Toshiba Libretto U100 review

After a six-year hiatus, the Toshiba Libretto returns to the U.S. market, promising business users a fully featured Windows XP PC in a "mini-notebook" package. Roughly the size of a VHS tape and weighing just more than 2 pounds, the Libretto U100 gives mobile executives an option that falls somewhere between palmtops, such as the Sony VAIO VGN-U750P and the OQO Model 01, and similarly equipped ultraportable laptops.

Upside: The Libretto U100 offers features often found in larger (and heavier) ultraportables: a 1.2GHz Pentium M processor, a 60GB hard drive, up to 1.28GB of 333MHz DDR SDRAM, integrated 802.11b/g, and a fingerprint reader. You also get most of--though not all--the ports a mobile worker would need, with FireWire, infrared, Ethernet, modem, and two USB 2.0 ports, along with a headphone jack and a docking connector. In addition, its 7.2-inch display, featuring a 1,280x768 native resolution, dwarfs the screens found on the VAIO VGN-U750P and the OQO Model 01.

Downside: The Libretto U100's Lilliputian keyboard is too small for comfortable two-handed typing but too large for thumbs-only typing--and it doesn't allow for touch-screen input like other palmtop devices we've seen. At 2.16 pounds, the Libretto U100 is also close to a pound heavier than the VAIO VGN-U750P and more than twice the weight of the OQO Model 01; that brings it within a half pound of the ultraportable ThinkPad X40, which offers a full-size keyboard and a 12-inch display.

Outlook: Priced at $1,999, the Toshiba Libretto U100 could be a tough sell when compared to slightly bulkier but less expensive ultraportables. Nevertheless, some mobile workers will appreciate full laptop functionality in such a small package. We look forward to taking it for a spin ourselves, and we'll have a full review up soon.