Netbook Reviews

1976 was the year when a Multitech International company in Taiwan was founded as a small unit with just few employees and that company was later named as Acer. If it could reach such great heights, it is because of its quality and good design. Since its formative years, the products sport out a uniqueness. One among those in the line is the Acer Aspire One 722. If you look at this particular product’s specifications, you would probably come to a conclusion that it is a notebook. But then, what truth holds is that, it is a netbook. Yes, this 11.6 inch netbook has many features that match to that of an average notebook. This netbook has been recently added to acer’s list of netbooks with looks that carries a typical acer look. With just few features that might make it seem like a notebook suffice to qualify it as a good netbook? What does this product actually hold for its users? Get an answer for these questions by reading our review on the “Acer aspire One 722” netbook.

Design:

The first word that your mind would come across the moment you look at this netbook is, “Ultra portable”. This Aspire One 722  11.6 inch netbook is very slim and too light-weighted that is obviously visible from its appearance and this is a big plus for the netbook. This makes it easy to be carried in your backpack. Just toss it in and you will not know that it is inside and it is as light as 1.35 Kg. This good travel companion has the “aspire one” tag printed on its front side and there is the ripple like texture. This texture is something innovative because the design is really lively, as in, the ripples look realistic. The netbook comes with three colour choices, blue, black or red, or more perfectly the colours can be explained as Aquamarine blue, diamond black and Burgundy red respectively. Like most of the acer netbooks, it has a glossy finish which attracts finger prints easily. Though the netbook has a wide 11 inch screen it does not look that bigger. However, the screen is HD widescreen LCD display type with a clean resolution of 1366 x 768p. This makes it wonderful to watch movies. This kind of a resolution is unimaginable in a netbook, particularly of this price range. The netbook is very cheaper in price and is therefore pretty much affordable.

Keyboard:

It is better to be warned and informed before itself, the netbook’s keyboard is all set to disappoint you. One, the keys are little crammed up that makes certain keys uncomfortable to use, while the other reason is that the keys are very light and feeble. You touch the keys and you can feel the keyboard area going up and down. It gives a plastic feeling and this is one point that needs to be looked at. There is no separate numeric keypad and this said, you need to use the general number keys for typing the numbers. The up and down keys are really small and the palm rest area is not adequate.

Touch Pad:

Right below the keyboard in the centre is the Touch pad. This pad provides for vertical scrolling on its sides and has a single button for the usual left and right mouse button operations. Now there are two sides for this single button design, for and against because you need to use a single for doing two different jobs and it can be ambiguous at times.

However, the multi-touch gestures can be quite exciting to use.

Ports:

There are no ports on the front and back side of the netbook which naturally means that the ports can be found distributed on the left and rights sides of the device. On the right, two USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks, multi-in-one card reader that can read data from cards like SD and the like. On the other side, there is the VGA, Ethernet port, power adaptor, USB 2.0 port and HDMI. If you are happy that there are three USB 2.0 ports, then it must be exciting to know that this netbook comes with the HDMI ports. Most of the netbooks generally do not include HDMI as one of their ports. But this netbook includes it and it means you can watch the contents in a HDTV.

Netbook features:

There are a number of features in this Acer Aspire One 722 netbook that are equivalent to those present in a midrange laptop. The fact that this machine can play HD content is amazing since most of the netbooks do not provide this option. In addition to this, the netbook is a great video streamer. It plays the contents streamed from sites and infact the quality is way better than many other netbooks. Moving on to the viewing angles of the screen, they are really wide. The netbook can be pushed back to a wide angle and the quality would still remain unaltered. This would be delightful for those who watch movies with friends. The netbook has poor stereo speakers. May be this is the area acer decided to constrain its budget on. The speakers are not very loud and clear and it becomes quite difficult to listen to the audio when the surrounding is little noisy. So users would find themselves using the headphones more often than these speakers. The camera on top of the screen is not very clear but of course, it can be used for video chat or conferences, skype chats, etc.,

Processor, Graphics and Memory:

There are great promises from the APUs that have recently found their birth. The Accelerated Processing Unit combine the CPU and GPU on the same die for providing faster transfer of data and high speed operation. With this new technology taking its formative steps, this 11 inch netbook includes the AMD C50 processor that is of APU type with a speed of 1.0 GHz. Now this might be a good processor when compared to other Atom netbooks and many others too. But then, it does not satisfy the heaped up expectations. Yes, it manages multitasks pretty decently and provides best video resolution possible. But that is it. It is not exactly a gaming netbook because all that this device can handle is light gaming, going beyond which the netbook will not do justice. The Acer Aspire One 722 netbook includes a dedicated ATI Radeon HD 6250 for graphics. This means that videos will be lot better compared to the conventional ones. For all the larger memory lovers, cheers! Because this acer aspire 722 netbook comes with 4GB of RAM and 500GB of hard drive. This is something that you can not find in most of the netbooks and thumbs up to acer for being so generous as this means so much to those who are in need of good memory space from netbooks.

