Showing posts with label Buy Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook. Show all posts

Friday, August 28, 2009

Where To Buy Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

I bought this netbook to take on the road with me. My Dell laptop would run out of power in only two hours and I could not open it on an airplane if the seat in front of me was fully reclined. The netbook's battery lasts about nine hours as advertised. Moreover, it is so TINY, I can take it anywhere. Plus it is such a featherweight compared to the Dell, which is a real plus, especially during long walks while traveling (like the Miami Airport!). Plus it looks cool - I got the blue one and I got a lot of compliments on its appearance.

There are only two downsides to my netbook. First, although the keys are better than some of its competitors, the keys are still quite small which leads to more mis-typed characters than usual. This is not a really big deal. Second, the speaker is terrible. I had read one review stating that the speaker was bad, but I guess I didn't full appreciate how bad it was. Think of it this way. It comes equipped with the sound quality of the speaker that might be placed in a wristwatch or a greeting card. Unbelievable. What were they thinking? Fortunately, I use the thing mostly for travel, so I am wearing my Bose sound-canceling headphones already anyways. So I don't really have to use the speaker much.

Other than that, I love my netbook.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Love the size and battery life. But beware that the 1024 X 600 max screen resolution may not display the bottom of the page on many softwares--blocking access to information and nav buttons. Vibration sensor may be too sensitive for some users, and I set it to the least sensetive setting. Lack of CD/DVD drive could be a problem in installing software--I bought mini external USB-powered drive. Wi-Fi works quite well, and pulls in more available wireless routers than my larger HP. The Intel Atom is definitely "nuclear grade"--quite snappy! I use it for advanced automotive technical applications on both moving and stationary vehicles. It's great for my application.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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I'm a pretty picky person when it comes to computers and computer parts, so it surprised me greatly that there was very little about this netbook that I could pick apart. I had planned to install Linux on the netbook when I bought it, so I expected to be typing a lot. Typing on this netbook's keyboard feels almost as natural as typing on a regular desktop keyboard. Most of the keys are full sized (letters, numbers, shift, enter). The relatively few exceptions to that are completely manageable in my opinion (function keys, tab, caps lock, arrows, page up and down, home, end, esc). The monitor looks at least as good as just about any other netbook around. The case has a solid feel and the chic-let keys respond well and are nicely spaced so accidental key presses are rare (not something a lot of other netbooks can claim). The touch pad is very responsive and I like that there are 2 separate buttons for mouse clicks, unlike some other netbooks which have a single rocker button which only allows you to do a left OR right click. The 3 USB ports are very nice as I like to use a mouse when I'm at home and I usually have my thumb drive plugged in, so I have a spare port for an external optical drive or whatever else may come up. Before I switched over to Linux, the installed Windows XP system seemed to perform as well as I've seen on a desktop. Playing videos, surfing the web, taking photos and video were all smooth and nothing seemed bogged down by lack of horsepower or system resources. As far as battery life, I haven't done any rigorous testing, but I'm getting at least 6 hours of use on a full charge and with the wireless on all the time and the monitor backlighting on full. I suspect most people will get far more than that with the default settings.

The only real reason that I rated this product 4 stars instead of 5 is that the system backup/restore paradigm seems to have been poorly thought out. I guess there is a restore partition on the harddrive which is common on netbooks. There is also software installed which allows you to backup the system and your applications to a DVD if you have a USB DVD burner. The backup DVDs created with this software are bootable and appear to be able to restore the system onto a blank harddrive. However, there were no installation/recovery disks included in the packaging, so if your harddrive died and you failed to make a backup of the system prior, I don't know how you would get the netbook working again short of sending it back to the manufacturer. My advice to anyone buying this netbook is to make a backup of the system to a DVD (actually 2 DVDs) when you first get it and hold onto those disks like your life depended on it.

To anyone who wants to buy a netbook and is thinking about this model, stop thinking about it and buy this model. At the very least, any annoyances you would have with this netbook you would also find on other netbooks, trust me. The keyboard alone would be enough to say this is better than anything else out there currently. But, as I stated earlier, there is far more than just one reason that this model is superior to others.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Purchase Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life

The Toshiba Mini NB205 is a great little netbook that truly is as advertised.

