Only a concept but
I bet it weighs a fncking ton
Tablets out of the way, we now come to Acer's other big launch: a 14in laptop with a virtual keyboard. Yes, the Iconia - as the new machine is dubbed - sports a second LCD where the keyboard usually goes, giving the laptop the look of a scaled up Nintendo DS or Microsoft's ill-fated Courier two-screen tablet. Acer Iconia …
And besides, this is getting closer to the form-factor I've always desired: a two-screen tablet that you can use like a book. Preferably with some future version of e-paper. Holding an open book is much more comfortable than holding a large lumpen tablet of a similar weight and dimension.
But to reiterate my original point: Because they can!
Why are so many laptops and LCDs coming out with those horrid, glossy screens ?
We've known since the 1980s that glossy screens are bad bad bad for the user, indeed it was a very specific health and safety rule that screens should always be non-reflecting. When you sit in front of a screen, you want to see the document you are working on, not the rest of your office or, worse still, the street outside. Your eyes and brain must both do significant extra work to distinguish your document from those unnecessary reflections.
Surely, its time it was made a legal requirement for the brochures of products with such horrendous design defects to contain a serious health warning or, better still, be prohibited altogether.
800v line screens are rare in the 14" market space ,900v more still. i've seen maybe 1 1050 14" screen, those are even rare in 15 and 17" sizes. 1200v screens are reserved only for pro systems, typically in 17". most 22" monitors don;t cross 1080p anymore (mine do, and I do think 1200 should be standard in 22" and larger, 1440 at 27" and 1600 in anything larger).
asking for dual 1200dpi, in 14", i don't know if those screens even exist. that's a higher pixel density than Apple's new screens in the Air...
As for the design, I'd sooner see an integrated optimums keyboard with real physical buttons than this. When i need dual screens, i still need a keyboard too, so making a machine this way is self defeating. i like the idea of dynamic keyboard layouts, but this is too much of a sacrifice.
I'd be on the phone to Acer trying to pre-order one.
I've wanted an adaptive keyboard for years - one that refactors itself to the task. With one of these and a Linux install, I could probably make one. I'm also a multi-monitor man - single-monitor setups feel claustrophobic to me these days.
And besides, it is fecking sexy.
But I can see the advantages of having a completely sealed keyboard. If this thing is ruggedizable, there may be a niche for these things.
Myself, I can't see a keyboard lacking any 'feel' whatsoever ever replacing a proper keyboard.
But, if someone _gave_ me one of these, I'd give it a go.
Ditto with the iPad.
With two shiny screens this unit is as good as a make-up desk.
Which OS are they contemplating using? Two LCD screens could spell trouble - buying an extended warranty is a must.
Of course, if they build this they will have something not even Jobs has in his toy box.
I guess that there is life in the dual screen concept but I think that it would be optimised if the keyboard screen was an epaper/eink type display, to improve battery life (keyboards dont need to be colour) however it would still need to be multitouch and ideally with a bit of a rubberised feel so that typing on it is more comfortable, whats more if the hinge were to allow this to fold over itself (360 degree) and clip together using the eink display as an ebook type scren for reading would use next to no power, and be a perfect low power device for books, reports or news websites etc.