Connectivity:

The whole world is becoming an Internet junkie. Very less population of the world is still oblivious to the net while the rest of the population has completely got indulged in it. We are dependent on the net for almost all our activities. This netbook provides internet access for its users for surfing, downloading or stuffs that depend on the global network using both the wired and wireless connectivity. As said earlier, there is the RJ45 ethernet port that aides the wired connection, while the Wi-Fi 802.11bgn supports wireless access. This means that you can chat for hours with your dear ones, regardless of where they are.

Heat and Noise:

The Acer aspire 722 netbook has been positively designed without much noise. The noise level is very low that it does not irritate your senses and the heat level is also tolerable. There are fan vents on the sides of the netbook that take proper care to avoid the hotness from staying inside the device itself.

Battery:

It is a known fact that netbooks usually survive longer than the larger notebooks. This Acer aspire one 722 netbook has a 6 cell 4400mAh battery and the company boasts of 7 hour battery life. However, the users can be guaranteed of 5 hours and few minutes on an average definitely if the processor is up to only light browsing and simple application processing. There is nothing to be awed with the battery life or its performance, but there is nothing to be disappointed too, it does its job satisfactorily.

Performance:

The Acer Aspire one series includes a wide range of netbooks that differ from each other in their specs. This particular 11 inch netbook is just an average performer because its processor is a mid-range one. Though the netbook has dedicated graphics, it is not intended for gamers as it can not handle it efficiently and once again the processor is the reason for this. However, for all other general purposes the netbook is really good.

Warranty:

There is nothing special about the warranty usually. The standard one year period is covered for it and Acer provides good service to its customers. They can approach the company for any queries either through their sites or toll free numbers or by going to the service centre directly.

Verdict:

Acer aspire one 722 netbook is a budget netbook as its cost is very less. But then it has a number of features that are possessed solely by the desktop replacement notebooks. So if you are on the chase for a “netbook” that is very economical, has large memory, HD screen, capability to connect to HD TV, good number of ports and a decent look, then this could be the one that you are after. But for others, there are a number of other netbooks and notebooks as well, that can perform way better than this one.

Acer Aspire One 722 Netbook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Acer
Model Name	Acer Aspire One 722
Weight	1.35 Kg
Type	Netbook
Display
Screen Size	11.6 inch
Screen Type	HD Widescreen CineCrystal LCD Display
Screen Resolution	1366 x 768p
Internal Components
Processor	AMD Processor C-50 (1.0GHz speed, 1MB L2 cache)
RAM	4GB DDR3
Hard drive	500GB
Keypad	Very small but good response
Touchpad	Yes, with Multi touch facilities
Multimedia
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
Communication Setup
Wireless support	WLAN 802.11 BGN
Memory card slot	Multi-in-1 card reader
Connectivity	3 USB 2.0 ports, Audio line in, Audio line out, 1 HDMI, 1 VGA video output
Warranty	1 Year complete warranty

Sony has always given a chance for new inventions and hence laid before its customers the 10 inch netbook under the name “sony vaio mini notebook”. This netbook typically has essentially all the features of the netbook with the standard vaio look. This Sony Vaio VPCW215AX/L Netbook is a big gift for those who had been yearning for a typical sony vaio product packed in a tiny screen. But what makes this netbook stand out from the rest of the other in the line? Check it out.

Design:

This VPCW215AX/L Sony vaio netbook is the first 10.1 inch mini notebook from Sony that is packed neatly along with the power adapter and the guide book. This little piece is available in a choice of three colors – Cocoa brown, Sugar white or Berry pink. The three color choices are equivalently attractive in their own way, while the brown color symbolizes masculinity and one of the stronger kinds, the pink one is girlish while the white is more subtle and appealing. Taking the pink one, it has a pink color lid while the base area is light or pale pink in color. The trackpad is shown uniquely since it is in the color that is between the bright color of the lid and the paleness of the base. This tiny notebook is basically a netbook since it has all the ‘properties’ of any netbook, good number of ports, but absence of the optical drive and comparatively less hard drive storage capacity.

The VPCW215AX/L 10.1 inch netbook is definitely neither the thinnest nor thickest with the dimensions of 10.54 inches in width, 1.08-2.00 inches in height and 7.07 inches in depth. This product weighs nearly 2.93 lbs. The viewing angles of the netbook are pretty cool since the screen is quite flexible. One thing to be happy about this netbook is that it comes with a clean 1366 x 768p resolution and this is really outstanding for a 10 inch netbook. The LED backlit screen adds to the excellent resolution resulting in good clarity in the videos and pictures that appear before your eyes. The netbook is well constructed and is sturdy and the high definition display resolution makes it lightly expensive on comparing with the ones that go with the same specification. However, its overall design is really attractive and elegant looking that evades its average category specifications.

