I picked up the Toshiba NB205 over the weekend. I plan to use it primarily for Gmail, Facebook, blogging, and some light web design work.
This is the first netbook that I can actually type on and actually use the trackpad. Most netbook keyboards feel so cramped that I can't type, however that's not the case here.
As soon as I got the netbook home, I created a bootable USB flash drive to install the Windows 7 RC. Toshiba has drivers for Windows 7, so I was able to get the key components installed without any trouble. The only hiccup was they don't have a Windows 7 driver for the ALPS touchpad on the NB205. This was a MAJOR PROBLEM for me because without that driver, I couldn't disable the 'tap to click' feature of the touchpad. My palms frequently brush against the touchpad as I'm typing sending the cursor all over the place, so without a driver, I wasn't going to be able to run Windows 7 RC.
Realizing that most Windows Vista drivers work in Windows 7, I searched the Toshiba site for an ALPS driver from another laptop for Windows Vista. I checked a few of their other laptops, and quickly found a driver that I was able to successfully load on Windows 7. Once installed, all of the touchpad settings became available under the Advanced tab of the Mouse control panel, and I was able to disable tap to click.
The other Windows 7 related hiccup was that whenever I booted up the NB205, my Netgear N Wireless Router (WRN2000) would reset/reboot multiple times. Eventually the wireless router would stop rebooting and everything would work, but then eventually it would start rebooting again randomly. To fix this issue, I downloaded and installed Toshiba's Windows 7 Configfree driver. Using that utility to configure my wireless settings, instead of doing it manually though Windows 7's built in feature, everything works and the router no longer reboots. I have absolutely no idea what the difference is, but I'm just happy it's working.
Those issues were Windows 7 related, so don't let them scare you. I only share my experiences in case anyone else wants to try Windows 7 and needs to know how I resolved them. Also remember that Windows 7 hasn't "officially" been released yet. I'm hopeful that since Toshiba has beta Windows 7 drivers available already for the NB205, that they'll resolve these issues with better drivers once Windows 7 is officially released.
As for the netbook itself, here's my pros and cons:
PROS
* Usable keyboard!
* Usable trackpad!
* Bright/readable display (I run it at 30% brightness without any issues)
* Descent performance for a netbook. It runs Windows 7 just fine.
* The battery lasts forever. Even with installing several apps and rebooting a few times tonight, I'm still on pace for 8 hours before needing to charge!
* Extremely lightweight.
* Bluetooth works great connected to my Blackberry for mobile broadband internet access.
CONS
* It gets warm after awhile. Not the scalding 2nd degree burn you'll get from some laptop, but still it's warm.
* It's a netbook... performance isn't as good as similarly priced laptops. That's the trade-off getting a netbook vs. a regular laptop.
* Can't play HD video from Youtube. (Although regular video is completely fine.)
* The vertical resolution of 600 pixels cuts off some larger dialog boxes that can't be resized, so you can't easily see or click on the SAVE/OK/CANCEL buttons.
* No free upgrade to Windows 7, which really isn't Toshiba's fault because Microsoft's free upgrade program requires a $499 minimum purchase. Still, if you want Windows 7 when it's officially released later this fall, you'll have to pay for it if you buy the NB205.
Overall, I'm very happy I purchased the Toshiba NB205. Hopefully I stay happy with it over time, and so far so good.
**********
UPDATE:
Turns out the issue with my wireless router rebooting wasn't caused by Windows 7 after all. Apparently it was a compatibility issue between the wireless card in the Toshiba and the Netgear router. Last week I picked up a Linksys WRT110 N Wireless router and no longer have any issues whatsoever.
I also installed the RTM version of Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit that came out last week. I don't see any major improvements in performance on the unit compared to the RC version of Windows 7, but I'm not seeing any new problems either, so that's good news.
Finally I noticed that some people are complaining about the ALPS trackpad in the NB205 not working well. I have experienced some slight hiccups or jitters in the cursor movement if the unit is under high CPU load. Although it's nothing that hinders my work. (I didn't buy a netbook for top-notch precision mousing.) Also my trackpad works fine all the way to all of its edges. No part of the trackpad is unresponsive, and scrolling works fine too. Perhaps loading the ALPS Vista driver has helped? Regardless, when I'm sitting at a desk or table, I pull out my Logitech VX Nano mouse. Even when I'm using my $2000 HP Elitebook laptop from work, I still pull out my Logitech mouse because it's better. So yes, an external mouse will work better. You might have an occassional stutter on the trackpad under heavy use, but unless you need to have 100% precision cursor control at all times, I don't see any major issues here. (My 2 cents anyways...)
I still like the unit. On a recent weekend trip out-of-state, it was awesome to pack a laptop so lightly, and have an ultra-portable unit to get Internet access in the van from the Blackberry!Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.
