At first glance, it would seem that there’s very little a manufacturer can do these days to make its 10-inch netbook stand out from the hordes of others on the market. Yet, despite being more than a year late to the game in North America, Toshiba’s mini NB205 does just that. It has created a netbook that, while housing a standard Intel Atom processor, 1GB of RAM, and Microsoft Windows XP Home, manages to break the mold. With a beautiful chassis, a spacious keyboard and touchpad, an exemplary more-than 9 hours of battery life, and a competitive $399 price tag, Toshiba’s netbook rises above the competition.
Unique Design
With most netbooks sporting the same organs, Toshiba joins the ranks of ASUS and other manufacturers in realizing that aesthetics must be top of mind when designing a netbook. The Sable Brown lid (also available in Royal Blue, Posh Pink, and Frost White) is adorned with raised horizontal lines. Combined with an elegant, shiny bronze hinge (with a glowing power button at the center), it nicely matches the silver finish on the bottom deck for an overall professional look. Toshiba will also offer a $349 version (NB205-N210) of this netbook that will come in Black Onyx only, which will have Toshiba’s smooth Fusion Finish (rather than the raised pattern) on the lid.
At 10.4 x 7.6 x 1.3 inches, the NB205 is quite compact, although not as slim as the ASUS Eee PC 1008HA (10.3 x 7 x 1.0) or the Acer Aspire One AOD250 (10.2 x 7.2 x 1.0). Additionally, this netbook’s standard six-cell battery juts out from the back of the system. Weighing 2.8 pounds by itself, together the NB205 and its AC adapter came in at 3.4 pounds, and didn’t put much strain on our shoulder as we walked home.
Great Keyboard, Touchpad Combo
The area underneath the attractive lid of the NB205 continues to impress. The metal island keyboard on our model (the less expensive version will be plastic and non-island style) is one of the best we’ve seen, and rivals that of the HP Mini 2140. Though they’re sturdy and comfortable, it can take a bit of time to get used to its keys. Nevertheless, we achieved a strong score of 80 words per minute with a one-percent error rate on the Ten Thumbs typing test (www.tenthumbstypingtutor.com). We had a two-percent error rate on the Samsung N120.We also noticed that the gray icons for shortcuts on the function keys were hard to see in the light against its silver background.
Similarly, the touchpad on the NB205 is one of the best we have used on a netbook. The 3.1 x 1.6-inch pad is the largest one we’ve seen in the 10-inch class, and it’s smooth finish makes it easy to navigate the desktop. Its two dedicated right and left mouse buttons are comfortable and far from stiff.
Ports
The Toshiba mini NB205 has the standard set of ports we’ve come to expect from netbooks, but with a slight twist: two USB ports and a Kensington lock adorn the right side; a VGA-out, audio in/out, Ethernet, and a third USB are mounted on the left. That third USB port is enabled with Toshiba’s Sleep-and-Charge technology, which provides power to connected devices (such as smart phones) when the system is off. A 3-in-1 memory card reader sits along the front lip.
Screen, Webcam, Audio
The NB205’s 10.1-inch, 1024 x 600-pixel resolution LED-backlit display is just the right amount of glossy. Watching a Daily Show clip on Hulu.com was bright, and colors were not at all muted. Tilting the screen back to its 45-degree maximum didn’t cause too much distracting glare, and we had no problem positioning the notebook in bed to watch a YouTube clip.
We were somewhat distracted by the almost one-inch thick bezel that surrounds the display—it seems like there’s enough room to fit an even larger screen. But, because you have to live with 10 inches, Toshiba thankfully includes a zooming utility that enlarges text and icons within certain programs, including Internet Explorer and Adobe Reader, by pressing number shortcuts.
Above the display is a 0.3-megapixel webcam, which provided extremely clear images in a video chat over Skype. When we waved to our friend with whom we frequently test webcams, he had no complaints of motion blur or problems with the lighting. Toshiba also includes Camera Assistant Software (which pops up when you mouse over the left side of the screen) that can record videos, snap still shots, and creates some neat effects.
Dual stereo speakers, hidden below the front edge of the system, were a bit weak compared with other netbooks we have tested. When playing The Shins over Slacker.com, we had to crank up the volume to hear the lyrics. Similarly, on a Skype call we couldn’t make out our callers’ voice as clearly as we would have liked. Plugging in a headset solved these problems.
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