Keyboard and Touchpad:

The chiclet style keyboard works well with this 10 inch vaio VPCW215AX/L netbook. The keys are well laid with good spacing. However, it does not include an integrated numeric keypad. But then it is not going to be disappointing news for netbooks because for staying connected in social sites like facebook or twitter or for light browsing, the numeric keypad does not really count. Below the keyboard is the good looking trackpad with raised dots all over its surface and has two buttons for left and right mouse operations. There are three LEDs at the top of the Touchpad for indicating the status of the caps lock and the like. The Touchpad is typical of Sony creation and the Sony crazies would love it.

Ports and Connectivity:

The ports of the Vaio W netbook do not make the users crave for it, but instead they only come with the ports that are needed. As said earlier, there is no optical drive, which rules out the possibility of playing the DVDs and there is no meaning in waiting for a blu ray upgrade. The Power port, fan vent for letting out the heat, VGA for external connection to monitor, the headphone and microphone jack appear on the left side of the netbook while the two USB 2.0 ports, the Ethernet RJ45 port and the kensington lock are present on the right side. At the front there is the multi card reader and There is the Motion Eye camera on the top bezel for enabling the users to chat endless on skype or attend video conferences. The sound system that the netbook contains is the Intel HD Audio system which produces clear and sound audio. For staying connected to the internet, the users can connect either to the wired RJ45 Ethernet LAN port or the wireless Wi-Fi b/g/n. As the name implies, this netbook can be a great delight for surfing the net or downloading any videos, or for actively commenting on your friends’ photos in facebook or for tweeting!

Memory, Graphics, Processor and OS:

The Sony Vaio VPCW215AX notebook comes with a 1GB of DDR2 RAM and 250GB of hard drive storage capacity. The 1GB of internal RAM memory can be extended to 2GB. For a netbook this memory is sufficient. The processor for graphics and multimedia is the Intel GMA 3150. This is an integrated processor and hence can not be expected to be a gaming netbook. The netbooks in general are not good gamers and so is this one. It does not come with a core processor that works really fast but instead comes with the decent performing Intel N450 processor with a clock speed of 1.66GHz. The W series netbook works on the Windows 7 Starter which is only a basic of the Windows 7 series edition.

Battery:

For users who want a battery life nearly as high as 7 or 8 hours, Sony provides a 6 cell battery that protrudes at the back that might not be liked by few. This long battery life can not be obtained in the 3 cell battery though, where the battery would be alive for nearly 3 or 4 hours only. This Lithium ion battery is not really satisfactory and Sony could have worked on that.

Performance:

The Sony Vaio W series netbook VPCW215AX/L has only the ordinary features in terms of its ports and connectivity. But what attracts the users is that it has a high definition display and most of the netbooks do not support this feature. This HD Display alone would not suffice to increase the price tag though. The audio and video performances are average only.

Warranty:

The Vaio W series netbook has a standard 1 year warranty period within which time the Company bears the charges for any kind of repair or replacement.

Verdict:

The Sony Vaio W netbook might be little pricey when compared to the other netbooks of this range of features. It is in no way comparable to the best netbooks in the line like the Samsung N110 and Dell 250. But then, this is a standard Sony product with the ability to stream data between the DLNA devices. So this netbook is a good choice for those who prefer Sony for all their technical gadgets. For others, this netbook does not disappoint you, but then this is definitely not one of the best.

Sony Vaio VPCW215AX/L Netbook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Sony
Model Name	Sony Vaio Netbook
Product Code	VPCW215AX/L
Dimensions: (W x H x D)	10.54 x 1.08-2.00 x 7.07 inches
Weight	2.93 lbs
Type	Netbook
Display
Screen Size	10.1″
Screen Type	LED backlit LCD
Screen Resolution	1366 x 768p
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Internal Components
Processor	Intel® ATOM™ Processor N450 (1.66GHz, 667MHz, 512KB)
RAM	1GB DDR2 (Extendable up to 2GB)
Hard drive	250 GB Hard drive
Keypad	Easy to work with the beautiful isolation/chiclet keys
Touchpad	Yes, with Multi Touch Facilities
Multimedia
Graphics	Intel GMA 3150
Speakers	Intel® High Definition Audio Sound System
Communication Setup
Wireless support	WLAN 802.11 BGN
Memory card slot	SD card reader built-in
Connectivity	2 USB 2.0 ports, 1 Audio-in and audio-out port each, 1 Multi card reader, 1 VGA port and Ethernet port.
Warranty	1 Year complete warranty

The HP Mini series of netbooks are those tiny little laptops that are meant for home users who use the netbook for day to day works that are quite simple. The netbooks in general are not advisable for office users who put their machine’s brain to the maximum possible extent. This HP Mini 210 is a small 10 inch netbook with wide range of choices for the users to pick their best features. Hewlett Packard has seriously found its way into the people’s lives by creating products that are standard and well qualified. This Company’s products are known for their quality and also reasonable price. The netbook has great positives as well as downfalls. To know more about this little piece, do not rest your eyes, but instead, continue reading this article.

