Libretto W105 Review

I recieved my Libretto W105 yesterday and jave used it for a while now.

Observations:

It is small this is a UMPC actually it is about the same size and weight of my Fujitsu U810
Capacitive screen is very responsive and easy to use
Plays videos well
Very flexable....use as a slate or clamshell device
Text is small
Clicking on small hyperlinked text is difficult but it has a virtual touchpap that I can use for that
I have not used the Toshiba Bullitanboard software yet
Last night while surfing web and doing some configuration the unit lasted
4.5 hours on battery using the balanced power profile
Unit can run on the warm

Overall I'm very happy with this laptop

I need to redce the size of tje photos so I can post them...don't have time right now to do it...so photos to follow

 

Adding photos, these are compared to my Toshiba NB205 10" Netbook

 

More photos

 

Last group...

 

Thank you for the pictures. Where did you get it from? If I could find one from Amazon or Toshiba I'd get one.

 

Hi John,

I purchased from ToshibaDirect right when they became available. I think the only way to get one in the IS currently is either from Conics.net or ebay...

 

Does it come with a case like the conics one? Is the battery the same as the conics extended battery? On the Toshiba website, the extended battery is shaped like the standard battery from Conics.

Please provide more impressions, after you have used it for a while.

I did find a source that has these on pre-order. Supposedly they have 50 on pre-order and are expecting them on Sept 10th. Not sure how reliable they are or if they will get them.

TOSHIBA PLW10U-00201V LIBRETTO W105-L251 1.2G 2GB 62GB 7IN WL BLUETOOTH WINDOWS 7 HOME PREMIUM 32BIT (RETURNS / EXCHANGES: SEALED PRODUCT ONLY) - BLT Catalog!

 

It comes with a black velvet sleeve that is very much like the purple bag that Crown Royal Whiskey comes in...I wish it came with a leather case like the Japanese version.

So far I've used as a clamshell and as a slate and both are very functional. Under normal use I'm getting 3.5-4 hours battery with the extended battery (US version only ships with the extended).

Build quality is awesome, I've owned 12 Toshiba Laptops since 1995 and this little laptop is solid. I would put it on par with very high end business models.

I've used a Fujitsu U810 UMPC and and Toshiba NB205 as my personal devices and a Lenovo X200T as my business machine. This Libretto replaces U810 and NB205 so I only have these 2 now.

This device is more of consumtion device but using a mouse and keyboard while docked it has the power to be a productivity device as well.

 

Couple of more questions:

-Does the extended battery look the same as the import/conics version? Sometimes Toshiba introduces different battery for regions.
-Does the extended battery make the unit tip/unstable, when you have it on the table?
-How much bloatware is on the machine?
-Does it come with recovery disks?
-How much of the 62GB is free?
-How's the lag on the machine. Some of the videos on Youtube show lag when doing things.
-Does it play 720P and 1080P videos properly?
-I know you initially got about 4.5 hours of battery. Or is it around 3+ hours? Have you tried the ECO setting?

Thanks.

 

-Does the extended battery look the same as the import/conics version?
The battery looks the same

-Does the extended battery make the unit tip/unstable, when you have it on the table?
It is well balanced and doesn't tip

-How much bloatware is on the machine?
Not much...Norton, Bing Toolbar, Toshiba Utilities which are useful

-Does it come with recovery disks?
No

-How much of the 62GB is free?
About half

-How's the lag on the machine. Some of the videos on Youtube show lag when doing things.
None that I can see

-Does it play 720P and 1080P videos properly?
yes

-I know you initially got about 4.5 hours of battery. Or is it around 3+ hours?
I had 4.5 hours now with bluetooth I get 3 to 4 hours

Have you tried the ECO setting?
no

HTH,

 

Is the body made of plastic?
4.5 hrs usage with wifi?
Hows the lcd brightness?
How hot does it gets?
It should be bigger than u810 right?
Does your unit has seperating lcd screein on the top or a 1 mm gap?
On a scale of 1-5 5 being the highest ., hows the cool factor?
Can you turn off the second screen to save battery?
Have u tried playing games and what?
Is there any door to upgrade ssd, wifi or mem?
Thanks in advance!

 

Amswers inline:

Is the body made of plastic?
Yes but note cheap plastic it feels very solid

4.5 hrs usage with wifi?
yes

Hows the lcd brightness?
very bright easy to read. It is glossy but not distracting

How hot does it gets?
Ot gets warm but not hot

It should be bigger than u810 right?
It just slightly bigger than my old U810. I can't compare them because I sold my U810

Does your unit has seperating lcd screein on the top or a 1 mm gap?
I know what you're talking about yes but I had to really look to see it. It is a little ridge between the LCD and the top of the bezel

On a scale of 1-5 5 being the highest ., hows the cool factor?
10 ; ) Lots of drooling at church

Can you turn off the second screen to save battery?
Yes when the second screen is in "home" mode

Have u tried playing games and what?
Sorry I don't play games

Is there any door to upgrade ssd, wifi or mem?
No...the main compter is behind the top LCD

 

My Canadian version come with the "leather" case like the Japanese version did, but I rather have your black velvet sleeve instead since it's more conivence for me. US version packaging look way fancier than Canadia version which is just a plain cardbox with just that "leather" case, user guide and the libretto. I just wondering where is your libretto made in? When I order mine from Toshiba Canada the sales rep said it is made in Japan, but when I received my it was made in China.

