agreeing with other posters here
yes the numeric keypad is a godsend, even as a home user, adding stuff up, inputting numbers into hobby related applications (bowling league software for one) makes having a numeric keypad a must.
and as for the looks...whats wrong with it? it looks like it is meant to , it doesnt have any snazzy colours, or led's all over the place, but its pretty sleek, the keyboard is very comfortable having tried a similar design.
And its performance is upper mid-range, so the price isnt the worst either.
add to that the fact that Toshiba laptops for the main part are pretty rugged, it should last a good while.
Other manufacturers may make lighter better looking machines but the build quality isnt as good.
right I am off to get some Humbrol paints to make my Samsung more interesting :)