Design:

The 210 series netbook is packed neatly in a rectangular box along with few other accessories. The HP Mini 210 10-inch Netbook is available in different colours, charcoal, luminous rose, ocean drive, lavender forest and ice berry. All these colours are really good looking and appealing. The colours of the netbooks are neither too bright nor very dull. This color makes the netbook visibly clear to the eyes of the onlookers and also attractive. The edge at the back side is truly curved. These curved edges give the netbook a modern design and the netbook easily bends to a very large angle, almost flat. Though the screen is glossy, the edge is matte and so the screen is quite clearly visible without much trouble. The outer cover of the netbook is matte type and so there is no need for panicking about the finger print attraction.

The HP Mini 210 Series netbook has a 10.1 inch WSVGA HP BrightView Infinity LED Display screen with a native resolution of 1024 x 600p. The netbook basically does not support HD. However, there is the HP Mini 210 HD 10.1″ diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Infinity LED Display with a 1366 x 768p resolution available that the users can purchase if they prefer a HD netbook. However, the 10 inch screen can do very little for the High Definition scale. The netbook weighs nearly 3.1lbs and is not pretty heavy to carry in the backpacks. Moreover, the dimensions, namely, the width, depth and height are 10.55, 7.51 and 0.9-1.26 inches. The netbook has the thinnest dimension of 0.9 inch which is really good. The HP Mini 210 not holds a good design that appeals to most of the people who consider buying one.

Keyboard:

The island style keyboard is getting so much of attraction of these days. You ask anyone what kind of keyboard they prefer and the answer would be mostly the chiclet style. They are not only cute to look, but are comfortable too. This is a 93% full size keyboard and this means that the keys would be quite small because a 10 inch netbook would have comparatively smaller base size. However it is quite easy to type on.

Touch Pad:

The touch pad of the netbook is where the HP has failed to work properly. There is only small space left over for the touchpad and hence the size is not really enough. The two buttons are positioned at the bottom most place and resting the palm becomes difficult at times giving pain to the wrist. The touchpad supports the multitouch gestures and you would have fun swiping through the photos and you can also perform the pinching and flipping action. You will find a small LED glowing at the left corner of the touch pad to indicate whether the touch pad is on/off.

Microphone, Camera and Speaker:

The microphone and the camera have taken up their positions very similar to any netbook in the market. Both of them are present in the top bezel of the screen. The speakers are integrated on the front side of the netbook. With the speaker, microphone and camera working pretty well, the netbook can be used to connect to anyone and at anytime you need.

Processor, Memory and OS:

The HP mini 210 netbook comes with the Intel Processor. The Intel processors always bring smiles on the users’ faces because it is a processor that gives very minimum number of trouble to the users. The users can pick their choice from two, either the Intel Atom N455 or the dual core Intel Atom N450 processor. The advantage of the dual core is that the netbook performs the tasks really well at a very fast speed that multi-tasking would no longer be a problem. The netbook basically comes with about 1GB of DDR3 RAM memory. This can be extended however to about 2GB. The hard drive capacity is 250GB and at few extra pennies the 250 can be extended to a generous 320GB and even 500GB. This memory is quite sufficient for all the home users since they would never be in use of memory higher than this. Windows is the operating system that HP has preferred for its Mini 210 netbook. The users can either choose the Windows 7 Starter or the Windows 7 Premium.

Ports:

The ports of the HP Mini 210 netbook are placed on both the left and right sides. The left side holds the AC adaptor port, the 15 pin VGA, fan vent, USB 2.0 port and the headphone jack. You would find a small LED glowing beside the USB port that indicates that the hard drive connected is indeed working. This helps you ensure proper connection of the hard drive and its working. The ports on the right side of the machine are 4-in-1 multi-card reader, power on/off button, two USB 2.0 ports, the kensington lock port and the RJ45 LAN port. The RJ45 port is hidden beneath a cover and though it can be a nuisance every time to remove the latch and then plug in the wire, it can be really useful in maintaining the port from getting dusty.

