- Processor: Intel Pentium U5400 1.2 Ghz
- Screen: Dual 7-inch 1,024 x 600 touchscreens
- RAM: 2GB
- Storage: 62GB solid state drive
- Weight: 819g
Every now and then, a gadget comes around and wows with its sheer design novelty.
The paperback-sized Toshiba Libretto W100 mini-notebook is one such device, turning heads with its twin 7-inch touchscreen display and no keyboard design.
The second screen occupies the space where the keyboard should be and you can use the screens as two separate displays for, say, viewing two different documents side-by-side. Or combine them into a larger screen. Both are multi-touch screens. Simply touch to emulate the left mouse click and hold for a few seconds to mimic the right mouse click.
You can also have the screens duplicate each other. In this mode, the upper screen automatically rotates 180 degrees, which is nifty for presenting PowerPoint slideshows as the lower screen faces you and the upper one faces the audience sitting opposite you. This is far better than having you and your audience crane their necks to view your notebook sideways.
You can have a keyboard, virtually
If you must have a keyboard, there is a virtual haptic keyboard with six different layouts to choose from, which can be invoked by pressing a button. You can also bring up a virtual trackpad by tapping on an arrow icon at the Windows taskbar.
Turn the Libretto sideways and its screens automatically switch from landscape to portrait mode, making it work like an e-book reader. However, as Toshiba did not develop its own e-book software to work with the Libretto, you will have to rely on third-party ones like the freeware MobiPocket.
The screens have a resolution of 1,024×600 pixels each and deliver reasonably sharp text and graphics. The notebook runs on the Windows 7 operating system.
Complementing the Windows interface are a special set of icons, which are not immediately intuitive to use. For example, tapping on the arrow key to launch the virtual trackpad, or tapping on a special icon that moves documents to the second screen, are not moves that come naturally without the benefit of reading the manual.
A souped-up PDA
The design is sleek. There are only three buttons on the notebook: Power, Keyboard and Home.
The Home button launches a Toshiba-customised desktop on the lower screen, where you can quickly access functions like connecting to your Wi-Fi network, or accessing music, video and photo files. You can also access these functions via the Windows Control Panel.
I was not impressed with this additional layer. Its presence just means there are more things to learn.
The Libretto W100, with its compactness, should make a good souped-up PDA. However, I am not sure it can replace my regular notebook, especially since my computing chores extend from office work to the latest games.
source: The Straits Times, Digital Life