Long battery life, easy to type on keyboard, great quality and just an over all great product.

I held off for a long time getting one as I didn't think there was any way they could live up to the hype, have a good battery life or be very useful as a small laptop. Just didn't seem possible to be all that and be so small and portable. Well let me tell you, this is as good as a lot of laptops I have used in my time and is just perfect for so many reasons.

First off the quality of the product is just great. You will like the feel of the overall surface of it, it's not shiny smooth plastic but seems to have a course yet comfortable feel to it. The mouse fingerpad is larger than I thought it would be and easy to to move the cursor with. I will most likely get a small mouse for it eventually but that's for my own need for one. The unit works fine with what it came with.

The screen as well is very clear and vibrant. You can adjust the brightness and settings quite easily with the Toshiba settings as well as any other settings like power management, sleep mode and battery life modifications.

Setting up the wifi is only difficult if you go about it as if you were using a desktop. Everything on the NB205 has to be done through the Toshiba included control panel selections and not the default window based ones. So you use the Toshiba network connections option to set up your wifi settings and you are good to go. If you try to go about it the usual way with the Windows Network Connections option you will start to really get frustrated as it wasn't meant to be used for this mini. Everything is nice and easy if you use the included Toshiba based programs. Took me awhile to figure out but once I realized that was the case its been smooth sailing ever since. Anywhere I am I go right to that option and am able to pick up signals easily and add them quickly to the mini and continue on with where I was.

Load times are great too. Once you push the very easy to find and nicely centered power button in the center of the mini, you will be in windows XP in no time. I've had a few programs open at once and the delays were barely noticeable. It isn't as fast and reactive as a regular laptop or desktop will be but for a computer this size it's greater than expected.

Lastly included with the NB205 is a webcam that is integrated right into the top of the inside of the screen. My family used Skype a few times with it already and each time it worked quite well. A few lag issues due to some wifi break ups but the camera and images were great for such a little product.

The real drawbacks to this great netbook are..

Firstly the speaker is horrible. If you are going to be going on sites like Youtube or listen to mp3s on this, you must get a usb speaker attachment or rely on headphones. The speaker is very little and hidden under the bottom of it and even on full volume you will struggle to hear things with it. With speakers or headphones though it sounds perfect.

Also like most if not all netbooks, it will get hot very quickly under it. A netbook cooler is a must if you are going to be using this on long trips or for long periods of time. Not to mention that it will get hot while using it on your lap, it also can't be good to have the computer that hot for long periods of time.

Those were the only major things to note that I found with this. I haven't fully tested it by putting on many applications or programs but of course this isn't a gaming computer. I'm sure some programs will work but don't get this if you want a computer to play all your high level games on as you will be very disappointed when they don't work at all.

I would say get the speaker/headphones, a mouse, the cooling pad and maybe even a USB DVD drive if you want to get the full potential out of this fine little netbook. None of those things are needed and they will add quite a lot more to the cost you are putting into the netbook but if you plan on using this for more than just trips or in class you may as well get that little extra something that a travel computer can give you.

This is a must get if you aren't sure what netbook to get. This will do everything you need and more and is very reasonably priced. I can't recommend it enough. Results and satisfaction will vary but so far I have been quite pleased and don't see that changing any time soon. The battery life alone makes this a great product. Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Of all the netbooks this is the one my parents picked for me. I love it and I never have to carry around the plug anymore with the 9 hour battery life. My parents love the hard drive protection as I really move around with my laptop and am not always easy on it. It is great and I got it in pink.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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I must comment on this netbook. I am VERY SATISFIED with this Toshiba. I tried two other netbooks before this one, the eeepc, which sucks, and the new Samsung GO...which sucks even more! The eeepc wasnt so so bad, but i couldnt deal with the glossy cover absorbing everying fingerprint that touches it. I found myself cleaning it constantly.
The Samsung GO, which was just released, need to be Just RECALLED! It is terrible! It ships with IE 6, not even IE 7 so you have to spend time downloading IE 7 which is far better. Also, The Samsung has many problems installing Real Player (basic) and other simple software programs. Maybe I just got a lemon, but for $477.00, I had rather high expectations of the Samsung. The Toshiba 312 has been awesome for me. Works perfectly.

Good Luck!

