Detailed Toshiba NB205 Netbook

I've really grown to appreciate this little netbook since I bought it a few days ago. I think it's just the right size for a mini-laptop who's primary purpose is word processing, internet browsing, and an occasional movie watching (maybe even the occasional video game).

I went out and bought a 2gb stick of memory because I knew I was going to be upgrading to windows 7 and figured I needed it. I originally installed Win 7 with only the 1 gb of memory that it came with, but the thing that surprised me was that it ran flawlessly with only 1 gb of RAM. I then installed the 2nd of ram and I noticed no difference in performance. If I were you, I wouldn't worry about upgrading to 2 GB of ram unless you plan on installing Vista (because Vista definitely benefits from 2 GB's).

I am a writer and college student and I already have a 15.4" HP DV5. So why did I buy this netbook if I already had a notebook? Because I wanted to have something light and small that I could carry around with me everywhere I went (you never know when you're going to feel the spark to write!), plus I wanted to have something lighter that I could take to class and take notes on. This laptop fits the bill perfectly, especially with its long battery life and full-size keyboard that is virtually identical to type on as a regular laptop (the only real difference I've noticed is that the Home and End buttons are on the upper right and I haven't gotten used to it yet).

I still use my Dv5 for virtually all of my non-writing needs such as playing video games, watching HD movies, and most of my internet surfing. I use this netbook for all my writing needs. It has all of my most up to date documents on it. It can be kind of tricky having two computers because sometimes you're not sure which file you put the most up to date file on... etc. I solved this problem by making the netbook the only computer I keep my writing up to date on. Otherwise it'll be a pain trying to figure out which file is most up to date and suffering the chance that you could lose some of your work.

The speaker really is the worst I've ever seen on any laptop. Period. Okay. It's not THAT bad. You can hear it in a quiet room, but realistically, you have to expect to use headphones or external speakers when you're dealing with a netbook anyway. The keyboard on this netbook is the best one on the market in my opinion, which was the reason I decided to go with the Toshiba - otherwise I would have gone with a netbook with a higher resolution. The trackpad is okay. I find that when the computer is working hard the pointer gets laggy and skips. I noticed that the pointer works a lot smoother in Win7 than in XP. One thing I miss having in Win 7 is the side scroll feature. Apparently there isn't a driver for Win 7 yet, or at least I haven't found it yet.

I also tried gaming on this little guy. It can play the original Counter-Strike 1.6 well with around 25 FPS. It also played Max Payne really well 30+ FPS constant. I tried Guild Wars, but it was too choppy to be playable even at the lowest resolution and lowest settings. It got maybe 10 FPS in GW. It might even be able to play KOTOR or some other great classics from a few years ago. I also loaded Counter Strike: Source on this bad boy and tried it. I only got about 10 FPS, which was too bad... lol I was hoping it might be able to squeeze out 30 FPS on the lowest settings.

As far as Windows 7, everything runs outstanding. Programs load just about the same speed. When I close the lid, it goes to sleep flawlessly and wakes up instantly when I go turn it back on. Aero is smooth, even Flip 3D. I'm pretty sure I can still get the 9 hours of battery life if I turned the brightness down to the lowest possible and turn off Wifi and bluetooth. I get closer to 6.5-7 hours with the brightness up and wifi on.

I've been able to play all of the youtube videos without a problem, even HQ vids. You can't play HD videos though. Netflix videos play smooth when ran in Mozilla but not in I.E. 8. Some hulu videos play smoooth some don't. I believe Mozilla is also the best browser for Hulu as well. I also managed to get Amazon videos to play perfectly smooth. If a video isn't playing smooth, I noticed it helped if you made the video window a little smaller so the video taxed the processor less since it is rendered over less pixels.

Anyway... here's how I rate the NB205:

Design - 9/10 - Nice looking, barely more than 1" thick, just the right size for the ultimate travel netbook
Features - 8/10 - Pretty average internal components
Performance - 7/10 - I appreciated the 1000HE's ability to overclock the cpu
Ease of use 10/10 - Best keyboard, great battery life, decent track pad
Gaming 3/10 - Can only run 3D games from 6 + years ago

Overall 9/10 - Great value, highly recommended as secondary laptop or primary laptop if you don't have high end multimedia needs.

 

LOL!

Not laughing at you, but I JUST READ this review on Amazon!

I'm waiting for mine to come in the mail, it comes tomorrow

 

Haha... yeah, I posted them at the same time pretty much lol

 

mine comes tomorrow too!

 

The best netbook I have owned.

I have an Acer Aspire One and also had an HP Mini.

 

I also noticed that the NB205 does get a little hot in the center of the bottom of the netbook even after just running Word or internet browsing. This isn't too big of a deal because the edges where I actually put my legs stay fairly cool.

 

Mine gets a little warm, but FAR from unbearable. The cooling system works well and the fan only comes on when you are doing processor intensive tasks.

I have to ask though, are you covering up the heat exhaust? That would cause it to warm up if its covered.

One thing I have to say though, is that I'm pleasantly surprised at how well designed the keyboard is. The `/~ key is in a weird spot, BUT I like how there are dedicated Print Screen/Home/End/Insert keys. Also, the placement of the Pg Up/Dn keys are fantastatic: they are placed right next to the arrow keys.

 

Yeah. I love the PG UP/DN because I use that for scrolling down webpages. it's really helpful. As for the `/~, I don't really use it. They could have put it on the same line as the numbers and made the backspace smaller and space bar bigger but that would have made pressing the backspace annoying.

The top reason I got this was because of the keyboard. I love the layout and the island format.

 

The keyboard is fantastic . That's the big reason I got mine too.

 

I messed around with one at a store, I'm in <3 with the touchpad