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Toshiba mini NB205 might seem to be yet another netbook in the bunch, however, it manages to stand out quite boldly. The netbook features 10.2-inch screen displaying 1024 x 600 and a 1.66-GHz Intel processor. Its comfy and almost full size keyboard makes it really pleasant to work with and its unusual chassis is quite eye-catching.

Toshiba mini NB205 pros:
+ Unique design
+ Long battery life
+ Comfortable keyboard
+ Large touchpad
+ Hard drive protection
+ USB port charges device when system is off

Toshiba mini NB205 cons:
- Longish boot time
- Too large display bezel

Design:

Toshiba mini NB205 measures 264/193/33 mm and weighs 179 grams. The netbook is available in 4 different colors so you can choose the perfect one for you. The Toshiba mini NB205 has some raised horizontal lines and shiny hinges and silvery finish on the bottom deck to stand out from the crowd of netbooks. The keyboard is responsive and almost full size and although it may take some time to get used to it after some time it feels very comfortable. The touchpad is also of very high quality and as it measures 3.1 x 1.6-inch it is relatively big for a netbook. The right side of the Toshiba mini NB205 features a Keningston lock and two USB port, whereas the left side houses the third USB port, Ethernet, VGA-out and audio in/out.

Performance:

The Toshiba mini NB205 features a 10.1-inch screen working in 1024 x 600 resolution. The image is bright and colors look very natural. The viewing angles are quite good and much better than in the Samsung N120. Above the display you can see the 0.3 megapixel camera which works just fine. Unfortunately the Toshiba mini NB205 has quite poor speakers so on some occasions you might have to use headphones. The recently reviewed Samsung N120 has better camera and speakers so if the viewing angle is not your priority you might be more interested in the latter netbook.
When it comes to the Toshiba mini NB205’s processing power it seems that the netbook is a winner. With its 1.66-GHz Atom processor it can run a few applications at a time and show a high quality movie without any glitches. The PCMark05 test results also confirm that with the score of almost 1500. The graphics chip in the Toshiba mini NB205 is powerful enough to enable you to watch a 720p movie and although you will not be able to play the latest 3D games it seems that for other tasks the Toshiba mini NB205 will be just perfect.

The Toshiba mini NB205 comes equipped with a 160GB hard disk working at the standard 5,400 rpm. The startup time is a bit below netbook average but this might be due to the trial software installed on the netbook. In any other test the Toshiba mini NB205 scores above netbook average. If you do not overuse the netbook too much and use it mainly for browsing the Internet it might run for even eight hours so its battery life is outstanding.
Although Toshiba does not plan to offer upgrade options for the netbook you can easily upgrade its RAM to 2 GB on your own to improve its performance even more.
All in all, the Toshiba mini NB205 is an extremely powerful netbook and it is surely worth considering, especially if you look at its price and specs.

Selected Toshiba mini NB205 features and specifications:

• Manufacturer

Toshiba

• Model name

Mini NB205

• CPU type

Intel Atom

• CPU speed

1600 Mhz

• Graphics

Intel GMA 950

• OS

Windows XP Home

• Display Size

10.1″ 1024 X 600

• RAM

1024 MB

• Hard Disk

160 GB

• Keyboard

YES

• Mouse Pointer

YES

• Physical Interfaces

Ethernet 10/100
Line-out / Headphone (3.5mm)
MIC-in
VGA
USB2.0 (x3)

• Wireless Interfaces

802.11b/g
BT 2.0 (On some models)
No Wireless WAN (e.g. 3G cellular)

• Additional Specs and Accessories (can vary)

WebCam

• Pirce: below $400

Other recently reviewed laptops:
Samsung N120, MacBook Pro, SONY VAIO VGN-SZ71XN/C