RodGet more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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I bought this mini netbook for my daughter who is going to college in the fall. I had planned on buying her a Toshiba Satellite laptop because I own one and is very happy with it. But it is quite heavy even at 5 lbs plus the batteries (I have 2 since they don't last very long), the adapter, and the mouse, to be lugging around campus. Since these netbooks are all the rage, I checked them out and I found the Toshiba Mini NB205-N210 fits her needs but the biggest advantage is the portability. She'll surely be carrying textbooks and this netbook is so thin and small that it could even fit into a small tote bag. The battery life is extra long - she's used it for more than 9 hours without recharging. It has extra USB ports she uses to charge her MP3 player and her cell phone. The keys are the same size as a standard laptop and not cramped like the other netbooks. The screen is clear and colors vibrant.

The only thing that is lacking is the speakers, which the bigger Toshibas are excellent for, but one can't really expect that in a small computer like this. But if you have excellent earphones, even the good bud earphones, the sound quality is really good. Since netbooks don't come with CD-rom drives, installing programs from CDs is not possible unless it's copied to an USB drive. You can also purchase a portable disk drive and attach it to the netbook. Some people complained about the battery sticking out in the back but it's so negligible that my daughter doesn't mind it at all. We also did not have any problem logging on to our wireless network. I would definitely recommend this netbook as a best buy.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

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This computer is a disappointment to me. I recommend you test-drive one in a computer store before you spend the money. The keyboard is too small for my rather small hands. And the screen is so small that header bars cut my viewing area down to an unacceptable level. And third (why this is a two-star and not a three-star), my computer does a very strange thing -- I will be typing a sentence or a web address, and the cursor will change positions -- so that the end half of what I'm typing will end up in a totally different location than the first part. I can't figure this out, but it does it often enough that I check absolutely every line that I type. I bought this as a second computer, so I'm not doing a lot of word processing on it or anything like that, but it's not even performing well for the small tasks I'd like to use it for (managing my budget, surfing the web, watching the occasional Hulu video). I should have anted up the bucks and bought a macbook pro! Overkill for my needs, perhaps, but at least I'd have a usable tool.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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No problems at all with this system. Small, powerful (upgraded RAM which was so easy to do), and great price!Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Toshiba NB205-N310/BN - Great little computer.
The brown/bronze case is stylish and classy. The 6 cell, 9 hour battery extends about 3/4" beyond the case and is VERY useful for holding this small computer. I replaced the 1MB of RAM with 2MB and installed Office 2007 Small Office Edition. The computer boots fast and is a pleasure to use. I was unnecessarily concerned about the ability of this computer to quickly handle my 87MB Excel file that includes imbedded images. Runs PowerPoint and Outlook almost as quickly as my desktop.
Amazing package - highly recommended.
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purchased a toshiba 205 from amazon, once again amazon gave me prompt 3 days shipping at no cost. right out of the box, this machine gets an A+ from me. the WIFI was inactive by default but thanx to other's who posted their comments about this product, it took me less than 5 minits to be up an running with everything. Great bright backlit LCD screen and minimal 3rd party junk. i bought the 2GB extra RAM but have not even replaced it yet because its running so smoothly with the original 1GB RAM. slim design and a huge battery life, this netbook is a winner in every aspect. please do not buy this product to replace a laptop because that is not what this machine is meant to do. however, it comes close to doing everything that a laptop might provide to you. you could buy an external DVD drive but the price tag goes up and it defeats that purpose of owning a compact, versatile, portable machine. plays .mkv files with VLC just fine. Overall i'd recommend this product to anyone looking for a nice portable netbook with included features like webcam, bluetooth and WiFi. bought the original toshiba neoprene cover for $ 14.99 at amazon and extra 2 GB RAM for $ 26.99. money well spent on the extras. hope my experience with this product helps others. Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

