Toshiba's First Netbook Is a Step Up

Toshiba, late to enter the low-end but lucrative netbook field, has finally rolled out its $400 entry, and Walter Mossberg finds that it beats competitors by solving several key problems: It boasts an easy-to-use keyboard, a long-lasting battery, and a large touchpad with big buttons. “The keyboard design resembles that on Apple’s MacBook Pro laptops—big, raised keys with lots of room in between, and good vertical movement,” Mossberg notes in the Wall Street Journal.

Toshiba says the battery lasts “an impressive 9 hours and 5 minutes,” and Mossberg finds that even while running a range of battery-draining functions, the computer stayed alive for “a whopping 6 hours and 32 minutes.” What it doesn't have is a pronounceable name—it's dubbed only the NB205-N310—and other weaknesses include slow WiFi and streaming video, poor speakers, and a long start-up time.
(More Walt Mossberg stories.)