Toshiba Mini NB305 review
By Joanna Stern 
posted January 15th 2010 4:32PM
posted January 15th 2010 4:32PM
If there's been a Renaissance man in the world of first-gen netbooks it'd be the Toshiba Mini NB205. Its long battery life, comfortable keyboard and attractive and sturdy build distinguished it from the others, even when it made a late entrance to the little laptop market last year. Like most manufacturers, Tosh has gone and refreshed its knockout netbook with Intel's Atom Pine Trail platform and slightly altered the design. But has the competition caught up to the $399 Mini NB305? Or does the Mini NB305 still hold a place in our hearts as the most versatile netbook out there? Find out after the break in our full review.
Look and feel
Keyboard, touchpad and screen
We appreciate that the touchpad is larger than most, and features dedicated right and left mouse buttons instead of a cramped rocker, but the multitouch pad is too sensitive and we were constantly zooming in on pages. We've become quite speedy at switching off this function in the Synaptics menu -- a skill that we're rather proud of.
The 10-inch, 1024 x 600 resolution screen is bright with just the right amount of gloss, and actually looks better than most when it comes to viewing angles. We didn't have to make any real adjustments to share the screen with a friend. The display may be the best we'll ever get on a netbook. Too bad it's surrounded by a thick bezel -- although its pattern does nicely match the lid.
Performance, battery life and software
| PCMark05 | 3DMark06 | Battery Life | |
| Toshiba Mini NB305 | 1272 | 156 | 6:30 |
| Acer Aspire One 523h | 1310 | 154 | 6:31 |
| ASUS Eee PC 1005PE | 1431 | 157 | 8:10 |
The Mini NB305's 5300mAh, 61Wh six-cell battery lasted 6 hours and 30 minutes on a video rundown test with brightness set to 65 percent, and about eight hours during our typical routine of web surfing, chatting and writing. Now, don't get us wrong: six hours of movie playback is really good, but it isn't close to Toshiba's predicted 11 hours of juice or as good as the Eee PC 1005PE's eight hours on our video test.
Tosh has loaded up the Mini NB305 with its proprietary software as well as the typical free trial of Norton, and a few of the programs are actually quite useful. ReelTime seems a bit of a slap in the face to Windows 7's multitasking functionality, and places a toolbar along the bottom of the screen with shortcuts to commonly used programs, open applications and files. Bulletin Board lets you post notes or pictures on a digital board, although it's probably more useful on a touch-enabled screen. The only really peeving app is the Webcam Assistant, which is set to permanently hide on the side of the screen. We're not self-haters or anything, but we found no use for taking our picture several times a day and disabled it immediately.
Wrap-up
I'm finally warming to the idea of a Netbook, mostly for portability reasons (I love my MacBook Pro, but it has some heft to it when all I want is web access).
Have you had a chance to hands on with the Pinetrail HP Mini systems? It would be good to see how they stack up, too.
@Dale P We had some hands on impressions, but our reviews should be on the way soon...
@Dale P It's probably better--certainly as far as performance. HD version has a higher screen resolution and they offer the broadcom video accelerator. Actually tried to order one--but when all was said and done, after 802.11n, video accelerator, tax, shipping, etc, I was going to end up spending over $500. Instead, I bought the 305 from Amazon. Came out over $100 cheaper.
Fat and Bulky.
@Dale P e gads! Toshiba's "let me help you" software looks as craptastic as ever
@(Unverified) Perhaps, but not that fat and way not bulky. Toshiba seems to have listened. The NB305’s battery now fits into the netbook without sticking out, and the company isn’t shipping a pink model. The netbook is available in brown, white and blue.
However, one minor issue that remains unchanged is the placement of the keyboard keys. Details: http://bit.ly/toshiba-mini-nb305
@selenatyle FU troll!
would like that instead of my eee pc..
I'm glad this review was positive. I ordered one yesterday.
Thankfully, you can get the NB305 for as little as $349. Cheaper isn't always the best and while Acer will sell a lot of AO532h's a lot of people will be drawn to the NB305 and other more expensive netbooks which come out.
What no one mentioned in this review or any of the others is the impact of Windows 7 on the benchmarks and battery life. Windows 7 is probably undercutting performance in both areas about 10 - 20 percent and while it may not be as flashing it works better for computers like this.