The Mini 210 does not include a HDMI port which means that connecting to a TV, be it 3D, HD or a 40 inch LCD TV, is utterly impossible. However, we are still in the times where netbooks can not be expected to come with the HDMI ports. If you have many data in other laptop or desktop PC, you can easily connect to them with the help of the VGA port thus accessing the contents of the external monitor. There are three USB ports which help us to plug in any kind of drive into the netbook. Another sad point to note here is that the optical drive is not included internally within the netbook. There is an alternative for that, the users can buy an external optical drive if they wish to. But this is not usually a good choice since going for external optical drive would not be convenient since it adds up to extra cost. While the netbooks definitely can not overcome the notebooks in their ports, the netbooks are equally good and they encompass most of the common and essential ports.

Connectivity:

The HP Mini 210 netbook includes both the wired and the wireless connections. The port at the curved edge of the netbook is the RJ45 LAN port. Wired access to the internet is possible by connecting to this port. For wireless connection there is the WLAN 802.11 b/g/n. Bluetooth is optional, so those who need it have to get it separately. So the connectivity is good and with the Intel processor the speed of browsing would not be troublesome.

Battery:

This mini netbook comes with a 6 cell Lithium ion battery and it is packed in the box. The problem is that this battery protrudes too much at the back that it serves a dual purpose, as a stand for your machine! The promised battery life is nearly 10.5 hours but it is well known that this lifetime is practically impossible. For students and home users who use this tiny little netbook only for checking mail, updating their status in facebook or for working on their projects and assignments, the battery life is quite decent but then it even reduces to less than two hours when the tasks are pretty intense.

Performance:

The Mini 210 netbook comes with the integrated Intel GMA 3150 for the graphics. So for the netbook that does not hold High Definition scale, this graphics would not be of much use and for gamers this book is not really good. The fan vent keeps the netbook warm mostly but once the netbook is in use for a long time it gets noticeably hot and might be irritating too. The speakers sport good quality audio. Thus the performance is not really up to the mark.

Warranty:

The warranty of this HP Mini 210 netbook is for 1 full year.

Verdict:

The HP Mini 210 netbook is a small sized netbook with mediocre performance and okay features. This netbook would be a delight for students since it is available in attractive colours. But beyond the looks, the netbook has very few features to its credits. While this is a typical HP netbook, the netbook could have fared better. That said, the netbook could be a good choice for those HP favorites who like the curved edge finish and the metallic touch on the lid and put their netbook to light use, then you can definitely mark this one.

HP Mini 210 Netbook PC – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	HP
Model Name	HP Mini 210
Dimensions: (W x H x D)	259 x 24 x 185 mm
Weight	1.25 Kg
Type	Netbook
Display
Screen Size	10.1 inch
Screen Type	WSVGA HP BrightView LED Display
Screen Resolution	1024 x 600p
Internal Components
RAM	1GB DDR3(upto 2GB)
Hard drive	250GB(Extendable up to 500GB)
Keypad	Very small but good response
Touchpad	Yes
Multimedia
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
Communication Setup
Wireless support	WLAN 802.11 BGN
Connectivity	3 USB 2.0 ports, Audio line in, Audio line out,  1 VGA video output
Warranty	1 Year complete warranty

The Toshiba N305 is a 10 inch netbook that comes with incredibly amazing looks and nice features. This product is a great success for Toshiba and it is one of the best in line. The netbook is a successor of the NB200 model and this NB305 was designed to eliminate the negatives of the former entry. The netbooks are those electronic machines that are most essentially used as a “Net book”, that is, any netbook finds its wide application in accessing the internet for browsing for their science projects, updating the status or commenting on the photos and such stuff in social networking sites, for downloading your favorite songs and lots more. The netbooks are seriously good for all the light users generally. But is this netbook, the Toshiba NB305 up to any good? Check it out from our review on the Toshiba NB305 Mini notebook.

Design:

This Toshiba NB305 10.1 inch netbook is really pretty looking attracting all the users who cast their eyes on it. This model is available in different colours like the nice brown and stylish blue. The screen is 10 inch wide and of the type TruBrite LED backlight display. The backlit displays are generally preferred because the backlight would help the user in seeing what is on the screen pretty clearly even when it is dark outside. The viewing angles are quite good and when tilted upto a certain extent the machine delivers the contents on the screen clearly. There are also nine interesting LED lights for indicating, Power, on/off, charge, SD card reader, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and few other lights. However, nine is quite a big number.

The native resolution of the screen is 1024 x 600p. This resolution though good for a 10 inch netbook, is a slight disappointment. The NB305 is seriously a light-weighted netbook. The dimensions are 266 mm in length, 192.3 mm in width and 24.2 mm to 36.4 mm in height. The weight of the netbook is only 1.33 Kg. This means that the netbook is easy to carry to places and would not be burdensome. The aesthetics of the machine is good and it has to be mentioned here that Toshiba has indeed taken good efforts while designing the device.

