Date: Wed, 27 Sep 2000 10:11:24 -0700 (PDT)
From: David Chien <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: Next Generation
The Biblio appears to be an evolutionary step up from the Sony Picturebooks
rather than anything 'amazing'.
eg. The 2lbs weight of the lower-end Biblio is something Sony and others can
achieve today (which we've seen already in the Libretto 100/110), only with a
wide screen display and that odd Crusoe CPU.
As for the larger Biblio with built-in DVD, that's just the same as the various
3.5 LBS superthin, lightweight notebooks (www.dynamism.com, www.jpd.com) that
have already been out for ages in Japan with built-in CD/DVD drives, but with a
smaller screen to reduce weight by ~1/2 lbs.
In either case, both don't redefine the category by introducing something
signficantly different from the prior models, unlike the original Libretto 20
which redefined how small a useable color PC laptop could get for the
mass-market (yes, there was the IBM before that, but that was a seriously
limited machine that didn't even have a HD initially; I'm talking about useable
balance here.)
Sadly, they forgot to include the TV tuner! ;) (heck, they've got just about
everthing else in the larger 3lbs model!)
----------
Of course, we've yet to see lots of real-life benchmarks, and user comments
regarding the performance and compatibility of the Crusoe, so it may be a
dead-in-the-water product like many PCs that tried to use non-standard (ie. not
Intel or AMD) CPUs.
---------
I think that what Fujitsu could have done instead was to release a superthin,
superlightweight Biblio on the order of ~1lbs. instead. That alone would have
put a huge competitive distance between it and the rest, and chop 1/2 the
weight off a similar Libretto. You'd think they'd be able to do it given the
lower power requirements of a Crusoe if they'd stuck with a smaller screen.
(with a big, wide display, there's nothing you can do about the notebook being
a huge power hog however...)
I'd have released an optional thin, flat bottom battery attachment to that 1lbs
notebook for those that wanted longer battery life.
----
In any case, at least they've finally reached the point where they're sticking
a DVD/CD drive under the sub-notebook like I sketched out years ago (concept
design for future librettos I did at home; with enough micro-packaging, you
could get both the floppy and CD-ROM underneath a slightly enlarged Libretto).
But in my case, I'd have chosen to make these components a snap-on base rather
than integrated (after all, once most of us have installed our apps, we really
don't -need- the cd-rom drive given a large enough HD to create a virtual
CDROM).
-----
In any case, it's been well longer than the 'standard' 6 months it takes
Toshiba to release a new generation of Librettos, and I'm wondering if they're
just sitting on their butts waiting for the world to go to hell or what? I
sure hope they do release a new one soon, and it had better be slim, powerful,
and quite amazing -- they'd have to given the competition they've got from
Sony, Fujitsu, Casio and others (mostly Sony however).
I'm voting for a 1lbs. Libretto as it seems to be the 'natural' point in
evolution -- they've got the technology and parts now to make a sub-notebook
that light, and I'm sure many, many people would be very interested in a
useable notebook 6-8x lighter than their standard all-in-one notebooks.
d =)
=====
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The latest news and information for the Toshiba Libretto owner.
http://www.silverace.com/libretto/
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