Ah, the standard 10-inch netbook. It’s everywhere. With restrictions imposed by Intel and Microsoft on just how powerful these little machines can get, manufacturers have to focus more on aestethics, good keyboards, and battery life to differentiate themselves inside the overly crowded arena that is the 10-inch netbook market.
Toshiba has apparently managed to put out quite a netbook in the NB205 at $399. Recently reviewed by Laptop, Toshiba’s late entry into the US netbook market means that the company’s been able to monitor the shortcomings inherent in competing netbooks in order to address them with its own.
According to Laptop:
“[The] NB205 has everything we’d recommend in a netbook: an attractive chassis, comfortable keyboard and touchpad, and more than eight hours of battery life for an affordable price. While Samsung’s N110 and ASUS’ Eee PC 1000HE continue to be good choices, Toshiba’s $399 mini NB205 provides an all-around solid package, and longer endurance than the competition.”
Laptop was able to run its continous web surfing test on the NB205 for over eight and a half hours using the standard six-cell battery — that’s compared to an average of just over four hours from most other similarly-equipped netbooks. Add to that a nice island keyboard and a large, very-usable trackpad, along with a weight of just 2.8 pounds, and Toshiba’s NB205 appears to be a winner. Now if only the screen had a higher resolution…
Per our previous coverage, the Toshiba NB205 should be available sometime at the end of the month.
Toshiba mini NB205 [Laptop]