@(Unverified) The $349 version is the one with the matte keyboard and plain lid as I said in the review. The $399 version has the better keyboard, IMO. The Windows 7 performance doesn't bother me, it is still snappy enough, but the battery life does definitely takes a toll. Actually the orginal NB205 got longer battery life than this. But with all the manufacturer's are going with Win 7, there's little we can do there.
Wow. Engadget as a mildly irrational liking for something non-Apple...
@cfmills OMG you caught us! YOU CAUGHT US!
@Laura June Also, our liking for this product is probably... rational.
@cfmills
Well there are Apples right next to it.
@Hydraulics These are subliminal messages we are sending through image. It's too deep for us to explain.
@Joanna Stern Personally, I find all the accusations that the Engadget editors are biased towards Apple to be rather annoying and unfounded. People don't seem to realize that Engadget has given Apple products plenty of negative feedback and that covering Apple-related news and products is just part of covering the gadget world. I think your standard response to such accusations should be something like, "Yes, we love Apples. They are sweet, crisp, delicious and healthy too."
Wondering if some of the junk Toshiba puts on this thing is slowing it down a bit for the benchmarks.
Hackintoshability? That would actually make me consider it over my dell mini 10v that I would leave to my gf
@nicotejera A Toshiba for your left hand and a Dell for your right. Sounds like a plan!
I'm trying to get an idea of when the netbooks capable of hd video will actually be available at big box stores. My google fu is not working - too much noise in the signal. Does anyone know? Brands, model numbers, etc? GF wants to buy one this weekend - I keep telling her to wait.
Thanks!
@viewsonic9 the HP 311 with ION LE is available at Best Buy. These should be good for web HD if you install Flash 10.1
There were some videos out there showing it playing COD4 as well.
@Alan Strangis Thanks Alan. I'll check it out.
@viewsonic9 First of all, I am glad you are telling her to wait. I always let my friends and family know when there is a new generation coming soon enough that it's best to wait but they hardly ever listen. As for dates for retail availability, there isn't much info on that yet. I think all the major manufacturers have at least announced their Pine Trail netbooks but I don't think they have said when they will be on shelves. Your best bet is probably to just check bestbuy.com, walmart.com, and whichever other websites correspond to retailers in your area that offer in-store pickup. When the website says it's available for in-store pickup, you know it's on the shelf. If you are willing to have it shipped, Newegg and Amazon are usually some of the first online retailers to start selling new products.
In your review, you state that "Atom alone can't handle even 720p videos." However, the previous generation Atom N270 could smoothly play 720p video with the CoreAVC codec, and I would wager that the Pinetrail Atoms are even better in that department.
Great review. Love the addition of the fruit bowl to the photos. It helps clarify the proportions some.
Why oh why would Toshiba redesign the battery to protrude from the BOTTOM instead of the back like it used to??? That just kills a netbook for me, which is becoming more and more unfortunate with each new one released.
quote
"Many have been asking about the lack of HDMI ports on these new netbooks, and while we'd welcome the additional port for easily hooking up to a larger monitor or HDTV, it's obvious Atom alone can't handle even 720p videos, and thus it's been left off the list."
What!?!?
My NB205 plays 720p without skipping a beat! Just download KMPlayer, CoreAVC, config and you are done!!!! This should be edited in the review!
Thanks.
@GelockS I'm going to try this tonight. I have no problem with 720p WMV files, but 720p Quicktime vids choke.
@GelockS Even with WMP 11 I've been able to play 720p video that was being upscaled to 1080p over VGA on my N280 powered netbook.
@GelockS How?!? I have a NB205 and i can't watch youtube videos in HQ!
@CraViper I'm referring to created/downloaded MKVs and not youtube videos. ;-)
@CraViper: GelockS is talking about local video files, not YouTube streams, which depend on Flash.
@Joanna Stern Hi, for a step by step I followed a guide on pocketables.net. The guide was meant for the Sony Vaio P but it works a-Ok with the Toshiba (or any Atom netbook). You don't need the drivers specified there, just CoreAVC and KMPlayer and follow configuration steps for KMPlayer. http://forum.pocketables.net/showthread.php?t=2148
@GelockS I think that HD playback in reviews such as this mainly refers to streaming video, like Youtube or Hulu(or, in this case, Quicktime- I'm guessing their movie trailers?). Playing 720p Flash video is a bit more taxing than h.264 or whatever else you're playing locally. I don't know about Quicktime, but I am guessing it has the same issue.
Oooppss Weedle beat me to it!
In general, what's the bloatware factor on these netbooks? Do you find yourself simply rebuilding with a clean install?
