I managed to pick up my Toshiba Satellite Pro U400 for free as part of a monthly broadband subscription. This was almost 2 years ago and still I sit here, writing this review, using my ever reliable laptop. This Toshiba is smaller than average, although it is just as robust and performs exactly as it should.

Admittedly I don't push the laptop to it's limit. However, I often have plenty of applications open at the same time and "my little Tosh" continues to work away regardless.

It has a sleek design, helped in part by it's compact nature. An integrated webcam is one of the many additional features (I have yet to use this properly but imagine it would be ideal for applications such as Skype).

Although not breath-taking, the graphics and sounds are functional and suit my needs (my needs being surfing the web, videos on youtube, reading & writing reviews!). One slight flaw is that the volume dial on the front of the base seems to be erratic at best, however this can easily be remedied by using the volume control in the toolbar (still annoying though).

Another downside is the heat that is generated. I can only imagine that due to it's compact design it is required to work relatively harder. Subsequently, the laptops mobility is hampered by it's lower than average battery life. A helpful metaphor may be a man (normal sized laptop) walking next to a chiuaua (U400). The chiuaua needs to work a lot harder to move at the same speed as the man. Having said that, I have never experienced the laptop fail due to burn out.

Overall, this is a very reliable, robust laptop that suits my needs. If you are looking for something that is small and functional that will enable you to browse the web and host applications such as MS Office with minimal fuss then I highly recommend the Toshiba Satellite Pro U400.