back to article PCs get touchy ahead of Windows 8 launch

PC manufacturers have been busy unveiling their touchscreen laptops at IFA this week in hot anticipation of Microsoft's Windows 8 release. While several firms have opted for Windows 8 tablets which convert into laptops using peripherals - many of which we talked up yesterday - Acer, Lenovo and Toshiba continued the touchy …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Touching the screen invokes the same muscle spasms in me as putting my hand into an ant hill

    Don't want to do it

    Proudly not touching screens since 1982

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      My boss needs one of these

      I don't think it will stay any cleaner, but at least if its a touchscreen, he'll have a reason to be leaving smudges on the screen.

      anonymous because I really need to remain employed.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      I hate finger marks on my screen

      Now, not only will I have to invest in screen wipes, but they will have to be anti-bacterial.

      It's bad enough finding all sorts of nasties lurking on a keyboard, but what it that nose picker, the one who never washes his hands after going to the toilet, the sneezer, food debris fingers, the cougher etc touches my screen.

      Not to mention the RSI I will get having to lean awkwardly over my laptop.

      Yuck

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Lap top insurance

      Prodding touch screen causes rise in claims as laptops fall off knees.

  2. Andrew Baines Silver badge
    Thumb Down

    Prosthetic arms please

    From my chair, I can't reach the screen. Need longer arms.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Go

      Re: Prosthetic arms please

      Capacitive fing-longer.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Prosthetic arms please

      Even harder to achieve from my sofa.

      What does all this touch screen stuff do for RSI / Silly desktop environment stuff?

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Err?

      You can't reach the screen of a laptop from your chair? Really?

      1. Andy ORourke
        Happy

        Re: Err?

        Really, it's sat in a docking station next to my External monitor, right behind my keyboard & mouse

  3. Dick Emery
    Thumb Down

    Greasy fingers

    Yes I really want finger smudges all over my display whilst working in Photoshoop. Don't let the kids near it!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Greasy fingers

      You plan on using Photoshop on a 15" laptop? Urgh.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good for the visually impaired

    Actually, touchscreen laptops for the masses aren't that useful, but for people with visual impairment they are useful since at the moment they struggle to locate the mouse pointer and so being able to simply touch the screen is useful.

    A friend was telling me about how he used one for a while, but got screwed by HP who wouldn't repair it then it became victim to the NVidia GPU packaging problem (the same thing happened to my Macbook Pro and I got a free repair).

  5. mikeyboosh

    Vertical screens gives you a gorilla arm.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Touchscreen#.22Gorilla_arm.22

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Gorilla Arm

      Correction: prolonged use of vertical screens gives you gorilla arm. Touchscreen use on a Windows 8 laptop should be brief and sporadic, e.g. changing tabs, switching applications, minimising windows, etc. whilst using the keyboard the majority of the time, so gorilla arm shouldn't be an issue. In addition to that a laptop screen (which is where touch is going to be most useful, I doubt anyone will bother on a desktop with a mouse) isn't a vertical screen, it's probably at more like a 70 degree angle, as well as being positioned lower than your shoulder joint.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh dear.

    If you all have such difficulties with touching a laptop screen in front of you, then you have bigger problems to worry about I imagine. Like obesity, diabetes, getting through the doorway of your house, breathing, meeting girls, etc.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh dear.

      No, after a short period of time it would be uncomfortable and the majority of people would get aches in their arms and shoulders.

      Much as I'm not a fan of Apple, I remember them coming out and saying this quite a while ago, having explored the idea.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh dear.

        No, it wouldn't. If you were using an onscreen keyboard then yes, but as an alternative to mouse actions, no it obviously wouldn't be uncomfortable at all.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Oh dear.

        That would be a short period of constant use, like the 80s lilghtpen/CAD systems, where your interface was a vertical monitor. This would only require occasional touching with the rest of the work done with trackpad/mouse.

    2. h4rm0ny

      Re: Oh dear.

      Wont somebody please think of the T-Rexes!

      (I don't mind reaching for the screen on a laptop, but I wont be buying anything where the screen isn't detachable as if it's going to be touchscreen, I want to get my money's worth).

  7. Miek
    Linux

    I note that none of the screens pictured were covered in greasy fingerprints, odd that.

  8. b166er

    The screen wipe industry, otherwise known in this house, as the 'save 66% by buying spectacle lens cleaners'

    Will there be a boon in after market multi-touch capacitive overlays? I have a nice LED monitor and would like to take advantage of the touch interface without buying a new monitor.

  9. 0laf
    Stop

    Dear Microsoft etc

    Sorry I can't use your new fangled touch screens and Win8.

    My Mum told me not to sit near the screen since it knackers my peepers.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Dear Microsoft etc

      They are laptops, on my current laptop the top row of keys are about three centimeters from the screen, how do you propose to sit sufficiently far from a laptop screen that you can't touch it, while also sitting close enough to it that you can use the keyboard?

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Hmm

    I'm looking forward to the looks on everyone's faces when it crashes all the time!

    1. StrictlySocial

      Re: Hmm

      Looks like Marty found some fuel for the DeLorean. Welcome to the future, Marty. In our world, Windows is stable.

      1. M Gale

        Re: Hmm

        After watching a misbehaving Firefox tab bring the whole UI to a juddering halt that wouldn't even respond to a ctrl+alt+del until 10 minutes later, I have to wonder how far in the future you hail from?

  11. Patrick R
    Facepalm

    How long till they "invent" a touch thingy that can be put on the desk, without need to lift your arm. They could name it something like "touch pad" or "track pad". It could even be cheaper to manufacture. Wait for Windows9.

  12. 404
    Facepalm

    Trials and Tribulations

    Yes, I've had a few 'well that was stupid' moments switching between my tablet, laptop, and desktop - touching the screens, nothing happening, and wondering wtf was wrong with the machines before facepalm. Still, even if it were the case that everything had touchscreens, it would be a PIA. Enough precision to navigate, not enough to be fiddly with graphics and other sillyassed stuff I deal with quite a bit. (or how about those damn sites where links are so close together, you can't finger the link you want? First World Issue definitely)

    I have inadvertently found a solution for me though - found an HP 8440p Elitebook on craigslist for $300 the other day, has a multi-touch trackpad for pinch-to-zoom etc . EUREKA! Why don't all manufacturers do this? Seems to me to be an elegant solution for an industry that seems lost between Apple and a hard place.

    1. El Andy
      WTF?

      Re: Trials and Tribulations

      Still, even if it were the case that everything had touchscreens, it would be a PIA. Enough precision to navigate, not enough to be fiddly with graphics and other sillyassed stuff I deal with quite a bit.

      I'm not sure why everyone seems to struggle with this concept so much: YOU AREN'T FORCED TO USE TOUCH.

      It's like suggesting you can't use your keyboard on XP because you have a mouse plugged in. All the various forms of input are complementary, you can use whichever is most appropriate at the time. And, believe it or not, sometimes having touch (even on a Windows 7 laptop/desktop) is more convenient than having to do everything through a keyboard/mouse interface.

  13. Gary 24
    Trollface

    Why not?

    Just use gesture based touchpads???

    1. El Andy

      Re: Why not?

      Just use gesture based touchpads???

      There are massive positive feedback benefits from using a direct-touch interface as opposed to doing it indirectly via gestures on a touchpad. Not to mention that it enables you to do things like "click" directly on a button, rather than having to guide a pointer in place first. Note that Windows 8 also supports multi touch gestures on a touchpad too, so if that's what you prefer...

  14. M Gale

    Starts at £750.

    Is that all?

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like