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I just helped a friend who was not computer savy to set her new Toshiba 10" netbook w/9 hour battery up.
Within 1 hour I was so frustrated (I am a savy user) I called Toshiba and was on line over 30 minutes with a revolving 3 part technical service message about what to do to get the wireless to work. Nothing worked and I NEVER EVER could get to a real human being.
I just want to say that Dell computers has always had a REAL human being for customer service. Frankly I would NEVER buy a Toshiba over a Dell now..when you need technical support you need a human not some push one..now did that work if not push 2 over and over and over.
How the heck do they stay in business??Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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The Toshiba NB205 has lots going for it... Unfortunately, its many pluses are undermined by two huge shortcomings--durability and Toshiba customer service. The spacebar on my NB205 started sticking after a little over 30 days of light use. That's when I discovered that the NB205 comes with a "limited" warranty that doesn't cover shipping to their repair center. It's also when I discovered that Toshiba apparently doesn't train their customer service people--it took over two hours on the phone for them to give me the right instructions for sending the computer in for repairs and they never told me on the phone that I would be responsible for some of the cost. I only learned this when I received their email that required me to re-enter all the information already given on the phone. When I escalated the issue to the Customer Service manager all she did was repeat their policy over and over--she refused to offer me anything for the inconvenience I'd suffered over the past few hours while her team fumbled through my case. What's the deal Toshiba? Is your netbook so unreliable that you won't stand behind it fully for at least a reasonable break-in period of 90 days?Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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We purchased two of these laptops - both have the same issues: serious trackpad lag, jumping, stalling, etc. We're using them with external mice, but if that won't be the case with you, I highly suggest you reconsider purchasing this laptop. Otherwise, it's a great laptop. I gave it a one star because this issue is unforgivable. Toshiba is aware of the issue but hasn't issued any kind of fix. Here's the link to Toshiba's forum where it's discussed:

[...]

Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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I've had the blue Toshiba netbook for three days now and mostly love it. The keyboard is surprisingly easy to use, the screen is gorgeous, the wizard made getting on my home wireless network a breeze (and I was nervous about that given some of the earlier reviews), and the touchpad is no problem at all (maybe the other most recent reviewer got a bad one). The unit definitely feels more substantial than most on the market, and so far, it appears the battery will, indeed,go for 8 or 9 hours.

Of course, given the size, there are some things to get used to. Yes, the bezel is wide, but that's no big deal. But the wide but not very tall screen means you have to scroll a lot to see enough of text and web pages to do any meaningful work. Yeah, that's probably a universal netbook problem, but it's a bit annoying. And my unit does indeed get pretty warm. I added a 2GB RAM card, and this baby gets downright hot right where that RAM's located. Doesn't seem to affect battery life, but I'm wondering if I need to get a chill pad. And of course, I had to get the external CD/DVD player-recorder, too, which brought total price to within shouting distance of a modest full-sized laptop.

On balance, this will be great for travel and general basic computing.

PROS:
--Stylish, substantial case
--Beautiful screen
--Easy internet connectivity setup
--Great battery life
--Great keyboard
--Good trackpad

CONS:
--Needs more screen resolution choices
--Gets hot
--Price, including 2GB RAM and external CD/DVD player isn't exactly "mini" Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Monday, August 24, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life Order Now

Ok, so, it is the cutest thing ever (I know guys, not what you want to hear, right!!). Well, it is pink! My only complaint about this little netbook is that the top does not snap closed, like, it just shuts, no securing the top. That makes me a little nervous, but, other than that, GREAT. It was SUPER slow loading pictures and certain websites, but, after loading Mozilla Firefox instead of STUPID windows, all is right.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Pros:
long battery life
attractive slim metallic design of chasis and keyboard
attractive lid (I tried the brown version) not prone to fingerprints
island keyboard very comfortable for typing
compact size

Cons:
horrible Alps trackpad or driver
speaker so weak it's useless
screen bazel is too wide, looks like glued carton and IS glued carton !!!
battery protrudes horizontally on the back (that's not too bad though)
bottom gets unusually warm for an Intel Atom processor even at idle
10" screen makes text appear too tiny - increasing the DPI to 110% helps
webcamera is low quality - grainy and colors significantly off towards bluish
some will find that the white and blue lids look too plastic and cheap, I really like the brown version the best

When I unpacked it, I almost took the bazel off with the stickers. Why make such a cool overall design and then slap a wide carton bazel on it???? What happened to the 'more energy efficient' Atom ? My guess is that either the fan doesn't cool well since they wanted to keep the noise down or there is some heating going on with the RAM since exactly that side of the netbok gets warm.

