I was given this netbook as a Christmas gift in 2009. Previously I had a desktop PC which had basically run its course. I realised that I was really only looking for a machine to surf the web at home, so decided that a netbook would be the best purchase. An IT-savvy friend helped me choose it from Dabs.com where it cost around £200.

Previously, my experience of laptops has been Dell. This was my first ever Toshiba product which came with a one year guarantee. It was very well packaged when it arrived, with a cover over the screen to keep it scrape free. The outside is a shiny black with Toshiba written on it. It is a neat little unit with 10.1 screen. Along the front are a series of lights - power, wireless and battery. The caps lock key has a small yellow light which illuminates when it is on.

My first impression was that it was well made for being so small. The keyboard takes a little getting used to because of the size of the unit - there is no separate number segment with these being built in with the punctuation keys along the top. Some of the other keys are placed a little differently from a standard laptop keyboard (e.g. shift/arrows). My one complaint is the keypad which makes quite a clicking noise when you use it and is quite sensitive. You do get used to it after time but it's probably the least well made part of the unit.

It has a webcam built in as well as sound. I have never used the webcam element but the sound is suitable for the size of machine. It is certainly clear as a bell and comfortable to listen to.

I keep all my documents on an external hard drive so I don't use the memory on the netbook so that it keeps optimum performance. The three USB ports make it easy to plug in the external hard drive, plus my iPhone, plus a USB stick if I need to. It came with Windows XP loaded on and other Toshiba drivers and facilities. I run internet explorer on it and find it to be very fast to use. It loads up quickly from being switched off.

The battery life is very good, it can go for several hours at a time without being charged and the battery indicator warns you when it is getting low by emitting a low beep. It does not seem to have lost power with age, unlike the Dell's I have used before. The shiny black cover, while looking nice, gets quite badly fingerprinted (but this isn't a huge problem).

The hinge at the back of the uni sticks out a bit from the machine. This isn't a problem for general use but means that some standard 10.1 fitting netbook cases don't fit. I bought a Belkin one a size up and it was fine. It is light enough to carry around in a backpack without too much trouble and hasn't come to any difficulry being moved around. I've kept the screen protector that it came wrapped in and this has kept it in tip top condition.

Being a netbook, it suffers from the inevitable problem with some websites - you can't see the whole of the page, or a pop up photo makes it impossible for you to scroll. This just goes with the territory with this size of screen so sometimes I plug it into a monitor to use a bigger screen. I don't think I would like to do work on it for long periods so I don't have any Office programmes on it for this reason.

So, a year or so later I am still very happy with this netbook. It starts up quickly, finds wireless connections with ease and is very responsive. As I bought it for internet surfing I am very happy with its performance so far. I would happily buy a Toshiba product again and would certainly recomment this netbook for anyone wanting a smart little machine.