First of all, Toshiba's very recent official response to the reported trackpad issues, from their forums:
"A problem in the manufacturing process of the NB205's touchpad assembly has been identified and corrected. Owners of NB205 mini notebooks purchased in the U.S. who are experiencing frequently stuttering cursor movement when using the built in touchpad are advised to return the product to the point of purchase for refund or replacement, or to have the product repaired under warranty.
To arrange for warranty repair of a mini notebook call the Toshiba Customer Support Center at 1-800-457-7777. Toshiba will issue a Return Material Authorization number and provide instructions for shipment. Warranty repairs for the mini notebook models are performed only at a central depot in California, so please do not take them to any other repair center.
If you are experiencing frequent stuttering of the cursor while tracking finger motion on the touchpad, please reinstall the touchpad driver...and check the advanced configuration options in Windows Control Panel's mouse and pointer settings, to rule out the possibility of a software installation or configuration issue before returning your NB205 to your dealer or having it repaired. For any other trackpad problem, please go through a full troubleshooting process since no other symptoms are known to be related to this issue."
As for my own opinion, one cannot go wrong with Toshiba's new Mini! I have deliberated for months on whether to get an ultraportable or netbook, bigger or smaller, this feature, that feature, etc. In the end, I went with the overwhelming internet support for this one, and am not disappointed.
The brown version that I got without seeing in person is absolutely beautiful, very professional for my upcoming graduate school program, more so than the blue, pink, or white. The white one is nice looking, but be warned it is not a pure white but a milky grayish white that somewhat blends with the silver bottom, giving the white mini an overall somewhat uniform silvery metallic color, cool if you like that. The Mini is very small and quite delicate/precise looking, but still solid and professional. As small and slim as it is, the battery jutting out out the back is rather unsightly. It's look would be PERFECT if the battery was better incorporated into the body. Also, for looks, one other major improvement would be for the screen to fill it's frame. It is strange that the screen has so much unused space around it. I imagine all these improvements are coming in later versions, but unfortunately I need it for school now.
Another observation, the chiclet keys seems a little jiggly and delicate, as though they might break in a year or so, also a dull keystroke. They sit high so I can actually see the keystroke mechanism underneath, strange design. I wish they had a keystroke like the Logitech wireless keyboard I'm using right now, so smooth, solid, very fluid and satisfying response and tactile feel. One major plus about the keys though: they are silver with black lettering, so they brightly reflect the screen light in the dark and you can clearly see the keys without backlighting! A very nice bonus. My trackpad seems fine so far, but after all the hyperbolic cheerleading about how huge it is, I am definitely disappointed that a quarter inch of the right and bottom sides are not "live" or usable. A little false advertising in my opinion, the trackpad may actually be 20% smaller than it appears.
Well, I gave it four stars, but then listed a bunch of complaints. I better explain. At the current stage in netbook development, this is a rare choice, a must-have if you need it for school or whatever else. It is a thing of beauty, especially compared to other cookie-cutter netbooks. It is plenty fast and very smooth, more than capable of handling everything I need it for. It is packed with great Toshiba management software. It's design, functions, and features are all well thought out and top-of-the-class. Etc, etc. BUT, I do believe it should be improved, and will be. If I wasn't starting school in a couple weeks, I likely would have waited another six months to a year to see how these fledging netbooks develop. I suggest you do that, if you can. It not, choose this one!Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 10.1-Inch Black Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.