The deal braker for me was the Alps trackpad. Turns out bigger is NOT always better LOL and I can't understand how neither Laptop magazine nor any of the reviews here noticed that. If you Google "NB205 trackpad problems" you will find a whole thread on a laptop forum about the trackpad. Even at maximum sensitivity, 0.25" of the edges do not respond at all, it's like the actual pad is smaller than the size etched on the chasis. The scrolling works only if you increase the thickness of the scroll strip. The momentum function, which is my favorite with Synaptics rackpads, doesn't work the same way with Alps and is practically useless so I turned it off. The mouse cursor stutters unexplicably all the time or all of sudden doesn't respond to the trackpad. If you plan on using the netbook a lot, you will need an usb mouse...

I am returning the 10" Toshiba and keeping my 11.6" Gateway netbook which is superior in every aspect except the battery life (5 hours for Gateway, 9 hours for Toshiba). The 11.6" display makes a huge difference how much you can view on the screen at a comfortable font size. Surprisingly the bottom of Toshiba, which is an Intel Atom system, gets equally warm to the Gateway, which is an AMD Athlon system, so there is no winner in that aspect. It's not going to toast your lap but I'd rather have both netbooks run cooler. I recommend the Gateway since it runs at the same price, has bigger screen and handles graphics better than the usual Atom systems like Toshiba. And the smaller Synaptics trackpad of Gateway is light years ahead of Toshiba's Mac-like pad in terms of how comfortable and effective it is. Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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Update August 16, 2009

I still really like this netbook and it is an almost perfect replacement to a super high-end laptop that it replaced. Now that I've been using it for nearly a month, here are some additional insights and observations:

- I like the brown color much more than I thought I would. It's really an elegant, stylish netbook.

- The laptop does get really hot. So hot, in fact, that after a few minutes, you have to place it on a pillow on your lap - it is way too hot to let set on your bare legs.

- For some strange reason, a very slight electric shock emanates from the bottom of my netbook to my bare legs. I thought it was coming through the screws but can't prove that. This continues to happen, but placing netbook on a pillow first solves this problem. This is very strange. I've never been shocked by a laptop before. It's not a huge shock, but enough to make you jump up and ask "what the..."

- this is undoubtably the best laptop keyboard I have ever used. The keys are layed out in an entirely logical, predictable way. This keyboard is fantastic.

- yes, the trackpad does have a mind of its own sometimes - but I have minimized this problem by going into the settings.

- battery life is great. I've never really used the battery up fully, but 6 hours using wireless internet continuously and it still had a fair amount of juice left. I did have the brightness set down to minimum. It could very well have 8-9 hours.

- I really wish I could have more than 2 GB RAM. I have noticed a small but annoying system slowdown with many programs open, with 2 GB RAM. On the laptop this replaced, I had 3 GB RAM and a faster front side bus and the system never slowed down. Just something to improve for the next model.

It's still a great netbook but I still give it only 4 stars.
-----------------------
This is a very good laptop. It feels solid and that it is well built, which is important. I have held and touched the Asus netbooks in stores and they are cute but don't feel as solidly built as this Toshiba.

I opted for a color model which has a better keyboard and I think, is worth it because the keyboard is lighter (easier to see the letters you're typing) and easier to press (more Mac style). I recommend additional RAM as well as turning off all system animations (e.g. screen redraw, windows open/close, hid taskbar, etc.) I haven't tested the battery life to its fullest but it does seem to drain quite slowly, which is good. And thank god Toshiba is using XP and not Vista!

I gave this item 4 stars for the following shortcomings:

Max 2 GB RAM. I used to get 3 GB RAM as a minimum on all new systems. Since 2 GB is the max, I did buy the extra module but if you are a power user, you still might find 2 GB RAM too slow for you.

160 GB hard drive is decent, but why not 250 GB? Data storage is so cheap

System does get very hot on the bottom. This could be partly due to the extra RAM, but it is too hot to rest right on my lap. This is a continuous problem - not just a one-time thing.

