For gadget lovers looking for something different, Toshiba libretto W100 is a unique dual-screen PC. With a design that’s sure to catch the eye of several portable users, the Toshiba libretto W100 is a unique need which demands the portability of a field unit and the need to stay connected at any one time. Finished in metallic black with brushed surfaces, it does look elegant like a well-bound book and when the halves are divided, it greets the user in a space-age like setting of stylishly glossy surfaces.
Built as a clam-shell device with two 7” multi-touch screens separated by a double hinge, the libretto is named after the Italian for synopsis of a book, hence its book-like form-factor when held vertically which is even truer in the W100 as compared to its predecessors. Other than that, there is nothing much to say about its exterior as it only packs a single USB port and microSD slot for storage expansion purposes – there are no other outputs except for a lone headphones jack. Its barren looks results in it weighing under a kilogram, allowing for extended use even when one is holding it open. The top lid of the device holds the processing core and motherboard, and cooling vents are located on its surface as well as along the side to ensure that it stays cool.
Using two scenes at once, the libretto is capable of displaying content on both screens or users may opt to use the second, lower screen as a keyboard or activate the built in Toshiba Bulletin Board. Both of these custom features are conveniently toggled using keys on either side of the screen, allowing for quick typing access or settings adjustments on the fly. The Toshiba Bulletin Board is a sleek program which allows users to install widgets and more, allowing the dual-screens to display more information than previously thought possible. Otherwise, navigation is made by hand, and despite the lack of a stylus we found it to be fairly accurate, only somewhat lacking in the corners of the screens.
Powered by an Intel Pentium, U5400 processor with up to 2GB of DDR3 memory, the libretto isn’t a slouch as Windows performance was peppy from startup to daily use. The only drawback of such a small form factor is that it has limited video capabilities, and with the addition of a second screen that’s always turned on, our PCMark test netted only certain component scores. However, it is more than capable of video playback – even though its ‘fullscreen’ mode means fullscreen on one of its displays. Still, it is more than capable of basic multimedia playback. It even comes with an adequate battery life of nearly two and a half hours of video playback and wireless-N connectivity – a must for such a portable device.
Computing in the palm of one’s hand has never been cheap and neither is the libretto W100, but for gadget lovers who enjoy something different at the end of the day, it is certainly a good departure from the norm.
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