Playing ,burning,blogging and having fun with with the Toshiba Libretto W100 the worlds first dual screen tablet and PC

Let me tell ya the Toshiba Libretto W100 has many a standout feature now that i have put it through its first days of use .


Not least of which is the fact that this is the first slate /tablet that i can type this blogger entry from. Sorry iPad and Joojoo don't give good blogger.


It may sound strange but the best way to think of the Libretto W100 is a miniature version of  that multiscreen  l33t pc sitting faithfully next to you. You know the one with 12 not so silent cooling fans , recycling a healthy amount  of your breathable air , and negating the need for any other form of heating your home.


Just like your uber l33t rig  there is fan noise it runs super hot , blows warm air , which is nice when its cold , but these are not issues for you have asbestos fingers , your`e used to heat and noise being indicators that your tech is being adequately cooled.  Heat leaves the Libretto , whereas the otherwise supercool and silent iPad has been rumoured to overheat and lockup.And the joojoo likes to warm its surroundings too but that is to be expected with such a large screen.

As it is this blog entry is being typed from one of only 50 Libretto W100s in Europe at this time ,  using Blogger is a feat only barely possible using html on my iPad and far simpler to do than using my joojoo which does not allow cut and paste.


The  much talked of  full and split keyboards are not the only important additions that the W100 brings ,where the libretto really shines , and most surprisingly is the virtual trackpad which really elevates the Libretto W100 beyond the simple media consumption of rival tablets.


The trackpad allows you to use pixel precision in clicking on windows buttons and links , so unlike other tablets you need never loose sight of where you are clicking, and the size of your fingers is negated.You know the  iPAD users frustration of trying to zoom in on text to click between text and edit or add missing letters etc , well you can navigate down to pixels with the virtual trackpad which has 3 buttons ,and you can re size it  too. Oh and its perfect for playing games ...


Now those of us that use the iPad and joojoo miss several aspects of keyboards ,with the Libretto W100 , you get cursor keys ,pgup and fn keys , so now you can move anywhere in text and on screen ,again with precision.No need to retype entire words or addresses just navigate with arrows to the precise point ,this mundane yet essential feature would bring much joy to the text pecking masses on the other slates.


The wireless n speed is very fast , amongst  slates the iPad is the slowest , and ios power conservation can frequently cut signals and reconnect, the joojoo is lightening fast and does not have as many cutout problems , but it is the Libretto W100 that is the fastest and most reliable. This is probably due to the maturity of the drivers in Windows 7 vs the relatively new joojoo os and ios. The Libretto W100 is also the first tablet where you will download and use full size pc programs and games. So a fast Internet connection is essential and that`s what Toshiba give you.


And me being me naturally the first thing i needed to do was download Steam and start installing games .You can install any full pc software you like as you have a full blown OS.


can you play games on the W100 ? Yes and most impressively using Steam


Steam games tested so far


Defcon 5  ,  Introversion classic , works perfectly and you can pinch zoom , scroll the map by touch and use the trackpad on the lower screen ,you probably do not want to play this in public areas as you may look like some hi tech megalomaniac with an eye to world domination. The speed of gameplay is excellent , and you can run the game in a rolling demo in one screen whilst you work or surf in the screen below , the Libretto W 100 certainly has enough power to heavily multitask compared to the ipad .


Monkey Island 2 Special Edition : Works perfectly ,point and click games are  so much better on a touch screen , and you can use the virtual trackpad in the lower screen .

I also downloaded the RUSE demo ,have not figured out how to turn down the details yet , the demo does not allow this perhaps the full game will, imagine that game split across the 2 libretto screens.Incidentally the demo downloaded at 2.9mb/s on average from Steam , that is most impressive.

And because I had to I installed FREESPACE 2 , and it ran perfectly , which bodes well for my portable space combat game fetish. Just have to figure out the best control scheme , if only they made a mini 360 controller , the W100 has Bluetooth so the possibilities are endless

And to go with your games you need music , Grooveshark works perfectly , pairing the W100 with some blue tooth headphones demoed the realtek sound ,and it gets very loud , though the inbuilt speakers are only a danger to a gnats ear ....

Flash 10.1 implementation is the best of all current tablets , but really flash is its own worst enemy and needs heavy optimization.

VLC media player runs great , and as on larger multiscreen displays you can use the image wall feature to exploit the 2 screens scaling and zooming to fill up both screens.I ran a 720p rip of Goemon split across 2 screens and it did not stutter.

Streaming video from sites in hi def is dependent on their implementation of flash .and the browser you use. Roll on html5

browsers tested

1. Safari 5 : once you get iPad fever you sometimes wonder what if Steve had put the full Safari browser on the iPad , well wonder no more on the W100 you can finally touch Safari 5

2. Internet explorer 8 : the default browser has the smoothest one finger scrolling and pinch zoom of the browsers I have tested so far

3. Google Chrome : the fastest ,but not the best when it comes to touch functions

There are many different ways to use this machine , it can be as much of a traditional pc ,tablet or slate as you like. Chose to navigate with keyboard arrows ,virtual trackpad, or just touch the screen , it adapts to your style.

The real joy will come when and if  TOSHIBA up scales the W100 to a full dual 17 inch core i7 dual screen tablet ,and if they don't  you know FUSION GARAGE ,APPLE , NOTION INK ,KNO,AND AT LEAST MSI  will.

Regardless  messing around with a W100 is great fun , just give it a couple of days for your eyes to adjust to the screen size ,and the aversion conditioning to kick in as your hands  learn the best way to hold the machine without melting.... you or the machine...and soon you too can prevent nuclear Armageddon and surf your favourite interweb locales all from the palm your hand .....