Toshiba Libretto

[This is some old information on the Libretto, written in 1997, that I've left up in case it's of any use.]

In size, it (at least models 70CT and below) is somewhere in between a palmtop and a notebook computer: 1.85 lbs, 8.3" x 4.5" x 1.4". In the absence of a real Libretto, try printing this actual-size PostScript file to better visualize the size and try the U.S. keyboard.

In performance, it's much closer to a normal low-end notebook than a palmtop. The Libretto 70CT, the highest-performance Libretto available in the US at this writing, has a 120 MHz Pentium, 16/32M RAM, 1.5G H.D., 640x480 active matrix display, up to 1280x1024 to external monitor, one type 2 PCMCIA slot, 1.5-2 hr Li-Ion battery, external PCMCIA floppy, no CD. I figure I'd use the slot mostly for a modem/ethernet card, and sometimes the floppy or maybe a PCMCIA CD. Unlike typical palmtops today, it's not restricted to some brain-dead OS like Windows CE; It ships with the even more brain-dead win95 (brain-dead, but for which you can actually find software), and I'm told it can also run Linux, FreeBSD, NT, OS/2, etc. because, except for its size and PC Card floppy interface, it's a pretty typical ISA PC. Unfortunately you pay for this combination; the U.S. Libretto 70CT costs about $2k in the U.S.

Besides price, other potential negatives are:

Battery life (some report as little as one hour with standard battery; the spec says 1.5 - 2 hrs). Also for Librettos 50CT and below, you can't charge the battery while operating the computer with the A.C. adapter.
It's not instant-on.
Some report that the keyboard isn't all that easy to type on. The U.S. version should be easier than the Japanese one; the U.S. version has a 15mm key pitch and the Japanese version has a 13mm key pitch. Again, in the absence of a real Libretto, try printing this actual-size PostScript file to better visualize the size and try the U.S. keyboard.
VGA resolution: this is great compared to palmtops, but not so great compared to most other notebooks.

Any time you make a small computer, you make compromises. The libretto makes some serious compromises when compared with PDAs (battery life, size, weight, no instant-on) and when compared with notebooks (screen resolution, speed, lack of integrated floppy & cd, memory, etc). The good news is that it's probably closer to notebooks in power and to PDAs in size. Compared to other notebooks, the question I'm asking myself is whether the Libretto's size will make it more likely that I'll bring it along to places I might want to hack, whether it's around the house, on my bike, or wherever, and whether that will make up for its lower power. Compared to other palmtops, I'm wondering whether the fact that you can do so much more with it makes up for its larger size, battery life, lack of instant-on. In the case of my HP100LX, which is smaller and way less powerful than the Libretto, for a while I did take it lots of places, but I've mostly given up on it because of its lack of power and terrible keyboard. I can't figure out whether that would happen with a Libretto. And it's expensive enough that I don't want to hedge by buying a Libretto and some other computer.

Here's some more information. [Most of these links are broken.]

So somebody, please talk some sense into me! I could buy a full-size notebook with that power for about half the price, or at that price I could buy a full-size notebook with roughly an order of magnitude more power (double the disk * double the speed * double the screen pixels plus a CD). Or, for about a third the price, I can buy a nice palmtop that's smaller, has great battery life, and is instant-on.

Jon Dreyer