Keyboard:

The keyboard of the Toshiba NB305 netbook Computer is a really cool chiclet or island style keyboard where the keys are individual and separated at an equal distance. It is a real pleasure to see the keyboard and even more nice to type on it. The silver coloring makes the keyboard look classy. It does not have the numeric keypad integrated but then, 10 inch netbooks mostly do not support them. It is a near full-size keyboard which means that the size of the keys would be pretty adequate for typing.

Touchpad:

Right below the keyboard is the comparatively bigger touchpad. This trackpad is quite big for a 10 inch netbook and it is seriously appreciated. The area covered by the pad is wider there by helping the users to conveniently work with it. Since the space between the keyboard and the touchpad is very small, often we might tend to place our palm on the touchpad unknowingly and this might result in a serious trouble. For rare users of the touchpad, they can turn the pad on or off when they need it. This touchpad is a multi-touch gesture supported one and multi-touch gestures not only make it easy for navigation but also viewing photos will be much more fun with the swiping and pinching actions.

Microphone, Camera and Speaker:

The integrated speakers are good and though they do not support the bass effect, the quality of the audio is excellent. The microphone and the Camera are in-built on the top bezel of the screen. So you can chat with your friends or do video conferencing at any time you want. Crystal clarity can not be expected from a camera of a 10 inch netbook, and if you know this, you would definitely not be disappointed, for the image and video quality are pretty acceptable.

Ports:

For a netbook you must forget some features in many of them, like most of the netbooks would not have the optical drive and the HDMI port also absents itself. But these are not going to be of much use for a ten inch netbook particularly when it does not support HD. On the left are the ports, the VGA for connecting to any external monitor, RJ45 Ethernet port for LAN connection, USB 2.0 port and a 3-in-1 media card reader for reading the data from the cards like the SD, SDHC and MMC. On the right are the Kensington lock port, AC power adaptor, two USB 2.0 ports, headphone and microphone jacks. So this makes a total of three USB 2.0 ports, of which one is a sleep and charge port. Now this is a really useful port because when you are traveling our phones would cause so much of trouble with the charge line indicating low battery. All you have to do is connect your phone to the USB port and it would start charging even when the netbook is not on.

Connectivity:

The NB305 10.1 inch netbook comes with both wired and wireless connections so that you will have the internet following you everywhere and anywhere you go, be it a café or at home. There is the RJ45 ethernet port that helps you get the wired internet connection while there is the fast wireless connection with the protocol 802.11b/g/n. The N draft wireless means that the connectivity range is much farther than what a ‘b’ or ‘g’ can cover. The connectivity is good and you can surf the net for any long hours you want. For bluetooth lovers, it is good news from Toshiba, since it supports the connectivity.

Memory, Operating System and Processor:

When it comes to netbooks, their capacity is always less than what the notebooks can exhibit, particularly in terms of the memory. It comes with a 1GB of DDR2 RAM and it can be upgraded to a gracious 2GB if desired. The hard drive capacity is 250GB and this is really good, again, for a netbook. The Toshiba NB305 netbook comes with the Windows 7 32bit operating system that is doubtlessly user friendly. Intel N450 is the processor that has been included in this 10 inch netbook. The speed of the processor is 1.66GHz and that is pretty good.

Battery:

The NB305 comes with a 6 cell Lithium ion rechargeable battery. The battery is neither really heavy nor does it protrude too much at the back making it uncomfortable for some users. Instead, this netbook has a battery that is really light and very convenient when fixed in the machine. The battery life is really good. Though these netbooks never reach the promised time limit of battery survival, this Toshiba product has done justice. The promised 11 hours of battery is not attained, but the netbook lives for hours slightly lesser than that and that time in turn depends upon the tasks that the netbook has to handle. When the netbook is doing its maximum, the battery life drains down to nearly 6 hours, it can do much better when it is used only for browsing or working on your word document. So this netbook is a great piece of kit to carry while you are traveling, because you will never feel bored and the netbook would entertain you making you forget that you are on a tiresome travel.

Performance:

The NB305 is a netbook that carries value for the money spent. The ports are good and are suitably placed. The netbook has the integrated GMA 3150 for graphics. Integrated graphics means that gamers will have to pull a long face. Moreover, the resolution is a clean 1024 x 600p and this completely rules HD out of choice. Other than these two negative points, the netbook is all plus. We would be benefited if we consider what it has rather than pondering over what it does not hold. For what the NB305 has, it is a rocking performer and one of the best netbooks in the market.

Warranty:

The NB305 has one year standard warranty for all the services of the parts and labour.

Verdict:

The Toshiba NB305 is a neat 10 inch netbook with really nice features. There are lots of good stuff in the netbook, like its amazingly attractive looks, good features, acceptably fast processor and high speed connectivity. Few minor disappointments here and there about the product do not really matter. For those who give importance to reasonable money, looks as well as the performance, you would not regret buying the Toshiba NB305. It is your time to decide now.

