A few days ago ASUS 1015PEM, was launched with dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor. This was good but not best in terms of performance and so Toshiba launched NB520, which boasts nearly the same specs and let’s take a look on what it offers?
Design of Toshiba NB520 :
The design of NB520 is simple and is not very exciting. It is plain just like any other standard netbook. The good part about design was the rubberized finish which always looks classy and provides a good feel too. The first things about NB520which strike the retina is the thick bezel around the screen. Sometimes the power button in the middle is not very appealing and inconvenient to use. The keys are not placed properly due to space constraint, which can pose a problem for comfortable usage. The functions’ keys are also small at the top of notebook, so one may take time to adjust with keypad design features. Mostly, the ports are in proper place except the DC charger button which could have freed some space for other USB ports. However, the USP of Toshiba is its Kardon speakers. The speakers have drivers on each side. Hence, the design is just ok and nothing really appraising especially in terms of key placement.
Features Toshiba NB520
The features are similar to Asus 1015PEM’s specifications except the memory part in Toshiba is 2GB and former had 1GB. Toshiba has also included one good feature of sleep n charge function. This will allow you to charge all the USB based devices. The Sleep n Play function will allow the music to play from MP3 player, even if the device is asleep. This means that you need not ON the netbook every time while charging of listening music. These sleep utility speakers are very good with all ports properly in place and convenient to use.
Performance of Toshiba NB520:
Performance wise NB520 has an advantage with results due to extra 1GB RAM with it. There is a good improvement in CPU arithmetic while the memory bandwidth gets good boost with 30%. The video encoding takes only about 2 minutes 47 seconds less while POV Ray benchmark is about a minute and 32 seconds faster.
The Harman/Kardon speakers surely needs mention as the size is good with size of netbook. On this netbook watching movies will be real fun, and the difference will be very evident.
The screen of netbook needs a mention as it’s not great from viewing different angles and the colors are also little dull. Nevertheless, you will not strain your eyes after extended use of the screen.
Verdict
The Toshiba NB520 netbook at 21,490 Rupees is just right with its performance due to the extra RAM, and the speakers too are great and the sleep facility is amazing, which helps to save power.