I agree with another owner that the left/right mouse buttons need to be moved up just a tad so they don't rest on the edge. When you are laying down using the netbook, things can get pressed accidentally (but this doesn't happen very much so it's not a big detractor)

Other than those particular items, I am very pleased with it and I would recommend it to friends. I will be using this as a replacement for a Vista laptop that has crashed beyond boot up two months in a row (I decided not to chance a third time and simply retired that laptop until the Vista replacement comes out).
Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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This is a very nice and very neat machine. At this time (July 2009)
it is clearly the most powerful Netbook I could locate. The battery life is
wonderful. They advertise 9 hour, and I think it is possible. I used mine nearly
all day from 7:30AM until 6:30PM, and still had 37% battery life left. The full
keyboard is a major plus.

It did not come with full instructions, and being an Apple Computer guy (Apple doesn't make a netbook or I would have purchased one), I found the entire setup
confusing. There was a simple set of instructions to get it going, and major books on warranty and safety, but no full instruction manual or even notice that one
existed. After, 2 days of frustration and one call to customer service, I found the instructions located deep in a folder on the hard drive. They could have at least
either printed them out, or told you where to find them on their little setup sheet. The machine came with the wireless turned off manually on the keyboard. I had to
call customer service to find out how to turn it on, and it was not easy to figure out all the triple function keys without instructions.

I had one major crash the first week I had it, and I'm not sure it was the computer's fault. I tried to erase various startup programs (it came with a lot of B.S. adds)
and during that effort, I erased the touch pad's control center. Bummer, I had to do a
complete system reinstall. But, the Toshiba customer service was great. They really worked with me to solve the problem. That is one of the best features of this machine is
Toshiba Customer Service. They are located in the Philippines,and speak English very well. They are almost as good as Apple Computer customer service.

I didn't buy the HP, because I saw several of their machines at Costco and they were poorly made. Also, to say HP has bad customer service is like telling
Custer there are just one or two indians over the hill. They are AWFUL!!!!!!! HP has the worse customer service on the planet! Never buy anthing from them
if you ever expect to have to call them. If you hate someone give them an HP computer, or anything else these bums make. Then stand back and watch the laughs.

Now that I have the Toshiba properly setup, it works great. I purchased Microsoft Office and updated Adobe Acrobat. I also installed Norton 360 and AOL: all
run with no problems. The Toshiba does not run Vista, but will run the new Windows 7 coming out later this year. The screen is very bright and the black
one looks like it's made of carbon fiber: it's also $50 cheaper than the other colors. I got the Samsung DVD portable drive Model SE-S084, and it works great.
It does use two USB ports to drive the thing, as it requires no other power source. A little hassel, but no real problem in order to eliminate power cords.

The touch pad works well (but no two finger scrolling like on a Mac), and it has many available options. The machine is a hit around my office and draws a crowd
when I pull it out.

I highly recommend this machine, at least until Apple releases a Netbook of their own: probably at the September Apple Convention where I expect to see
Steve Jobs show up and announce some new killer machines. Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life This instant

At the time of this writing. I'd say this is the best netbook I've used so far.

Just understanding what you are getting. It's a stripped down laptop that offers decent performance for simple tasks like surfing on the internet, working with Microsoft office documents and a few other computer non-intensive tasks. If you are looking for something more than that, then you need to skip Netbooks and look at more full featured laptops.

What I love about the NB205 over the rest of the competition (which I have personally used or helped others set-up). Most of this is really subjective. As the overall performance of the netbooks are pretty much similar.
(+) Keyboard is full size and very, very comfortable to type on
(+) Cover although plastic also, is slighly less proned to smugs and finger prints as the glossy black on the HP/Lenovo netbooks
(+) Junk software free. The only program that was there was a 30-day trial of Norton's. Which actually offered an option to not be installed! I really like that.
(+) Really like Toshiba's utility to manage the computer's power state. Very easy to use in a very nice interface.
(+) I like the 6 cell battery flat and behind placement vs the Lenovo S10-2 which props up the laptop. This makes fitting it in a laptop bag much more flush (less thick feeling).

(-) The USB port seems a bit tight. Often difficult to plug into. Not sure if it would loosen up after more use. The first time, I even had to look while I'm plugging in. I thought I was plugging into the wrong port! I can get it in now without looking, the trick is to wiggle it to get it in there. But other's like Lenovo, I can just plug in without looking on first try.Get more detail about Toshiba Mini NB205-N312/BL 10.1-Inch Royal Blue Netbook - 9 Hour Battery Life.

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