Toshiba Libretto L1

Left, Toshiba Libretto ff1100v, Right, Toshiba Libretto L1
 
The only line of Librettos to use the Transmeta Crusoe processor. But what exactly was Toshiba going for with this new design? 


Basic Specifications

>Transmeta Crusoe 600MHz
>S3 Savage IX 8Mb
>128MB RAM *up to 368MB VIA 256MB MicroDIMM module*
>10GB Toshiba Hard Disk Drive (normal 2.5" PATA Drive)
>Windows ME
>10" TFT Display


Buyer beware / things to look out for

>There is a single screw that is longer than the others, don't put it in the wrong hole otherwise you will damage the palm rest or other parts
>Loose hinges (very common issue with these units)
>Dead mouse nubs
>Brass threads for the screws holding the mid frame to the base will break free from the plastic posts they're attached to easily
>Batteries on these units tend to be working, but often have rather short run times, 30mins - 1hr


My unit

I don't really remember much about my unit. I had it for such a brief period of time before I sold it on. It had a short battery life of around 20 minutes, the fan, albeit quieter than the Libretto ff series, still ran often and was annoying. I will say though, the screen was nice and bright, it was really pleasing to look at.
The 1280x600 screen resolution is stupid and utterly useless, but at least looked very nice to the eyes. I also had the accessories and recovery disks. This proved handy when I needed to figure out how to boot from a floppy disk as I had the manual handy. Of course I don't remember how I did it now... But it was the same key combo for booting from a CD, except instead of the C key it was the F key.








The Verdict

I honestly hate these things. They do not deserve the Libretto name as they represent just about none of what it stood for. The Librettos were tiny UMPC systems. This is a normal 10" sub notebook sliced in half. 0 effort, hideous design, even more hideous native screen resolution. Seriously, 1280x600 looks nice, until you need to do literally anything aside from watching a movie. The aspect ratio is entirely useless for most stuff. Surfing the web, browsing emails, office work, you'd be scrolling down like a madman the entire time.
Sure the performance is definitely better than the Libretto ff series, but if you wanted to run games or old software, you'd be confined to a very awkward and small letter box in the middle of this wide display. 
Don't think you're going to be running anything 3d on here either. The S3 chip is junk, but it's a productivity PC, so what were you expecting anyway?
Overall it's a glorified sub notebook and is entirely uninteresting as it is useless. They were super short lived due to Toshiba cancelling their contract with Transmeta due to lack of available stock on hand for the CPUs.
Avoid these, they aren't what you're looking for.

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