Is there still a ‘place’ for an old Libretto?
Posted by Andrew on Jul 12, 2008
The recent launch of the latest iphone, the Asus EEE and new PDA’s… is there still a place for an older Libretto such as a 100CT in today’s computer landscape? I am not going to beat about the bush. For many an old Libretto is not right, never will be. It is not brand new, contains the latest in technologies and pushing innovation. There will always be a camp of people who can’t bear to use older hardware. If that is you, stop reading now please, this article won’t be worth the read.
Too many Libretto’s I fear are gathering dust or even worse have been disposed off, however with a bit of time it is amazing what the Libretto can still achieve. Qwerty keyboard, good size screen, upgradeable hard drive, multi-os and pcmcia providing the ability to increase functionality further. Sounds like a device that can cater to somebodies requirements to me.
Now you might be thinking CPU and available software. True the CPU can be a factor, but there still is software that is very usable on an old libretto and there are things you can do to overcome some barriers.
Comparison time. The Libretto isn’t a fit in your pocket social connectivity tool. So lets knock the head on those comparisons, there is no point. The Asus EEE is larger, higher spec, but there are many requirements that your older Libretto’s can provide that the Asus can also, but alas there is as many an old Libretto can’t. In fact lets stop the comparisons. No point!
So what does it come down to? It was obvious from the beginning really wasn’t it. There are some of us who refuse to give up on older technologies just because they are not slick and sexy enough in today’s computing landscape. If the product provides functionality that you are happy with and is the right device for a specific requirement fantastic, if your requirements change then so be it. Also there are many who want to see how far they can push their Libretto’s, the old school techs used to pushing their hardware. Why? It’s fun.
So the answer to the question? Yes
Watching video on an old Libretto
Posted by Andrew on Jul 6, 2008
Usually if you try and play back video on an old libretto it will pause, have issues with syncing… basically a waste of time!
The problem is usually audio and all you need to do is re-encode your video file’s audio to use wav instead of say mp3. I know, I know wav files are huge! However by reducing the bit rate of your video, and in some cases the video screen size, you will probably actually only end up with a video file not that much larger than the original. The quality of the video file will be reduced, but the viewing experiencing is actually quite good and plays smoothly.
So what software do we recommend? Well there is always the ’super’ software. That allows you to select the container, codecs and settings, drag the file and et voila. The encoding might take a while on larger video files. So for instance mp4 (container), xvid (codec), 500 kbps (bit rate) etc.
Now this tip isn’t so you can watch illegal content on your libretto! It is so you can convert home movies or free content instead to watch on your old libretto.
link: http://www.erightsoft.com/SUPER.html
Solid State Libretto - Results
Posted by Joseph on Apr 18, 2008
I received my Lexar 4GB 133x Compact Flash card today and installed it. I then cloned it from a disk image I had previously taken of my Libretto, and when it had finished, I was amazed. The boot time is now half of what it was, and programs launch just as fast or even faster than they did when I had 64MB in my Libretto. Also, it has taken a lot longer for the battery to run out, and the Libretto runs silently, I am very happy in my £30 investment. We shall see how well the wear levelling on the CF card stands up to the Windows pagefile, hopefully the card will not wear out in a week.
Solid State Libretto
Posted by Joseph on Apr 14, 2008
There are many Libretto users out there who are considering replacing the hard disk for a solid state flash disk.The reason for this is that a solid state draws a lot less power, is silent, more durable and tends to have a higher read speed. However a solid state flash drive only has a limited number of write cycles, so intensive writing to one area of the flash disk (e.g. Windows pagefile) will wear that area out quite quickly. On the other hand, most flash disks have an averaging system called wear leveling, where the one piece of data (such as the Windows pagefile) is not just written to that one area on the flash disk, but spread over the whole volume, to make the overall flash disk last longer. There are already a few laptops on the market such as the Asus eee-pc, which use a flash disk instead of a hard disk.
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Sound under DOS
Posted by Joseph on Apr 14, 2008
This is useful if you are in to playing DOS games on your Libretto 100/110CT. Unfortunatly, due to the limitations of the WDM Yamaha drivers under Windows 98, the soundblaster emulation does not work when running Windows, which means you can’t get any sound output when using a DOS program with sound. Basically this means you can’t play your favourite DOS game such a Quake under Windows, but instead you will have to play it under real-mode DOS. The set up for this is rather more tricky than Windows, but it is still achievable.