This would be so nice with a ion chipset and hdmi
very cool design; all the netbooks should look this way.
Guys you showed the sn for w7. Isn''t that bad??
Could you hackintosh these? they've got atom processors... and they look real niceeee
Tell us a little about the Tosiba Board software Joanna.
ok well we have had THREE toshiba nb205s. the first one was black. we set up all the windows stuff, and after five minutes on the windows home screen the graphics card died. we returned it, and upgraded to the silver version. that had a slightly better overall experience, but the wireless will just randomly turn off. and the screen quality leaves a bit to be desired. i think they should make the trackpad slightly smaller and have a little more space between the clicker and the edge of the chassis. anyway, we were reasonably happy with the silver 205, so we bought another one. unfortunately, the power button did not work. alas, no computer. i think we're gonna go for the dell mini, or even the hp.
Are people aware that NOTHING fits on a 1024X600. I used to have a netbook, and I simply couldn't deal with SO MUCH scrolling. The pixel heigh of 600 is just plainly not enough, horizontal 1024 is BARE minimum. It's the most annoying this about majority of netbooks.
Sony makes a netbook with a 10" screen that has 1366x768 resolution. And there are many ULV and Atom laptops/netbooks with 12" screen with 1366x768 resolution (or 1280x800, which is even better in my opinion).
@pretol: 1024 is certainly tight. I find it a bit too cramped on my Aspire One. I've had a chance to use the 11.6" Timelines, and the 1366x768 screen is the perfect compromise. Enough res to work with, while not making a bulky machine.
The HP 311 has the same screen size/res, and with ION could be a killer combo. Just wish more netbook makers would do the convertible tablet thing.
@pretol
People are plenty aware...it's one of the fastest growing markets of the last two years, hard to miss. Try optimizing your vertical space. Chrome does a good job of this by default.
On something like Firefox you can switch icons to small, do single square icons for bookmarks and put them on the navigation bar, merge status bar with the address bar, merge stop and refresh buttons (why have both?), turn off tab bar when you only have one webpage open(maybe uses windows instead of tabs), hide your taskbar. It's small stuff hear and there but it adds up.
For anyone trying HD flash, download it first, not let it buffer, download it (figure it out). It's usually a mp4 file. Grab Media Play Classic or KMPlayer with CoreAVC codecs and you'll get smooth playback (works for mkv too).
@ninetynine99
99% of netbook owners will NOT know the resolution of the screen. You're giving people way too much credit.
Those are all good suggestions (chrome, firefox-smaller buttons, etc). But here's a better suggestion, get a Sony that has 1366x768 10.1" screen, or any of the 11.6" models that have the forementioned resolution. You can mess with optimising codecs for HD playback, but here's a better suggestion - GET A ULV 11.6, which will pull of HD much better than any atom (you can optimise it just the same, and it'll work even so much smoother). And ULV machines cost around 400 bucks as well.
The only good reason for netbooks to exist is absolute minituarization (7"-8" screens). HD playback is THE VERY WRONG reason to get a netbook (be prepared for dissappointment). And a 10" is just big enough, that I'd recommend getting a ULV 11.6", that'll run circles around any netbook in any cpu benchmark.
@pretol
Well I meant it's a large market, meaning a lot of people have bought netbooks already so all those people realize the resolution is low, or for some reason they realize less stuff is displayed on the screen. You're talking about prospective buyers who havent ever used a netbook or something.
And yes I agree, buy a 11.6 CULV machine. Higher resolution, plays flash HD video already but they all have graphics chipsets that will be supported by flash 10.1 later. Dell 11z (C2D 1.3 ghz, 4gb memory) goin for $475.
But it seems the 10" netbook cannot be killed, so just tryin to help people who already have them/still want to get them.
I like my Toshiba laptop. I tried Dell's Mini10 netbook but didn't like the trackpad--maybe I'll get this netbook.
I am writing this from an NB305. I have had it for two days. I originally ordered an NB205 but canceled it when I realized the NB305 was about to be released. My only other Netbook experience is with n EeePC 1005 and the keyboard on the NB305 is much better. I really like the spacing between the keys - I struggled with the keyboard on the EeePC.
I did a few upgrades to mine - replaced the HDD with a 128 GB SDD, upgraded memory to 2GB and installed Win7 Ultimate. I am pretty happy with it so far.
@mpwalsh8
where did u order/customize your toshiba? I want to get one. Thanks