Toshiba NB100-12A 8.9-inch Netbook, Intel Atom N270 1.6GHz, 1GB RAM, 120GB HDD, Windows XP Home

I have had this netbook now for 3 days. In that short time I can happily dismiss the most common complaint about it which I have read elsewhere - the keyboard. Yes it's small, but so is the rest of the machine, and if you want something as portable as this, you need to expect small. Just 48 hours from opening the box, and I am used to the keyboard already - many reviewers will probably just have a 30minute play with it and dismiss it as too small - try it longer. Yes, some people with sausage-digits will probably get frustrated though, but it's a question of buying something that suits you. In any case, if you are regularly typing dissertations or lengthy tomes, then you will probably not use this for that purpose anyway.

So what's the rest of it like? The spec is excellent. It was only a couple of years ago, remember, that these numbers would grace a mid-range full-size laptop. 120Gb hard drive, 1.6GHz processor, 1Gb RAM (upgradable to 2Gb max), Windows XP, up to 128Mb (shared) graphics, Bluetooth, wi-fi networking, etc... All for under £300 and made by Toshiba in a package weighing 1kg. I'm pleased to say, it really is as good as it sounds.

First thing to mention is that this version of it comes with Windows XP. I know there are geeks out there that will say Linux is better because of x, y and z, but the truth is, I don't care. I know where I am with XP, and I know what works on it and I don't have time to re-learn something I'm already happy I've learned, so I'm sticking with it. In any case, the windows version of this computer gets an additional 512Mb RAM over the Linux version. I have a colleague who bought an Acer netbook running Linux and he regrets not choosing windows. If you just want the damn thing to work the way you're used to - choose Windows.

The screen is as good as my old ultra-compact Sony Vaio (which cost £1600 when new incidentally), it boots up as quick as my brand new desktop which is running Windows Vista on a 64bit 2.4GHz processor, and web-surfing is as rapid as any computer I've used anywhere. The 120Gb hard drive is very welcome as is the 1Gb RAM. So far, I've happily had Microsoft Excel, adobe photoshop elements 6.0 and web surfing on Mozilla Firefox all going at once, and there was no hint of lag anywhere, and changing between programs was glitch free. Of course, anyone wanting to play graphics intensive games will know that they need much more grunt, but for normal use, it's perfectly adequate. I can even edit my digital video files on it from a camcorder.

So that's the good - is there any bad? Considering the price and quality, I'd have to say not really, but it's worth mentioning these things. Firstly as it's not got an optical drive, you may wish to buy a USB external CD/DVD drive. This is because inevitably, you'll want to install something on there that is on a CD. Also, confusingly, they supply it with a recovery disc - which is a CD. These drives can be bought from about £40 upwards depending on your desires. Having said that - the omission of a built-in optical drive is the only thing that makes this a "netbook" and not a fully-fledged "laptop".

And if I'm being REALLY picky, the sound is a little tinny, but since when was any laptop a hi-fi substitute?

Some have also criticised the styling... It's a laptop. Not a dress. The bit you look at all the time you're using it (the screen and keyboard) looks like every other laptop, so unless you're especially vain or obsessed with style, you'll not find that a problem. In any case, I'd rather have a simple looking machine with useful features than a swooshy and stylish toy that didn't stack up in the real world.

Seriously, if you want a good quality, compact and useful laptop, I can't recommend it higher.

This netbook is perfect for me. The reason I purchased this over the samsung nc10 is size. I wanted a netbook, ultra portable & that is what I got. It fits perfectly into my inside coat pocket & you would not know I was carrying it. The screen is awesome, blacks are black not grey & its great for watching movies. I wanted XP also & decent sound & this delivers very good sound. Spec is pretty good for the price & the output sockets are in sensible positions for connecting to tv etc...

Very cool, very pleased.

I bought this to compliment my existing laptop and I haven't been dissappointed.
Firstly I chose XP instead of Linux as a lot of my software only runs on XP. Also I am comfortable with this operating system. The Toshiba is in fact more powerful than my Dell with 1GB of memory and 120B hard drive so I am very happy with this aspect on the machine. The boot uptime is very good,much better than my laptop or PC.
Build quality is excellent, I particularaly like the shiny screen, the silver top and general robust nature of th netbook.
My only mis-giving is around the keyboard. Whilst it is obviously smaller than a standard keyboard, some not so bright spark decided to colour the number and letters etc in dark purple. This makes typing a real pain except in good light. I have no idea why this was done as it spoils an otherwise perfect netbook hence only 4 stars.