Swan Song for Libretto

Toshiba drops its first subnotebook to push Portege line.

Ephraim Schwartz, InfoWorld

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"While the Libretto was a fantastic product, our customers are being transitioned to the Portege 3000 series mininotes," says Chris Pollitt, a group manager at Toshiba America. "The Libretto will reach its end of life in August."

Introduced on June 2, 1997, the first Librettos featured a 7.1-inch VGA screen and a 166-MHz Pentium processor running Windows 95. The latest version, the Libretto 110, includes a Pentium 233-MHz processor, a 4GB hard drive and 32MB of RAM running Windows 98. Despite its many useful features, however, its day has apparently come and gone, according to one analyst.

"Manufacturers have learned a few lessons about ultraportability since the Libretto's introduction," says Gerry Purdy, president of Mobile Insights.

Business users no longer want a display smaller than 10 inches, or a keyboard with less than 17mm or 18mm pitch--the distance from center to center on the main keys, according to Purdy. The tiny Libretto had neither.

"Although you can put VGA on a small screen, you can hardly read it," Purdy adds. "Rejection of that market is clearly manifest."

However, the Libretto will not fade away completely. On July 17, Toshiba will introduce in Japan only, the Libretto ff 1100. It has a 266-MHz Pentium processor and a detachable camera for recording still and full motion video for playback and editing.

The Sony Vaio 505, another mininotebook, is also expected to reintroduce a newer version of the product with a larger keyboard.

For more IT analysis and commentary on emerging technologies, visit InfoWorld.com. Story copyright © 2007 InfoWorld Media Group. All rights reserved.

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