VERIZON AND AT&T TO OFFER TOSHIBA NB205 SUBSIDIZED

The 3G enabled Toshiba NB205 is now available subsidized from US wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T. Neither Verizon nor AT&T list NB205 on their websites at the moment, but Best Buy has advertised that the notebook can be purchased at a discounted price if you sign up for a 2-year service contract with Verizon or AT&T.

The Toshiba NB205 starts at $399. It can be bought for $299.99 with an HSPA modem and an AT&T contract for 2 years. For $229.99, you can get the Verizon or Sprint version of the notebook with an integrated EVDO modem. The 3G service contract may cost $40 to $60 per month. That means you will have to spend nearly $1500 over the next two years and you will save around $100 today.

Of course with the service contract you also get a 3G modem worth around $100. This particular model of NB205 ships with Windows XP OS and not Windows 7.

TOSHIBA MINI NB205

Toshiba has finally entered the Netbook market with Mini NB205. This slick-looking laptop is available in four colors: white, blue, brown and pink.

System Configuration

Processor 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280
Memory 1GB, 800MHz DDR2
Hard drive 160GB 5,400rpm
Chipset Intel 945GSE
Graphics Intel GMA 950 (integrated)
Operating system Windows XP
Display: 10.1 inch

Design, Keyboard and Touchpad
The design is distinct- it does manage to stand out from other netbooks in the market. The keyboard has widely spaced, raised keys similar to those found on traditional full size laptops. The touchpad is even better. It is bigger for a 10 inch netbook. The 10.1 inch wide-screen display offers 1024x600 native resolution. There are 3 USB ports. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth.

A very useful feature of this netbook is the sleep-and-charge technology. With this technology you can charge USB devices from that port, even when the laptop is sleeping, hibernating or off. The speaker performance is lack-lustre.

Performance
The Toshiba NB205 uses the slightly faster N280 version of Intel’s Atom processor. But performance isn’t significantly better than that offered by other netbooks using a low-end processor. You will still have no problem performing basic tasks like web surfing and word processing. At 6 plus hours the battery life is quite impressive.

Pros:
Distinctive design
Large touchpad
Impressive battery life

Cons:
Bulky battery – it sticks out awkwardly
Poor speaker performance – you can hardly hear anything