Toshiba Libretto W105

While this pricey dual-screen tablet has a number of clever innovations, short battery life Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery and other flaws make it a tough sell.

With all the talk about Android tablets, including one sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery from Toshiba, the Toshiba Libretto W105 is definitely an outlier. It's the first high-profile Windows 7 touchscreen device to launch this year, and it features a unique dual-screen design that Toshiba calls an experiment. And, like most experiments, there are some aspects of this device that succeed (bundled touch apps, plenty of keyboard choices), and others that fall flat (battery life, heat). At $1,099--and in limited supply--this device is geared for, and will appeal mainly to, early adopters looking for something exotic. So should you snatch one up, or leave the W105 for gadget collectors?

Design

When closed, the all-black Libretto W105 looks like a thicker version of the Sony VAIO P, another device that's neither fish nor Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery fowl. The Libretto measures 8 x 4.8 x 1.2 inches, and weighs 1.8 pounds, just 0.4 pounds more than the VAIO P.

When opened, the Libretto's W105 footprint is roughly the same as the iPad, which is when this sony VGP-BPS9 battery curiosity reveals its audacious design. Both halves are dominated by a large 7-inch touchscreen. On the upper half, a power button sits to the right of the screen; the left has a webcam. The bottom half, too, only has two buttons: the left one activates the on-screen keyboard. The right is the Home button, which moves the taskbar to the upper display, and opens Toshiba's Bulletin Board app in the bottom display.

When sitting on a desk, the weight of the lower sony VGP-BPS9/S battery half kept the Libretto W105 from tipping backwards, even with the upper display tilted far back. Turned sideways, we found the device most comfortable to hold in the middle with our right hand.

Ports are limited to just one USB and a headphone jack.

Heat

After playing a Hulu video at full screen for 15 minutes, the lower screen remained a cool 79 degrees, but the upper half Dell Studio 17 Battery was a scorching 117 degrees; Toshiba even places a warning sticker on the hottest area. Moreover, the fan on the Libretto seemed to be working overtime, and was clearly audible even with other noise in the room. If you're holding the Libretto by the bottom half, the heat won't be an issue, but if you're holding it on its side, like a book, it's quite uncomfortable.

Display(s)

As mentioned, the Libretto has two 7-inch touchscreens, both with a resolution of 1024 x 600, Dell Studio 1737 Battery and both with haptic feedback, which is helpful when typing on the virtual keyboard (more on that below). Both were very crisp and bright; despite their small size, two people sitting on either side would be able to see movies on screen without any problems.

The Libretto has an accelerometer that automatically switches both displays from landscape to portrait when turned sideways. Unfortunately, the transition is less than seamless; it takes a good 10 seconds for the displays to switch, during which time Dell Studio 1535 Battery they go blank. By comparison, when you rotate the iPad, the change is instantaneous. Moreover, you can only rotate the Libretto in one direction, so that the side with the battery is in your left hand. Considering smart phones can be turned 360 degrees, we wonder about this omission.

Touchscreen Features

Windows 7 has never offered a touchscreen-friendly interface, and its limitations are once again evident on the Libretto W105. Trying VGP-BPS13B/Q to press tiny icons with our finger was highly frustrating. Fortunately, Toshiba included a number of software enhancements . A series of icons in the taskbar--just a bit larger than the standard Windows icons--let you adjust the volume, magnify sections of the screen, and pull up a virtual keyboard and a virtual touchpad.

The touchpad was especially helpful. For example, we were able to use our thumb to move Sony Laptop Battery the cursor about the desktop and access items in the Start menu. You can opt for one that's 2.7 by 1.4 inches, or a smaller 1.8 by 0.9-inch touchpad; we preferred the latter, as we didn't have to stretch our thumb as much. However, the Libretto W105 would be greatly helped with an optical touchpad, as on the VAIO P or even the Viliv N5.

The keyboard was fairly easy to use, too. When open, Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery it takes up the entire lower display, and even has five different configurations, plus a number pad. The first two have just QWERTY keys with numbers above in slightly different sizes; a second shrinks the keys, but adds in the function row. The next two are split keyboards, the second of which we found easiest to use while typing--our thumbs didn't have to reach as far toward the center of the screen. While you're not going to write the next great American novel, it's more than comfortable enough to bang out e-mails and memos.

On a few occasions, Windows got in the way: when we were trying to type in our router's password, the keyboard Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery would cover up the window, so we couldn't see where we were typing. Toshiba found a way around this issue, too: Pressing the Home button moves the taskbar to the upper screen, so obscured windows were no longer a problem.

When the Libretto is in this configuration, the lower screen is occupied good battery by the Toshiba Bulletin Board, which gave us easy access to Wi-Fi, diagnostics, and security and backup tools. Also, the icons for the volume, keyboard, etc. are even larger and easier to press. This is the setup that we preferred the most.