Toshiba NB205 Netbook Review Roundup

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Toshiba NB205 Netbook Overview

Toshiba releases their first netbook to the U.S. market this year with Toshiba NB205. It’s a 10.1-inch netbook that comes with a standard specification which most other netbooks are having today (Intel Atom N280 CPU, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, 6-cell battery, etc). Here’s the detail specification for Toshiba NB205:

  • 10.1-inch diagonal widescreen TruBrite backlit LED display (WSVGA)
  • Intel Atom N280 processor (1.66GHz)
  • 1GB DDR2 800MHz RAM, upgradeable to 2GB
  • Spacious Storage with a 160GB HDD2
  • TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor
  • 6-cell battery delivering up to 9 hours of productivity
  • 802.11 b/g wireless and 10/100 Ethernet
  • Bluetooth V2.1 + EDR
  • Built-in Webcam, speaker and microphone
  • One USB port with Sleep-and-Charge and two additional USB 2.0 ports
  • Memory Card Reader Slot
  • RGB port for connecting to external displays
  • Weight: 2.9 lbs.
  • Windows XP Home operating system

While the specification for this netbook is pretty standard, the Toshiba NB205 stands out from the crowd with its extra long battery life, ergonomic keyboard & touchpad, and a unique textured lid that’s fingerprint-resistant.

Toshiba NB205 Review Roundup

Toshiba might be a little late to the U.S. netbook market, but being late is not always a bad thing. It gives Toshiba the opportunity to watch and takes in all the buzz being generated in the netbook market and glean from all the rants about these devices ways to improve upon its own product. As a result, this netbook has everything that we would recommend for a netbook: a decent system performance, 8 hours of excellent battery life, ergonomic keyboard and touchpad that’s comfortable to use, and also an affordable price that’s according to the public’s demand.

Most reviewers give very high rating to this netbook. Laptop Magazine and PC Mag for instance rated it 4.5 out of 5 and selected it as one of their ‘Editor’s Choice’. Cnet rated it 3.5 out of 5 while PC World gives it a rating of 89 out of 100. Overall, all of them find the Toshiba NB205 to have a decent system performance, and are expecially impressed with its extra long battery life. There are however some drawbacks found on this netbook such as a weak speaker and bulky battery that sticks out from the back of the machine.

Here are the summary good and bad for the Toshiba NB205:

Good:

  • Long battery life that can last for more than 8 hours.
  • Large touchpad and full-size keyboard that are comfortable to use.
  • Unique and stylish design with a textured lid that’s fingerprint-resistant.
  • Easy access for upgrades.
  • Useful Sleep-and-Charge technology on the USB port.
  • Bundle with a good deal of useful software such as HDD Protection and Zoom Utility software, Bluetooth Stack (for easy Bluetooth setup), ConfigFree (for connecting to a network), and PC Health Monitor (for keeping the netbook running smoothly).

Bad:

  • Bulky battery that sticks out from the back of the machine.
  • Speaker that hide below the front edge of the system, making it impossible to produce enough distortion-free volume to push sound up toward the user.
  • While most reviewers are very happy with its full size keyboard, there are a few who doesn’t like it due to its layout which is slightly different from normal keyboard

Unboxing and first impression on the Toshiba NB205:

Video review for Toshiba NB205:

Availability:

The Toshiba NB205 comes in 2 configuration.

A cheaper version of Toshiba NB205 comes with Black Onyx casing, a slightly different keyboard design, and without Bluetooth feature. This model (Toshiba Mini NB205-N210) is currently available in Amazon.com for $348.89.

Another version of NB205 with higher price comes in 4 color option: blue, white, brown, and pink. These models have a chicklet stlye keyboard, and do comes with Bluetooth. They are currently available in Amazon.com for $399.99. Each color comes with a different model name:

Conclusion:
As mentioned before, this netbook has everything that we would recommend for a netbook: a decent system performance, 8 hours of excellent battery life, ergonomic keyboard and touchpad that’s comfortable to use, and also an affordable price that’s according to the public’s demand. So it’s not surprising that this netbook is in the list of Amazon’s top-ten bestselling netbooks.