Discussions

The dual-screen laptop is here.  As you may recall, Asus revealed their concept design at CeBit last year, a system that looks like a cross between a netbook and a table PC.  I want ten of them in ten different colors with ten different docking bay thingamabobs.

I found it very interesting that they went with a small form factor while everything else popping up on the gadget sites are gigantic and pricy.  To be honest, I’m not sure how I feel about those or the entire dual-screen thing.  On one hand I have raging techno lust for them and want to chuck my dopey 1-screen thing as soon as possible.  On the other hand, I’m afraid that after the glitter of ownership is gone I’ve a very expensive gimmick on my hands that doesn’t offer much more utility.  Let’s pro and con these things, shall we?

IN FAVOR OF AWESOME

Please pardon my technical jargon here when I say that the core value proposition here is that you can, like, see more things and stuffs without lugging additional monitors around. It passes the geeky awesomess test with flying colors. If the displays were touch screen, it could make the keyboard area obsolete, like this V12-designed concept for Canova.  It’s admittedly a GIGANTOR FAT LAPTOP WITH A BOOTY, but an e-book, a tablet, a cubicle partition, a sun screen, picture frame, a television, a pancake flattener, a shield, two very dark mirrors, and loving life partner for the low, low price of $5,000. Ahem.

Other companies are going directly at the graphic designer’s jugular. Take this IBM concept with a slide-out panel and built in drawing pad.  It’s as if it’s saying “shove your Adobe Whatever tools over here!”  This also seems one of the least bulky ideas we’ve seen that, for the most part, is still a normal laptop.  Not to shabby, but it’s almost like they didn’t try that hard.  I mean dude, that’s not a real dual screen.  It’s like 1.2 screen.

Some dual-screen concepts are just silly, like this sea monster below. Flap. Flap. Flap.

IN MORBID BITTERNESS AND NAY

I’ve rounded up the median prices of these things and it looks grim: Raise your hand if you’ve got $4500 to spend on a dual-screen notebook that mostly performs the same as those at 1/3 of the price!  Oh, and you can kiss your battery life goodbye as well, as the display and video card are two of the most juice-guzzling parts of a notebook.

What, did you think these would be cheap at first?  Oh heck no, you’re going to pay up the yang for the sexiness!  These are luxury devices for the high powered executive or graphic professional who is probably already carrying a heavy notebook, especially if you need HD power on each screen.  They’ll get cheaper eventually, but geez.

I’ve talked about the dual-screen gaming notebook thing quite a bit, and a number of us agree that it has very cool potential.  The reality, however is that there aren’t a ton of games that I can run dual-screen without substituting my video card for a horse to sustain decent frame rates, nor are most casual games designed for it.  Nevertheless, the Nintendo DS has proven dual-screen games can be better than their single-screen counterparts, so maybe hardware just needs to enable this.  It could be cool, but they’re not going to be there when I bring it home.  Le sigh.

Now, here’s an unpleasant question nobody’s asking: What happens if one screen gets damaged?  It happens, and the likelihood that it will happen is doubled with these.  Does that mean the notebook has twice as many owner liabilities?  A bit paranoid of me to say, but it’s a real concern as the lid and folding mechanisms may contain twice as many hinges or moving parts as normal notebooks like this $4,000 dual 15.4” G400 concept by G-Screen.  If your older car is a convertible or has a sunroof you know what’s up.

So there are a few more cons than pros, and none which can’t be remedied with a docking station and multiple external monitor-rigs if you need this today for half the price on your desk.   I’ve a feeling that the dual-screen notebook is kind of like the flying car … it’s great on paper and we all want one, but the sticker price and real-world logistics have made me think twice.  If it’s cheap, however, the allure is perhaps too irresistible and logic goes out the window and one of these will be my laptop in a few years like that double-fudge chocolate thing you shouldn’t have eaten last week but did and will again.

Now, if we’re talking two-faced turtles: they’re definitely awesome, no debate. But seriously, I’m curious how the WePC community feels about these eminent next-generation dual-screen computers.  Let’s say they’re cheap and hey, I just gave you one for free for taking the time to read my silly article (thank you).  

What benefits might you expect to get if I bought you a dual-screen notebook?