Toshiba NB305 Netbook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Toshiba
Model Name	Toshiba NB305
Dimensions: (L x W x H)	266 x 192.3 x 24.2~36.4 mm
Weight	1.3 Kg
Type	Netbook
Display
Screen Size	10.1 inch
Screen Type	TruBrite LED backlight display
Screen Resolution	1024 x 600p
Internal Components
Processor	Intel Atom N450 ( 1.66GHz)
RAM	1GB DDR2 (Extendable up to 2 GB)
Hard drive	Up to 250GB (Extendable up to 250GB)
Keypad	Easy to work keyboard with good response of the keys
Touchpad	Yes
Multimedia
Chipset and Graphics	Intel NM10, Intel GMA 3150
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
Communication Setup
Wireless support	WLAN 802.11 N
Memory card slot	SD card reader built-in
Connectivity	3 USB 2.0 ports, 3-in-1 memory card reader, 1 VGA video output
Other Details
Warranty	1 Year complete warranty

The tiny electronic devices called netbooks were primarily designed with only the most essential features and only before few years they have started taking a new dimension and definitions. The Seashell designed netbooks by Asus have good reputation. They have the perfect curves and carry with them an appearance that truly attracts people’s notice. This Taiwan based company is known for producing netbooks that are light, attractive and simple both in features as well as performance. This particular one, the Asus 1015PEM is a 10 inch netbook with pretty looks and gives a performance that does justice to the cost. The netbook has few big plus points while it has few drawbacks too. To know them in detail, follow our review on the Asus 1015PEM 10″ netbook.

Design:

The tiny Asus Eee PC 1015PEM is packed in a box along with the other accessories like the power adaptor and battery. It is available in different colours based on the type, namely, glossy or matte. The matte netbook comes in black, white, red and blue while the glossy type of netbook comes in black, white and pink colours. Of course, the choice is entirely yours. If you do not mind the affinity of the netbook towards finger prints but only require the netbook to carry a rich and shiny look, then you would go for the glossy type. The matte types of cover have the advantage that the netbook would be free from finger prints and the users need not worry about the netbook getting untidy. The contents on the screen can be read with crystal clarity as long as the sunlight is mediocre and the viewing angles are small.

The Asus 1015PEM is a 10.1 inch netbook with a resolution of 1024 x 600p. There are many netbooks these days that sport the 1366 x 768p resolution screen, but alas, this one does not provide it and unfortunately this machine does not play the contents in HD too. This is just a simple netbook that delivers the stuff on the screen with good quality in standard definition only. This netbook is quite light weighted at only 1.27 Kgs. It measures 262 mm in width, 178 mm in depth and 25.1 to 36.4 mm in height. The design of the netbook looks really adorable. The clean curves are designed with the shape of the seashell in mind and they have done a good job indeed. The netbook is thicker at the back and then is thinner at the side of the netbook toward the front side. The aspect ratio is like any other notebook or netbook in the market, a neat 16:9.

Keyboard:

The keyboard of the Asus 1015PEM 10″ Netbook is of chiclet style or island style where the keys are spaced out evenly. The island style keyboards are preferred mostly these days not only for the comfort they provide but also for their stylish look. The size of the keyboard is 92% full sized one and since it is only a 10 inch netbook, the keys might be little restricted when it comes to the space between the keys and also the size of the keys. The keys are small indeed when compared to the bigger screen versions but there is not much of trouble while typing. Since the screen is very small the area for resting the palm is also obviously less and hence might be painful after a while. But when compared to the netbooks of its size, the keyboard is perfect.

Touch pad and LED:

Below the keyboard is the touch pad with comparatively larger area allocated for it. The track pad is smooth to operate and has a single button below it for performing the left and right mouse operations. The single button can be troublesome for some who prefer two separate buttons. The users need to click precisely on the left side or right side for making use of those button operations. No complaints as far as the touch pad and the button are concerned because they are really responsive and smooth. Unfortunately this touch pad does not support multi-touch gestures which becomes a downfall again. At the right corner of the netbook, there are four LEDs, for indicating power, battery, caps lock and Wi-Fi status.

Camera and Speaker:

The camera of the Asus 1015pem netbook is located on the top bezel. It is a 0.3MP camera and the resolution is good enough for long time video chats or conferences. The camera has a cover which prevents unknowing recording. The stereo speakers deliver the audio with good clarity and there are no problems with that. With a tiny little netbook, you can stay in touch with any of them you want to at anytime.

