penk

When I was working at in the IT Department at Wildfire Communications, the number one toy the execs and managers wanted was  the Toshiba Libretto ‘palmtop’ computer. They ran Windows 95, were compact and functional (for the time), and made great conversation / showoff pieces. I had to have one for my collection.

I’ve let people know I was collecting vintage handheld computers, suddenly everyone wanted to donate! I quickly put together the collection home page and made the wishlist known. Lo, a friend I know from Arisia said “I have a Libretto that’s just lying around. Want it?” – Heck yeah!

This weekend, it arrived via a somewhat circuitous route, and lo, it is a 110CT – a slightly later model than the ones I worked on (which were 50CT and 70CT’s), but still the same form factor and awesome design. One of the niftiest is the integrated touch-mouse on the right side of the screen.  The mouse buttons are actually on the lid, so you move the mouse with your thumb, and grip the buttons on the reverse side.

This one appears to have a screen problem that won’t let it show video properly, but I’m excited to have it in the collection. Thanks Ben!

For the curious, here’s the specs on the 110CT:

• Manufacture date: 1998


• Pentium 233MMX CPU


• 32meg RAM (!!)


• 4.3GB HD


• 7.1″ 800×480 display


• Came with Windows 98 or Windows NT