8. Lots Of Ports, Lights And Slots

In spite of its small size the Toshiba Libretto U100-S213 comes equipped with a wide range of ports, indicator lights and slots. Here's a quick rundown on all of them.

Toshiba U100 S213 front view left to right bottom to top: SD card slot, PC Card ejection lever, IE-1399 port; lights: AC power, on/off, battery charge, HDD, Wireless indicator; fingerprint sensor (to right of right mouse button); power button (bottom center of display).

The front of the U100 includes an SD card slot, a lever to eject the PC Card, an IE-1399/Firewire/i.LINK port and a number of system indicator lights. I love the PC Card ejection lever. It means there's no stupid ejection thingy next to the card itself that inevitably pops out when you touch it and that ejects whatever is in the slot when you push it back in. Come on portable computer manufacturers follow Toshiba's lead and replace your stupid ejection thingies with a switch like Toshiba's.

The Libretto's fingerprint sensor offers security available only on one other of the computers included in this review, the Fujitsu P1510D. The sensor worked fine, letting me into the U100 and keeping friends and family out.

Toshiba U100 S213 left side view left to right bottom to top: DC power in jack, PC Card slot, wireless adapter on/off switch, mini RGB port.

How do you fit functionality that usually takes up lots of space into an ultra light laptop? Use a smaller than normal port. The mini RGB port takes up about 3 times less space than a normal RGB connector. We're talking .1 inches^2 (61 mm^2) compared to .28 inches^2 (182 mm^2), but that and the mini RGB connector's shallower depth make a significant difference on the Libretto's small chassis.

Toshiba U100 S213 right side view left to right: volume control dial, headphone jack, microphone jack, 2 USB 2.0 ports, modem port, LAN port.

I for one am most grateful to Toshiba for including an easy to turn volume dial on the left side of the U100. I don't like those less definitive digital up and down volume buttons on many laptops. Even though they're less prone to accidental changes, I always have to press one of them at least twice before I manage to move up or down one notch in volume and then that one notch can introduce too much or too little volume about which I can do nothing.

The back of the Libretto U100 is all battery and nothing more.

The bottom of the Libretto U100 bottom to top and left to right: battery, battery release lock, battery release lever, memory cover and expansion port (for DVD drive).

I have only one complaint about the bottom of the U100. It took me a couple of days to find a screwdriver small enough to remove the screw on the memory compartment. I mean, the Phillips slots on the screw are almost as thin as a piece of paper. Given that memory is supposed to be user upgradeable on the laptop, you'd think Toshiba would give that screw a wider set of slots.