Toshiba NB250-107 netbook review

The Toshiba NB250-107 netbook is part of Toshiba’s NB250 range, and constitutes an affordable, if unspectacular option for netbook newbies. Carving out a niche for itself is the biggest challenge facing the netbook market, so it’s interesting to see how this particular device holds up.

What we like best

Portability and price are two hugely important factors when considering buying a netbook, and the Toshiba NB250 does well in both categories. We’ve carried around lunchboxes heavier than the 1.12Kg that the 3-cell battery NG250-107 puts on the scales, and £250 is a fantastic average price for such a well-rounded machine. It’ll fit snugly into briefcases, tote bags and backpacks alike, and it doesn’t look to shabby either – its slightly patterend, dark glossy lid lends it a stylish (but, crucially, not pretentious) edge.

The Toshiba NB250’s keyboard and trackpad are both highly user-friendly – large, responsive, and distinct action and feel. The keyboard especially is spread out across the breadth of the netbook to keep the keys as big as possible, which people with slightly larger hands will appreciate.

Performance is managed by the Intel Atom N455 in tandem with 1Gb of DDR3 RAM (which can be upgraded to 2Gb), which is nothing special when measured against the lightning quick laptops these days, but for a netbook provides perfectly adequate performance. Huge multi-media sessions and hours of keeping multiple browser tabs open isn’t what you buy a netbook for, and it will allow users fluid every day browsing and data entry.

The Toshiba NB250’s connectivity is fairly spartan – three USB ports, Ethernet and headphone jacks as well as a VGA output. – but, again, nobody should really expect a lot more from a device in this price range.

What we like least

The irritating reflections and the size of the glossy 10.1 display means that video entertainment on the train will be about as stimulating as watching a film on a black-and-white TV from outside someone else’s smudgy window, and the 1024 x 600 screen resolution doesn’t help, either – when using Internet Explorer, there will be a lot of scrolling since only a small chunk of websites will actually be displayed, thanks to the heaps of toolbars at the top.

There is no Bluetooth connectivity, which won’t be a dealbreaker for many users and probably helps to keep the price down, but it shows how netbooks are still a long way behind laptops in terms of versatility.

The Toshiba NB250’s battery life also isn’t worth shouting about (unless you opt for the 6-cell battery) – despite the eight hours being advertised, intense work on this netbook will mean you’ll have to plug it in to a power socket after about three and a half hours.