diff --git a/lib/buffer.js b/lib/buffer.js
index 78b59051a8..e9fb033f93 100644
--- a/lib/buffer.js
+++ b/lib/buffer.js
@@ -12,22 +12,21 @@ Buffer.isBuffer = function (b) {
 };
 
 Buffer.prototype.inspect = function () {
-  var s = "<Buffer ";
-  for (var i = 0; i < this.length; i++) {
-    s += toHex(this[i]);
-    if (i != this.length - 1) s += ' ';
+  var out = [],
+      len = this.length;
+  for (var i = 0; i < len; i++) {
+    out[i] = toHex(this[i]);
   }
-  s += ">";
-  return s;
+  return "<Buffer " + out.join(" ") + ">";
 };
 
 Buffer.prototype.toString = function (encoding, start, stop) {
-  encoding = (encoding || 'utf8').toLowerCase();
-  if (!start) start = 0;
-  if (stop === undefined) stop = this.length;
+  encoding = String(encoding || 'utf8').toLowerCase();
+  start = +start || 0;
+  if (typeof stop == "undefined") stop = this.length;
 
   // Fastpath empty strings
-  if (stop === start) {
+  if (+stop == start) {
     return '';
   }
 
@@ -50,21 +49,17 @@ Buffer.prototype.toString = function (encoding, start, stop) {
   }
 };
 
-Buffer.prototype.write = function (string) {
+Buffer.prototype.write = function (string, offset, encoding) {
   // Support both (string, offset, encoding)
   // and the legacy (string, encoding, offset)
-  var offset, encoding;
-
-  if (typeof arguments[1] == 'string') {
-    encoding = arguments[1];
-    offset = arguments[2];
-  } else {
-    offset = arguments[1];
-    encoding = arguments[2];
+  if (!isFinite(offset)) {
+    var swap = encoding;
+    encoding = offset;
+    offset = swap;
   }
 
-  offset = offset || 0;
-  encoding = encoding || 'utf8';
+  offset = +offset || 0;
+  encoding = String(encoding || 'utf8').toLowerCase();
 
   switch (encoding) {
     case 'utf8':
@@ -83,10 +78,4 @@ Buffer.prototype.write = function (string) {
     default:
       throw new Error('Unknown encoding');
   }
-};
-
-
-
-
-
-
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/simple/test-buffer.js b/test/simple/test-buffer.js
index 0a7ed9ffaa..3fb5b2d75d 100644
--- a/test/simple/test-buffer.js
+++ b/test/simple/test-buffer.js
@@ -137,6 +137,18 @@ assert.equal(new Buffer('abc').toString('ascii', 0, 0), '');
 assert.equal(new Buffer('abc').toString('ascii', -100, -100), '');
 assert.equal(new Buffer('abc').toString('ascii', 100, 100), '');
 
+// try toString() with a object as a encoding
+assert.equal(new Buffer('abc').toString({toString: function () {return 'ascii';}}), 'abc');
+
+// testing for smart defaults and ability to pass string values as offset
+var writeTest = new Buffer('abcdes');
+writeTest.write('n', 'ascii');
+writeTest.write('o', 'ascii', '1');
+writeTest.write('d', '2', 'ascii');
+writeTest.write('e', 3, 'ascii');
+writeTest.write('j', 'ascii', 4);
+assert.equal(writeTest.toString(), 'nodejs');
+
 var asciiString = "hello world";
 var offset = 100;
 for (var j = 0; j < 500; j++) {