Toshiba's Mini is the class of the netbook field
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Toshiba's Mini NB205-N210 has a well-designed interface and the best performance, lowest price and longest battery life -- by far -- in the roundup. No wonder it gets the Review's Choice designation.
Reviewer’s Choice
Toshiba’s Mini NB205-N210 has a well-designed interface, great performance and terrific price. Although its 10.375-inch-by-8.375-inch footprint is the largest in the review, its thickness of 1.375 inches makes it the thinnest we tested. Weighing in at 2 pounds, 14 ounces, the Toshiba is in the middle of the pack in weight.
The Toshiba’s keyboard had the largest keys in the review. They extend to the edge on either side. In addition, it has the largest touchpad in the roundup, even to the point of having significantly larger buttons. All in all, using the Toshiba is a pleasurable input experience.
We found the display screen to be the most susceptible to glare among those we tested. Even the light reflected from a white piece of printer paper was visible. Fortunately, the display was bright enough to allow us to see through the glare most of the time, and the screen's image was visible when looking from either side.
We were pleased to find that the Toshiba came with a hard drive movement sensor. If the netbook experienced sudden or violent movement, it would automatically park the hard drive. The power management software was also detailed, allowing users to specify brightness settings at varying levels of battery life. Of course, for our testing, we had it set at 80 percent brightness at all levels.
The Toshiba Mini, with its Intel Atom N280 processor, did well in our performance benchmark tests, earning a score of 260.4, the best in the roundup.
However, what amazed us was how well it did in the battery life test. The Toshiba lasted 6 hours, 17 minutes, outlasting its nearest competitor by 1 hour, 47 minutes. After a while, we began to think that there might have been some fluke — perhaps the Toshiba was accidentally plugged in — but we found nothing of the kind. It simply lasted a long time.
We got yet another pleasant surprise when it came time to look at prices. Toshiba is selling the Mini NB205-N210 for $350, the lowest price in the roundup. This netbook would do well in almost any environment, especially if it must run on batteries for an extended period. It earns our Reviewer’s Choice designation and our admiration, hands down, for this review.
Pros: Excellent battery life, good performance.
Cons: Screen prone to glare.
Performance: A
Battery life: A+
Ergonomics: A
Portability: A-
Features: A
Value: A
Price: $349
Toshiba, 800-597-4512, www.toshibadirect.com
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