Available Ports:

The Asus EEE PC 1015PEM has the ports located on both the left and right sides while the front and back do not contain any ports. On the left hand side are present, the power port, VGA, USB 2.0 and fan vent. The ports on the right side of the netbook are 5-in-1 card reader, head phone jack, microphone jack, two USB 2.0 ports, kensington lock port and the RJ 45 ethernet port. The absence of optical drive and the HDMI ports are obvious here. This is truly tragic because without the HDMI you can not watch the movies and videos on a bigger TV and without the optical drive you can not even play the DVDs on your netbooks. But then you can hook up the contents on the netbook to an external monitor using the VGA port. The multi-card reader could be used to read the data from various cards of the format SD, SDHC, MMC, etc and transfer their contents to the netbook. There are three USB ports in a 10 inch netbook and that is good news indeed.

Connectivity:

The Asus Eee PC 1015PEM netbook comes with both the wired and wireless internet connection. There is the RJ45 ethernet port for using the internet via the wired connectivity. The wireless connectivity is available with the protocol 802.11b/g/n. Since the netbook is really portable, the users would have no trouble carrying the device wherever they go and moreover the internet access is available for their use completely always. If you think a 10 inch netbook can not be of much use with browsing and surfing, then you are mistaken.

Memory and Processor:

Netbooks always have less memory when compared to the larger version of notebooks. The memory is nearly 1GB of DDR3 RAM. This memory can be expanded to a maximum of 2GB. The surprise that has been included in this particular netbook is the large amount of memory available on cloud. The hard drive capacity is a super 250GB. For a netbook, this is too good, since most of the netbooks stop with the 160GB range. Kudos to Asus for a bigger hard drive! Another interesting piece of news is that the netbook’s processor is a dual core N550. Asus has tried implementing the dual core processor for the first time in its netbook products and for its attempt the 1015PEM managed to keep up the name. But then, the netbook does not exhibit speedy operations that ought to express the character of the dual core processors. It is very normal in terms of processor performance and manages multi-tasks just a little better than the single core ones.

Battery:

The Asus EEE PC 1015PEM has the battery as the netbook’s biggest blessing. It comes with a 6 cell 63Whr rechargeable Lithium ion battery. The netbook when used very lightly lasts for nearly 8 hours and few minutes. This 8 hour battery life is something amazing and the users would seriously be bowled over by this. But it is obvious that the 8 hour longevity does not always happen. As the tasks given to the system increases, the battery life starts declining as we all know the number of tasks given to the processor is inversely proportional to the battery life. For a netbook of not-very-cheap-not-very-expensive category, the battery quality and life are quite exceptional and laudable.

Performance:

The EEE series of the Asus netbooks are known for their stylish outfit and decent performances. The audio and video performances are okay only. The video does not support HD at all and the resolution is only 1024 x 600p. There is no HDMI or optical drive so the users can forget watching the movies in the HD TVs with full effects at 1080p resolution. The stereo speakers are good and produce good clarity audio. The processor speed is good though it does not completely exhibit that it belongs to the dual core category. Most of the netbooks in general are not suitable for the gamers. This netbook delivers the videos only in standard definition scale so all the gamers would get seriously disappointed if they opt for this netbook. The battery is the best performer. The netbook has an excellent battery life. The Asus EEE PC 1015PEM is a netbook that acquires a good grade in terms of normal performance, here again; you must restrict your normal range to the very basic features.

Warranty:

The product comes with a standard one year warranty.

Verdict:

The seashell designs are a great treat to the eyes with their perfectly curved design. But design alone does not decide the quality. The Asus EEE PC 1015PEM has a dual core N550 processor with good speed and efficient handling of tasks at a normal pace. As long as your expectations are limited, the 1015 netbook does not fail. But once your expectations exceed the limit, only the downs of the netbook will reach your eyes. This 10.1 inch netbook is thus a good little netbook that is targeted for those who are on the search for a netbook that is simple attractive, average ports and brilliant battery life. If your criteria match the aforesaid, then the Asus EEE PC1015PEM is for you.

Asus Eee PC 1015PEM Netbook – Technical Specification Table

Manufacturer	Asus
Model Name	Asus 1015PEM
Dimensions: (W x D x H)	262 x 178 x 25.1~36.4 mm
Weight	1.27 Kgs
Type	Netbook
Display
Screen Size	10.1 inch
Screen Type	WSVGA
Screen Resolution	1024 x 600
Aspect Ratio	16:9
Internal Components
Processor	Intel® Dual Core Atom™ N550 1.5GHz
RAM	1GB DDR2 (Expandable up to 2GB)
Hard drive	250GB (Maximum up to 500GB)
Keypad	Ergonomic chiclet type keyboard
Touchpad	Yes
Multimedia
Graphics	Intel GMA3150
Speakers	Built-in stereo speakers
Communication Setup
Wireless support	WiFi 802.11n Bluetooth
Memory card slot	SD card reader built-in
Connectivity	3 USB ports, Audio line in, Audio line out, 1 Mini Display Port
Other Detail
Warranty	1 Year complete warranty