Toshiba

Toshiba Mini NB305 Overview

Toshiba NB305 is the updated version of NB205. It comes with the new Pine Trail platform and Intel Atom N450 processor which supposedly give a better performance and battery life to this new model. Similar to the NB205, Toshiba NB305 is available in 2 variation:

• The black version (NB305-N310) that comes with lower price, Fusion Finish casing in Black Onyx, normal keyboard, 160GB HDD, and Windows XP Home.

• The colorful version (Toshiba NB305-N410) that comes with higher price, Textured finish casing in multiple color option (blue, white, and brown), chiclet style keyboard, 250GB HDD and Windows 7 Starter.

In this review, we are looking at the higher-end NB305-N410. The detailed specification of Toshiba NB305-N410 is as following:

• 1.66GHz Intel N450 Atom Processor
• 1GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM Memory
• 250GB Serial ATA Hard Disk Drive (5400RPM)
• 10.1″ LED (16:9) 1024×600 Display
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator GMA3150
• Windows 7 Starter Edition 32-bit

Review Roundup
While the NB205 has everything that we would recommend for a netbook (i.e. ergonomic metal keyboard, large touchpad & touchpad buttons, excellent battery life, unique textured lid that’s anti-smudges, etc..), the two biggest complains on the Toshiba NB205 are the bulky battery that sticks out from the back of the machine, and the weak speaker that hide below the front edge of the system. Not only Toshiba has retained all the good features of NB205 on the NB305, they have also solved those 2 issues on the new model. Instead of jutted out from the rear, the battery is now tucked in underneath, causing the keyboard to be slanting towards the user and giving a more ergornomic angle for typing. Also, the speaker on NB305 is much louder compared to the one in NB205. Another improvement that the NB305 has over the NB205 is weight. Toshiba NB305 is slightly lighter than its predecessor at only 2.6 pounds.

In terms of performance and battery life, there’s not much difference between NB305 with its predecessor. Laptop Magazine manage to get 8:37 hours from their battery test (continuous Web surfing over Wi-Fi), while Engadget gets 6:30 hours from their battery drain test (video rundown test with brightness set to 65 percent). In terms of performance, the Toshiba NB305 is similar to other Pine Trail netbooks – good for daily tasks such as web surfing, checking email, document processing, etc.. but not suitable for HD video playback. This is the

The only drawback of the Toshiba NB305 is that it’s more expensive than other Pine Trail netbooks such as the Asus Eee PC 1005PE and Acer Aspire One 532h. However Engadget note that they still prefer the NB305 over the other two because it’s “more comfortable to use”; while Laptop Magazine has once again awarded the NB305 as one of their “Editor’s Choice”.

Customer rating on Toshiba NB305 is pretty good as well. Check out all customer reviews here.

Related Videos

Take a closer look at Toshiba NB305 in the following video:

Brief introduction of NB305 netbook by Toshiba:

Availability
Toshiba NB305-N410 is available in 3 colors:

• Frost White – NB305-N410WH
• Royal Blue – NB305-N410BL
• Java Brown – NB305-N410BN

All of them are currently available for purchase on Amazon at $399.99; while the black version, NB305-N310, is available for $349.99.

Conclusion
The Toshiba NB305 is still one of the best netbook in the market. Although the price is slightly higer than other Pine Trail netbooks, it’s keyboard and especially its touchpad are second to none, and to us that’s worth the premium.

Source: Engadget, Laptop Magazine