 

Is the leather case like the one on the Pocketables Review? Like a Book Sleeve...anyway yes it is made in China but most laptops are anyway...

 

I just received my w100 from conics japan and your right the cool factor on this device is just of the chart. I just notice now that this one does not support external video output.

also purchased 32gb micro sd card for my mp3 and videos. Life is good!

 

There is a USB docking solution that has a video card built into it and it supports resolutions up to 1920x1200. It is called the DynaDock. I have been using these for the past 3 years and thhey work well.

I did learn a valuable lesson...don't try to calabrate the screen. I did because of coming from aTablet PC background and touch was off. I reset it and now it works really well...

 

Thanks for the pics... That device is sexy indeed.

By the way, what is the retail price in the US?

 

Your welcome. The retail price was $1099 with tax and shipping it came out to $1243. I'm truely loving this machine. I'm traveling internationally for business over the next two weeks and this little device is going to be perfect.

 

yeah, I think so since it look the same when I compare it to the video.

 

EA - thanks, I'm fine with the velvet sleeve, I will go out and look at cases this week, a zip around or a neoprene sleeve.

 

Where you going to look at? let me know since I'm interest in a sleeve instead of a case. BTW, I found out there is a 3G model from my user manual. I wonder when will they come out since I will trade my current libretto with the one with 3G.

 

I heard a runor they were testing the 3G version in the UK, my guess will be around the first of the year. I have a Sprint Overdrive Hotspot that handles 3G and 4G so I'll rely on that.

I'm going to check Target since they stock the 7" Eee PC so I think they will have something, if not BestBuy and Fry's...

 

I have a w105 as well. I can say that its quite the amazing device.

Some fun multi-touch stuff to use it with:
What's the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7?

Download link for that here:
Download details: Touch Pack for Windows 7

Also, paint and solitaire both support multi touch

 

ok i got my libretto its fun to use and the cool factor is out of this world but very disappointed with the battery life that last only 3hrs on extended battery, the volume is so low i cant almost heir it specially when that crazy loud fan is running.

But with the speaker volume, i have to have a headphone every time i watch a movie or play an MP3!

Fan is running like a vacuum cleaner!

 

My fan runs only occassionally not constent like you're describinbing. What power profile are you running? I'm getting 3.5 to 4 hours...I've noticed I get longer battery life using it in laptop mode with the Home Screen Activated (the second screen turns off if I'm reading a web page, etc. )

 

Im pretty sure it runs constantly, the fan has a variable speed and runs low when just browsing the web but ones you used it for flash video it will start running likes no bodys business. If you run the health monitor you will see that the fan runs constantly, ive confirmed this to other w100 users. Tell me whats your opinion on the speaker volume as i think its very low.

 

Speaker volume is low but I think that is to be expected on small devices... With regards to the fan...are you running plugged in or on battery? When I have it plugged in the fan is noticable but on battery it is not...

I've used the monitor in question and am familar with the program.

 

Only about half of 62gb is free? Should be about 59 or so gb of available space, minus Windows 7 and preinstalls, I would expect about 50gb free. What is taking the other space??

That is crazy!

 

I am assuming that Toshiba has the image recovery on the SSD. Just a guess, since I don't have the unit

 

The way the SSD is configured you get about 50 GB for the laptop and with OS and all that is installed from Utilities and Office 2010, etc it takes about 20 GB of that 50 GB, I had 32 GB of free space on first boot, now with my data and installed apps I have about 18 GB...

I can gain almost 6 GB if I blow the recovery partition away.

 

So I wanted to let all the owners of the Libretto W100 series who wanted asleeve/case for it, I found one that fits perfect. I bought the Belkin Max Sleeve for Kindle 2. If you are in the US, Target has them by their Kindle Display. They have black, burgandy and blue. The black and burgandy are $29.99 but the blue is on clearance for half off.
When I say it fits perfect, its like it was built for the Libretto...

 

by the way i just recieve my libretto and i have to say this thing is amazing but i have a question. how do access the window task panel since each time i press ctrl alt del its give me an error

 

If you hold the keyboard key for several seconds it brings up the shiny ctrl-alt-del screen. Or if you just want Task Manager, tap-press the tool bar until you get the right-click menu from where you can pick Task Manager.

sabbys

 

Today I bought the 3G version of the Libretto. The store received only one.
It is getting as hot as my previous gadget Vaio P.
Currently I'm running it from power supply and the fan is pretty annoying loud.

