Toshiba Libretto 50M: A Rare 1997 Touch-Screen Mini Laptop Revisited

The article, written by a Matrix community user, explains that Toshiba developed the Libretto line in the mid-1990s to make a truly pocketable notebook. The early Libretto 20 weighed about 840 g and could run Windows 95. In January 1997, the Libretto 50 arrived as the first of the series to use an Intel Pentium processor. The 50M variant, according to Toshiba's in-house journal Toshiba Review, was built specifically for Meiji Mutual Life Insurance, now Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance, to equip about 40,000 sales staff.

The 50M differed from the retail Libretto 50 by replacing the pointing stick with a resistive touch screen and a bundled stylus. Toshiba also said it was the first Libretto to support PowerON charging, meaning the laptop could be charged while in use. Inside, the examined unit carries a 75 MHz Pentium, 32 MB of RAM (16 MB on board plus a 16 MB expansion module), an 810 MB IDE hard drive, a Sharp-made 6.1-inch 640x480 TFT display, a Chips & Technology CT65550 graphics chip with 1 MB VRAM, and a Yamaha OPL3-SA2 sound chip. It originally shipped with Windows 95 OSR2, though the author's unit had been updated to Windows 98.

Externally, the 50M lacks the pointing stick and lid buttons found on the Libretto 50; a raised slot above the display houses the stylus. Expansion options are sparse: one PCMCIA slot, a 2.5 mm headphone jack, an infrared port and a 15 V power input. USB is not present, as the design predated widespread USB support. An optional Toshiba dock added PS/2, DB-25 parallel, DB-9 serial and HD-15 video connectors.

The author also took the machine apart. He found a Toshiba PA2051UJ 16 MB memory module, a CMOS battery that he advises collectors to remove to avoid corrosion damage, and a yellow ribbon cable running toward the display hinge that he speculates may be connected to the touch layer; the retail Libretto 50CT disassembly records show no such cable. He also observed a metal-alloy frame under the right side of the keyboard, unlike the common plastic/shield structure in the retail model. The laptop relies on passive cooling, so the mechanical hard drive is the main source of noise.

Historical details in the article note that the 50M carried the nickname "HOHOEMIKUN" (smile boy), according to a 1998 Toshiba document. Some of the custom units later reached China as "foreign junk" and were affectionately called "radish heads." In practice, the author found the stylus-driven mini laptop felt like a precursor to Microsoft's Tablet PC and UMPC concepts from the 2000s.