Toshiba Libretto U105
Inshort: Excelent but Returned.
The Toshiba Libretto is an amazingly powerful and extremely portable computer.
It was hard to find one immediately available, but I lucked out when I walked into my local Comp USA. They had one on display in a cage. The Comp-USA website however had indicated "0" in inventory at this store and all other stores in my area.
Not only does this miniture powerhouse come with a DVD+-RW but it also supports the more expensive DVD-RAM standard.
The DVD drive is in a base that seperates from the main computer to make the main unit even more portable.
After setting up the laptop with a few choice pieces of software and a GPS, I had a pretty useful little toy. I fell in love with this device almost instantly. It worked better than my Sonay VAIO on almost everything and had all the power I needed for portable use. It's achilles heal is the keyboard. Most people who saw it also had problems with the screen.
The keyboard is what drove me to return the Libretto to the store. It is very hard to type without hitting the letters on either side of the one you intend to press. This makes any volume of typing greater than your name a hastle. Text messages on my numeric phone keypad are less frustrating. They may take longer, but the results are more consistent. Using the Libretto keyboard, I would end up with extra letters, missing letters or wrong letters even when I was been consistent in the use of the keyboard.
As I mentioned, many people complained about the screen, but their complaint might not have been exactly what you would expect. It's too good for anyone to be able to read.
With a resolution of 1280 x 768 fitting into a very small area for an LCD screen, you get very high resolution text that looks great under a magnifying glass. And a lot of people needed that magnifying glass.
I liked to set the Libretto on my chest and tell folks I just don't see what their complaint is. With the screen that close, it's got to be better than a 1280 x 768 screen on the back of your desk.
Unfortunately, people seem not to have heard of "Chest-top Computers" and therefore don't appreciate the leader in this catergory.
Battery life was fine for my use and outside of the keyboard I only had one other critical complaint. For some reason, my Libretto refused to come back from sleep mode or hibernation. These modes are pretty important for such a device. After all, the whole point of being that small is that you will be able to carry it more places than you would a larger computer like a laptop. This also means you will be needing to shut it down quickly and bring it back up quickly as you move from place ot place.
One really great feature of the Libretto is the integrated fingerprint scanner and the included software. Once up, you can log-in with just the swipe of your finger next to the mouse buttons. The software also lets you encrypt files and directories with the swipe of a finger. With access to encryption this quick, encrypting your files becomes practical which is very helpful on a protable device.
Short of my two complaints, the Libretto was one of the best portables I've ever used. It was very fast for it's size and had just about every feature I could have used. Too bad about the keyboard and power management issues.
:-(
Here is a more official product description:
Toshiba Libretto U105 Mfg Part No: PLU10U00901D UPC Code: 032017348523 Other keywords that identify this product: PLU10U-00901DPentium M, 1.20GHz, 512MB RAM, 60.0GB HD, DVD Recordable Drive, Modem, 10/100 BT & 802.11g, 7.2 inch Active Matrix Display, Windows XP Professional, 2.20 lbs
The libretto U105 includes the power of a standard-sized notebook packed into an innovative, 2.1 lb. mini-notebook design. While small in size, it is big on advanced features. The libretto U105, the smallest and lightest notebook from Toshiba, is also at the forefront of security technology with a fingerprint reader that helps assure the safety of your data. At practically half the size of standard notebooks, the fully functional libretto U105 is perfect for busy travelers and others on the go.
The Toshiba Libretto is an amazingly powerful and extremely portable computer.
It was hard to find one immediately available, but I lucked out when I walked into my local Comp USA. They had one on display in a cage. The Comp-USA website however had indicated "0" in inventory at this store and all other stores in my area.
Not only does this miniture powerhouse come with a DVD+-RW but it also supports the more expensive DVD-RAM standard.
The DVD drive is in a base that seperates from the main computer to make the main unit even more portable.
After setting up the laptop with a few choice pieces of software and a GPS, I had a pretty useful little toy. I fell in love with this device almost instantly. It worked better than my Sonay VAIO on almost everything and had all the power I needed for portable use. It's achilles heal is the keyboard. Most people who saw it also had problems with the screen.
The keyboard is what drove me to return the Libretto to the store. It is very hard to type without hitting the letters on either side of the one you intend to press. This makes any volume of typing greater than your name a hastle. Text messages on my numeric phone keypad are less frustrating. They may take longer, but the results are more consistent. Using the Libretto keyboard, I would end up with extra letters, missing letters or wrong letters even when I was been consistent in the use of the keyboard.
As I mentioned, many people complained about the screen, but their complaint might not have been exactly what you would expect. It's too good for anyone to be able to read.
With a resolution of 1280 x 768 fitting into a very small area for an LCD screen, you get very high resolution text that looks great under a magnifying glass. And a lot of people needed that magnifying glass.
I liked to set the Libretto on my chest and tell folks I just don't see what their complaint is. With the screen that close, it's got to be better than a 1280 x 768 screen on the back of your desk.
Unfortunately, people seem not to have heard of "Chest-top Computers" and therefore don't appreciate the leader in this catergory.
Battery life was fine for my use and outside of the keyboard I only had one other critical complaint. For some reason, my Libretto refused to come back from sleep mode or hibernation. These modes are pretty important for such a device. After all, the whole point of being that small is that you will be able to carry it more places than you would a larger computer like a laptop. This also means you will be needing to shut it down quickly and bring it back up quickly as you move from place ot place.
One really great feature of the Libretto is the integrated fingerprint scanner and the included software. Once up, you can log-in with just the swipe of your finger next to the mouse buttons. The software also lets you encrypt files and directories with the swipe of a finger. With access to encryption this quick, encrypting your files becomes practical which is very helpful on a protable device.
Short of my two complaints, the Libretto was one of the best portables I've ever used. It was very fast for it's size and had just about every feature I could have used. Too bad about the keyboard and power management issues.
:-(
Here is a more official product description:
Toshiba Libretto U105 Mfg Part No: PLU10U00901D UPC Code: 032017348523 Other keywords that identify this product: PLU10U-00901DPentium M, 1.20GHz, 512MB RAM, 60.0GB HD, DVD Recordable Drive, Modem, 10/100 BT & 802.11g, 7.2 inch Active Matrix Display, Windows XP Professional, 2.20 lbs
The libretto U105 includes the power of a standard-sized notebook packed into an innovative, 2.1 lb. mini-notebook design. While small in size, it is big on advanced features. The libretto U105, the smallest and lightest notebook from Toshiba, is also at the forefront of security technology with a fingerprint reader that helps assure the safety of your data. At practically half the size of standard notebooks, the fully functional libretto U105 is perfect for busy travelers and others on the go.
posted by Christian Farmer at 12:34 PM
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