 

there is a 3g version?

 

In Europe it is on sales since Thursday as W100-10D, 1099 EUR

fan: Now I have changed the power scheme to energy saving, fan to battery optimized. The fan noise decreased, but it is still very loud.

Loudspeaker is really a joke.

 

Thank you for posting your impressions! I have a Libretto on the way from Amazon, but I'm on the fence about if I've made a mistake with this purchase. I'd really appreciate your feedback on the following questions, as it will decide if I just send the package back to Amazon unopened.


1) Cosmetically, it looks like Toshiba changed many things from what I had previously seen on review sites. Is the exterior still brushed aluminum, as described in a review I read? On Toshiba's website it states "Brushed Metal Casing", but someone here described it as "body is made of plastic". I'm wondering if that referred to the interior of the unit only.

2) Is the screen matte or glossy? In the Japanese model displayed on YouTube the exterior is aluminum and the interior (screen and frame) were BOTH glossy black, to the point where it looked like one sheet of "glass". From the photos listed on the forum, it looks like the glossy interior and screen have been changed to a matte finish and the exterior doesn't look like aluminum any longer. is this true?

3) How is the screen quality and viewing angles? I plan on using this mostly as a media device in place of my previous Archos.

4) Can you give more info on the speaker? Is it, say, louder than the one on the itouch or iphone?

5)How would you rate the overall build quality? Especially the hinge!

6) Tough one, but can you estimate how much HD space would be available if I stripped the computer of Office and most non-essential programs/features? This is rather important, as I was expecting at least 45-50GB available.


Thank you!

 

Re: Libretto W105 Review

Ansers inline...

1) Cosmetically, it looks like Toshiba changed many things from what I had previously seen on review sites. Is the exterior still brushed aluminum, as described in a review I read? On Toshiba's website it states "Brushed Metal Casing", but someone here described it as "body is made of plastic". I'm wondering if that referred to the interior of the unit only.

...The cover looks like brushed aluminum but is plastic but not cheap plastic

2) Is the screen matte or glossy? In the Japanese model displayed on YouTube the exterior is aluminum and the interior (screen and frame) were BOTH glossy black, to the point where it looked like one sheet of "glass". From the photos listed on the forum, it looks like the glossy interior and screen have been changed to a matte finish and the exterior doesn't look like aluminum any longer. is this true?

...The screen is glossy and clores are bright

3) How is the screen quality and viewing angles? I plan on using this mostly as a media device in place of my previous Archos.

...Viewing angles are good

4) Can you give more info on the speaker? Is it, say, louder than the one on the itouch or iphone?

...Speaker is weak but headphones work great

5)How would you rate the overall build quality? Especially the hinge!

...Build quality is very good, hinge is good

6) Tough one, but can you estimate how much HD space would be available if I stripped the computer of Office and most non-essential programs/features? This is rather important, as I was expecting at least 45-50GB available.

A full install of office is 3 GB or less, due to the recovery partition the SSD only has 50 GB to start with.. the Win 7 install is usually around 11 GB...

I'm very happy with it...

 

I'm not getting more than two hours.
Am I correct that the extented battery has 36Wh /2400mAH ?
In my configuration it is draining 17W (wifi on)

 

What power plan are you using? I'm still getting 3 to 3.5 hours with balanced, but my web surfing is modest, content consumption (mostly static content that I read). I haven't done tons of videos, gaming, etc...

 

I'm using the Toshiba Eco mode and switched off the 2nd core, dynamic switching., BT, webcam, 3G
Anyway even with web surfing it will not go below 17 Watt.
Is it possible to keep the 2nd display off?

 

bernd75,

You say you have the extended battery, but that time seems rather low (The extended battery is a weird shape, something like below. Although windows may say I only have 2 hours left, with both screens and using wifi I get roughly 3-4 hours of usage.

Key: # = battery, _ = bottom of laptop

Normal Battery (As seen from bottom of laptop):
__________
__________
########
########

Extended Battery:

__ ####__
__ ####__
########
########

Has anyone gotten the w105/w100 to boot from the MicroSD slot?

 

The Second Screen when go off if it is Home Mode but the minute you touch the top screen it will come back on...

 

I'm not sure what I have changed, but now it is indicating 14Watt.
On the weekend I will try to see what battery life I'm getting.

I'm wondering if it is possible to assign Toshiba Eco utility to the windows power scheme. Upto now those settings (switch off 2nd core etc.) are assigned independent of the power scheme.

It's interesting to see that the SIM card insert/removal user manual shows also a section with GPS.

Overall I really enjoy the W100. I'm glad that I have returned my Vaio P.