Gadgetrepublic.com - Gadget Review

Despite having reviewed plenty of netbooks over the course of the last year and a half, I only recently looked into buying one of my own.

I could no longer resist the temptation to have a nice lightweight, ultra-portable laptop. Besides my MacBook had just been stolen and I needed an interim replacement.

The competition

Although the sturdy and reliable Samsung NC10 is a best-seller (check out our review) and seemed like a good choice, it has been out for a while and I wanted something with a slightly better screen so my first thoughts had turned towards its update: the N310; a stylish number with rubberized outer covering and the option to upgrade from 1GB to 2GB of RAM.

Sony had also just released its Vaio W, which looks infinitely more practical than the Vaio-P and a lot less pricey at €500 but with most netbooks retailing around the sub-€400 mark I wanted value too.

The other netbook on my mind was Toshiba's NB200. At €429 from Peats electronics store, the price wasn't too bad but the insides are what attracted me.

What netbook owners want

The Toshiba NB200-11M has an aesthetically pleasing indigo-blue outer layer with a silver keyboard and surrounding frame. Obviously looks aren't everything but many of the earlier netbooks are quite cheap and boxy looking.

Anyway this is aside from the fact that it has a beautifully shiny 10.1-inch screen that displays colour that much better than the Samsung NC10 or the EEE PC for example.

The keyboard

The keyboard was another deciding factor for me: keys were spaced apart nicely and it was almost full-size. The keyboard on some other models has been a bit of a nightmare for me. I like small flat, spaced-apart keys when conservation of space is an issue, having them all raised and bunched up on top of each other is not ideal when you've got a netbook propped on your knees.

Specs appeal

Specs-wise you could say that the NB200 is tipping the scales evenly with its competition: it has a 250GB hard drive, 1GB of RAM (and I discovered post-purchase that it can be expanded to 2GB) and runs Windows XP Home Edition on the Intel Atom processor N280.

Why pick the NB200 then, when there are cheaper models? It's simple: the answer lies in the extras.

It's all in the extras

Toshiba has brought some of its latest high tech features into its netbook lineup and these are lifesavers, literally.

The USB Sleep-and-Charge feature means that your mp3 player, mobile phone, smart phone or any other USB device can be charged through the NB200, even while it is switched off. A unique and attractive feature indeed.

Hard drive protection

The next feature is Toshiba's built-in hard drive detection. The accelerometer detects movement and freezes to protect the hard drive should it impact. And you know it will because carrying little netbooks around is a recipe for dropping, or at least for butterfingers like me.

The hard drive protection will not of course prevent hard drive destruction should you drop it from a three sorry building only to have it splinter but it will cushion it from the daily slings and arrows of being carted around in your bag, dumped on tables and chairs and thrown back in again.

The (not so) bad bits

One annoying thing is that if you don't turn off the motion detection notification feature you will get a warning every time you jiggle it slightly.

Another annoying aspect is Toshiba's ConfigFree programme for hassle-free connectivity. For some reason, although it displayed all nearby networks visually, which is a neat feature, it wouldn't connect properly or accept my network key, and it also interfered with Microsoft Windows' default connectivity feature.

One last tiny gripe is the protruding battery that sticks out slightly from the chassis but I cannot find the will to complain because the battery life is fantastic.

Top notch battery life

Apparently you can get up to nine hours battery life on this model and although I only ran it for about 3-4 hours at a time it hardly drained the battery so I would well believe it to be possible for at least 7-8 hours.

Pros: Long battery life, hard drive protection, high quality display, USB Sleep and Charge, good-sized keyboard

Cons: Screen doesn't display well in sunshine, Toshiba's EasyConfig software got confused with Windows own wireless manager

Price: €429

Get it: Peats World of Electronics