My new toy (PCp lite?) Lots pictures. Better than a Jornada.

[teraflop122]

After a while a hard drive crash sent it to DOS, and I couldn't re-instal windows due to the lack of a built in cd rom drive

Have you tried putting install files in a new hard drive, sticking it in the notebook, and installing from the new hard drive?

Alternatively, you start an install to a new hard drive using a laptop or PC that works. When it finished moving files, still on the blue DOS-like screen, and says "restart in XX seconds," power down the computer, take the hard drive out, put it in the notebook, and turn the notebook on. The install will pick up right where it started, oblivious to the switch Just make sure all of the install files are on the hard drive already.

[vskid]

In terms of portabilty, I have never seen anything as good as this Libretto. With the right software, it can do just about anything (Other than modern games, 3D editing and that sort of stuff, obviously). For the current price on EBay, I don't know why more people aren't using them.

I'm really considering getting one of those. When its overclocked to 233MHz and has 64MB of RAM, it meets the requirements for firefox, can it run it without being overclocked (at 166MHz)? And how does DSL do on it? Any other linux distros with GUIs that will run on it?
This thing seems like it would pwn a palm pilot or pocket pc, none of that super limited mobile OS crap, and a full keyboard.

[Triton]

my lifebook does very well on batteries, at least 2 hours with basically no powersaving stuff turned on. never timed it tho to be 100% sure how long on average it goes, and this is a used battery that came with it, a new one would no doubt be better

[teraflop122]

I bought a Libretto 60CT a few months ago, with high hopes.

I think I still have the corpse in my dresser somewhere. It still powers on!

Back then, no matter what I did, windows 98 would not recognize the mouse. I installed the OS over and over again using different settings here, there, and everywhere.

The screen is nice and bright, the refresh rate is actually very good, despite the thing being so old. I could only ever get mono sound out of the mini headphone jack, but it played MP3's just fine. The battery lasts about 30 minutes on a charge. Of course, the mouse is completely gone at this point, it tends to get rather hot, and it has been disassembled and reassembled to many times to count.

Such a shame. The thing was just the right size for, well, anything and everything. It is the only laptop I have owned which trully felt like a portable computer- something I'd be willing to toss into a backpack, or take on a camping trip, or something.

[tom61]

I was almost certain this thread would be about the Libretto series just from the thread title.

I happen to be borrowing WiFi with my libretto 100CT to make this post. I made a small metallic dish which slots on to my WiFi card. It is effective enough that I can find an open network almost anywhere and connect to the internet.

My one is overclocked to 266 MHz, with 64MB of ram. (I am also running it with a computer keyboard, monitor and mouse at the moment). You should overclock yours to 233MHz (266 can be a little unstable) and download this tool:

www.multimediaware.com/qv/

It is a DOS-based DivX player. I can play DivX movies at 100% speed with sound on mine. I recently watched "A Scanner Darkly" on a 5 hour airplane flight.

The Libretto is also great for reading PDFs / E-Books. When the hard drive spins down, it is completely silent as it's the only moving part (No fans).

I've tried running Puppy Linux on my Libby however Xorg doesn't appreciate the non-standard resolution (800X480) so the lower portion of the desktop is stretched off the screen I just dualboot Windows 98SE (Very speedy) and Windows 2000 Professional (Slow, but good Plug N' Play support for iPods etc). Both work great for borrowing WiFi.

A good online resource for hacks/mods relating to the Libretto series is http://www.fixup.net.

Interesting, I'll definitely be taking a close look at those links. As for X11, you'll need to create a modeline for 800x480 or use the fbdev driver with the right VGA= line passed at boot. I'm using the boot option and fbdev with DSL to get 800x480

What kind of battery does the Libretto have? And does it use a CF card for a hard drive?

There are two batteries avialible a NiMH 'standard' battery and a Li-Ion 'extended' battery. I've got the Li Ion in mine.

The main HD is a 6.5MM thick (or somthing like that) 2.5" IDE laptop HD. The 100CT and 110CT can take up to 9.5mm (fairly standard size) 2.5" HDs. I'm using a CF card as removable storage using an adapter.

[vskid]

Hm, maybe I'll keep my PSP for a go anywhere device and get a Lifebook like Tritons as my do anything device. The Libretto seems lit a bit too much of a hassle for something so slow, and Lifebooks cost about the same for several times the speed.