Acer vs Toshiba

Toshiba NB100 Netbook

Whenever I get a new laptop for review, I tend to carry out a highly unscientific test that I like to call the backpack test.

I put the laptop/notebook in my well-worn backpack, jump on my bike, then cycle the 10km to work with it on my back. If I've got a sore back by the end of the trip I know I've got a heavyweight.

With Toshiba's NB100 ($999), there was hardly any indication that it was there, but then why would there have been, it weighs just over a kilogram and is smaller than an A3 envelope. The lack of a DVD drive helps keep the weight (and the price) down, as well.

With the NB100, Toshiba are taking on other netbooks from companies such as Asus, HP, Dell and Acer, and while it's not a bad effort, it's hindered by some design flaws.

Being smaller than a standard notebook, the keyboard is much more cramped (compounded by a battery that sticks out the back, forcing the keyboard forward) than on a standard laptop and it does take a bit of getting used to, especially if you're a touch typist, as I am. Users with podgy fingers will struggle.

The NB100 is finished on top in a nice, shiny black finish with speckles through it - although it will attract fingerprints - and the 8.9-inch screen is bright and vivid, but the finish was a little conservative, especially compared with some of the other Toshibas I've seen.

Battery life, too, seems less than what I had expected.

The NB100 ticks all the right boxes but I seriously missed not having a DVD drive to watch movies on - which made me question why Toshiba included its very own DVD playback software. Are they expecting that potential buyers will buy an external DVD drive as well?

I can see the NB100 perfect for a school that wants a pod of portable netbooks for its pupils that does the job for a good price but I'd rather pay a couple of hundred dollars extra and get a laptop that has a DVD drive already installed, even if it would make my bike commute that little bit harder.