a lot more time and polish. With very little to recommend it over competing 15.6" notebooks, I have no choice but to suggest you avoid the F755. Hopefully Toshiba can take another crack at the technology sometime in the future, but right now it's not ready for the marketplace and most definitely not worth opening up your wallet.
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Denithor - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
Thinking that's supposed to be a laptop model?
eio - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
looks like there are some serious bugs with the software stack...but technically this is one of the most advanced glass-free 3D screen out there, and should provide much more natural & comfortable 3D effect on real 3D content, which could easily beat anything on the consumer market, even the professional market.
it's a pity that it isn't functioning properly in the test.
Matrices - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
I don't know why anyone feels they need an IPS laptop unless they're doing graphics work that requires full color accuracy. The best TN desktop screens provide very good image quality - much better than what was available 2 years ago, and viewing angles are usually less of an issue with laptops.Some laptop screens are good. The Dell 15" that's currently out has an RGB+ option and it looks amazing. The Alienware screens look good if you're OK with glossy.
Braumin - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
Drab washed out screens with a really obvious change of color depending on how you hold it is good image quality?The screen quality is one of the top reasons I just ordered a Thinkpad X220 - IPS screens are just miles above the garbage TN panels everyone is using now (except Apple).
The one thing you use more than anything on a laptop is the screen (more than even the keyboard) so why would you not want a good one?
GuinnessKMF - Wednesday, November 23, 2011 - link
How does the 3D fair in regards to eye strain? I have an Evo 3D phone and it's horrible to look at in 3D mode. Myself and everyone I've shared it with has said "that's cool looking but, it hurts my eyes" The videos are better than pictures, but I much prefer the way active lense 3D treats my eyes.People talk about being uncomfortable with glasses on for 3D content, in my experience the glasses are much better than the glasses-free version.
eio - Thursday, November 24, 2011 - link
the screen on this toshiba laptop shall give much less eye strain than other glass-free 3D screens, and also less than the ones with glasses, if it is functioning.because this screen has an array of adjustable lenticular micro lens on top of the LCD screen, and it will actively adjust the light path to fit with your view point, which is captured by camera in real time.
the down side is it can only be used by one people, since the screen cannot fit with 2 pair of eyes simultaneously. what's why this technology is used on laptop prior than TV