<p>I started my career in New York City working for Laptop Magazine, and I loved my days at the publication because I had a ton of time to study the newest laptops and work with some of the best people in the industry who write about personal computers. I decided to pursue freelance opportunities in December of that year to focus more on mobile phones and ended up leaving for a site called Mobile Burn.</p><p>My problem, of course, was the personal laptop I owned was far outdated and I needed something affordable, yet powerful enough to allow me to write every day. I had the benefit of being able to use review units at Laptop Magazine for most of the time, so it was time to find a replacement.</p><p>I was on a tight budget, though, and needed to make sure that I was bringing in enough cash for rent and living expenses. The old laptop would have to do for the time being, but I put a netbook on my Christmas list. They were hot at the time and cost under $500. Joanna Stern, now a reporter for ABC, but a former colleague, suggested that I look into the Toshiba NB205. So I told my parents that would help me in my career endeavors.</p><p>Lo and hold, on Christmas morning I was greeted to a brand new Toshiba NB205, loaded up with Windows XP, a 10.1-inch screen, 1GB of RAM and a 160GB hard drive. It ran on a 1.66GHz Intel Atom N280 processor, which was enough for surfing the web, writing and even light photo editing for my daily news posts.</p><p><a href="http://www.technobuffalo.com/2012/12/23/the-best-tech-gift-ive-ever-received-the-toshiba-nb205-netbook-todd-haselton/">Keep reading...</a></p>