Toshiba Corporation has announced that it would mark 20 years of innovation and leadership in portable personal computing with the launch of two series of 20th anniversary notebook PCs - "dynabook SS" series and the "libretto U100" series. The "dynabook SS" series will offer ultra-slim profiles -- only 19.8mm at their highest -- and an extended battery life of approximately 5.4 hours. The "libretto U100", a fully-featured mini-notebook PC that can be held on the palm of one hand, will offer enhanced image quality derived from Toshiba's "Qosmio" AV-PCs.

The three models in the "dynabook SS" series will come to market in Japan on April 22. The first model in the "libretto U100" series will follow on April 29, with the three others scheduled to follow at the start of May. The computers will also soon be launched in the global market, the "dynabook" models under the "portege" marque.

The "libretto U100" series also utilizes a low-loss PWB, stack via technology and other high density mounting technologies to achieve an ultra small profile and a weight of only 999g., all in a package small enough to sit on the palm of the hand. However, even with this small form factor, Toshiba delivers a full keyboard with the same key arrangement as an A4-size notebook PC. With a battery life of approximately 5.3 hours, "libretto U100" achieves both miniaturization and enhanced usability.

Another contributor to usability is the "libretto's" bright 7.2-inch LCD, the first in its class with an LED backlight. Toshiba's proprietary control system manipulates the backlight's 32 LEDs as a group, achieving meticulous control of luminance while minimizing power consumption.

Users can enjoy DVD movies or CD music by connecting the detachable "libretto DVD dock" with DVD super multi drive, and can playback both without booting the PC. The "libretto U100" series adopts the advanced image enhancing technologies, such as digital sharpness, interlace to progressive converter, color correction, de-blocking and de-ringing, that Toshiba first brought to market in its "Qosmio" lineup, and delivers bright, detailed, natural images. Superb image quality is accompanied by enhanced sound quality; "auto gain control" function prevents sound from breaking up, even at the maximum volume, while integrated SRS surround sound adds depth and resonance.

The new "libretto U100" series also comes with HDD protection and finger-based ID authentication.