Toshiba's 1st consumer-oriented notebook in the U.S., the Toshiba mini NB205 , assures to be among the hottest notebooks of 2009. Like most of the affordable companion PCs acquirable in stores, the mini NB205 services you continue connected with a simple laptop that easily fits in a handbag or backpack. This notebook surely offers a good deal with a nearly full-sized keyboard and touchpad and all-day battery life, merely is it the best $400 notebook on the market? Let's get a closer look. OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3 10.1" WSVGA (1024 x 600) LED-backlit display CPU: Intel Atom N280 (1.66GHz, 533MHz FSB) Graphics: Intel GMA 950 LAN onboard 10/100 Mbps Ethernet controller Wireless: 802.11b/g and Bluetooth V2.1 Memory 1GB (DDR2 533MHz) Storage: 160GB hard drive (5400rpm) and SD/SDHC media card reader Webcam: 0.3 Megapixel Dimensions 10.4 x 8.3 x 1.0/1.27 inches (W x D x H) Weight 2.93lbs with 6-cell battery Battery: 6-cell Lithium-Ion Warranty: 1-Year Parts and Labor, 1-Year Battery Price as configured: $399.99 USD Build and Design The Toshiba mini NB205 is the 1st notebook (low-price, low-performance, ultraportable laptop) from Toshiba, but the innovation is surely one of the most appealing we have seen in the notebook class. Toshiba bids the NB205 in multiple colors, simply the silver and "Sable Brown" color combination in our inspection social unit looks rather precise. The screen lid is built from slim textured plastic with the Toshiba logo frontmost and core in silver metalic plastic. Toshiba engineers built the fascinating alternative by placing the power button in the midst of the screen hinge where it's exposed even once the notebook is closed. At first I was afraid this could not be the hottest position since it signifies the power button could be by chance triggered inside a rucksack or laptop case, but the button is disenabled if the screen lid is shut. Build quality was less than amazing in spite of the attractive outside of the NB205. The thin plastics applied in the construction of the frame is prone to bend and the plastics make bothersome "creaky" noises if you squeeze the notebook between your fingers. The full-size keyboard looks phenomenal, just as soon as you enforce typing pressure with your fingers you start to experience the keyboard flex and resile as you type. Alas, the only area of the mini NB205 that feels good and firm is the tenseness on the screen hinges The bottom of the notebook chassis shows an copiousness of air vents to assist with cooling and a couple of tardily access panels for the RAM and disk drive. We are happy to see increasingly more notebooks with easy access to the internals for upgrading the computer memory or computer storage, and Toshiba pulls through very simple to complete these upgrades subsequently removing 3 screws. Screen and Speakers The Toshiba NB205 applies a gracious and bright 10.1-inch widescreen LED-backlit presentation panel with an 1024 x 600 native resolution. I wish Toshiba tendered the mini NB205 with a higher resolution screen such as the ones available from Dell, HP, and Sony, but regarding the $400 price we can't complain a great deal. Vertical viewing angles are normal, with visible color inversion when looking from below and some over-exposed colors once viewed from above. Horizontal viewing angles are very good with colors only starting to shift at extreme wide viewing angles. The built-in speaker performance on the mini NB205 is acceptable for listening to system sounds or very short online video clips, but overall the speaker quality is sub-par for a netbook. The built-in speaker is located on bottom front edge and can't produce enough distortion-free volume to push sound up toward the user. If you want to use this netbook as a mobile entertainment portal then you need to invest in some good headphones. On the bright side, the audio output from the headphone jack is good when paired with earphones or a good set of external speakers.

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