Product Reviews

It's hard to avoid a distorted sense of scale when sitting in front of Toshiba's tiny Libretto U100. Although it has the same proportions as a full-size notebook, it takes up less than half the volume and is only about two-thirds the width of most compact systems. Toshiba has had to shrink the keyboard to achieve this incredibly small size, which gives the user the disconcerting impression that they have grown.

Despite this Alice in Wonderland feel, the Libretto is a fully specified Centrino notebook. It uses an Ultra Low Voltage (ULV) 1.2GHz Pentium M processor and has 512MB of memory and a sensible 60GB hard disk. The notebook is barely as deep as a DVD disc, so it can't accommodate an optical drive, but it comes with a docking station that includes a dual-format DVD writer.

With so little room on the Libretto's chassis it's hardly bristling with ports, but there are enough to cater for mobile users. It has

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two USB ports, network and modem connectors, audio minijacks, a D-sub port and even an SD card slot. Unfortunately the DVD dock adds no further ports or connectors and is no better than an external USB drive, which is likely to leave deskbound users frustrated.

A 1.2GHz processor may not set the pulse racing, but we found that it helped the Libretto to some respectable benchmark scores. Its overall Shopper application score was bolstered by a strong audio-encoding result of 127, and even with 512MB of memory it didn't fare too badly in our punishing image-manipulation test.

This notebook isn't suitable for advanced 3D applications or gaming, but it's designed to be highly portable. It weighs just 1kg, and its battery lasted for nearly four hours in our test.

The Libretto's 7.2" widescreen uses an LED backlight rather than the usual cold cathode source. Toshiba says this provides "rich contrast" and "brilliant colours", but it's dim at even the brightest setting. This is particularly problematic given the tiny screen and high 1,280x768 resolution, and we found it hard to read standard-sized fonts.

The Libretto's biggest problem is its minuscule keyboard. Although the keys have a decent feel, they are simply too small for sustained and rapid typing. Touch typists will find it impossible to use.

There's plenty to admire about the beautifully engineered Libretto, but it's just too small for serious use. For the money, the larger Fujitsu Seimens Lifebook P7010 is a better buy.