The Wide (and Weird) World of Two-Screen Laptops
By Harry McCracken | Friday, December 19, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Lenovo’s upcoming ThinkPad W700 mobile workstations are loaded with high-end features, including Intel Core 2 Quad CPUs and Nvidia Quadro Express graphics, RAID storage, and built-in Wacom pen tablets. But one feature is as close to being genuinely jaw-dropping as anything I’ve seen on a laptop in a long time: an optional secondary 10.6-inch LCD display that sits to the side of the main 17-inch screen. (There it is on the left–I’m not entirely clear on where the secondary screen goes when not in use–whether it slides, folds, or detaches.)
My first take on the second screen was that it was wretched, pricey excess. But the W700 is aimed at CAD users and other types who want all the power they can get their hands on, and all the screen real estate, too. Portability is not top-of-mind for these folks, and I’ll bet that a meaningful minority of the people who buy the W700 spring for the second screen.
The W700ds (hey, wonder what the “ds” stands for?) will start at around $3600 and will ship in January.
Over at Computerworld, Eric Lai has a good piece on the W700 that says it’s apparently the first two-screen laptop. Not true, though it might be the first one that’s not an eccentric flop. Back in 2003 at PC World, we got in a Xentex Flip-Pad Voyager, a truly bizarre product that sported two screens, each of which could flip around independently–and it also had a keyboard that folded in half. I’m not positive if the Xentex ever actually shipped, but one surfaced on eBay earlier this year. (I stole the picture below from PCMag.com.)
Then there was the Estari dual-screen tablet PC.
The Estari reminds me of OLPC’s prototype for a second-generation XO laptop for kids in developing nations:
As far as I know, neither the Xentex nor the Estari are still out there. And the XO-2 isn’t due until 2010. Lenovo’s dualie workstation should have one market for itself: dual-screen notebooks that aren’t too bizarre, and which are meant for use by adults.
Oh, and the ThinkPad two-screener reminds me of two notable whacko-but-useful ThinkPads from the 1990s, the 701 (with its fold-out “butterfly” keyboard) and the 755CV (whose screen could be plopped on an overhead projector to project presentations):
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December 20th, 2008 at 5:37 am
The secondary screen slides into a slot in the primary. Don’t look for this to become a trend–it’s too big, too ugly, too heavy, and too expensive. The W700 is designed as a very low-volume specialty item for a specific need, folks who need a portable, or at least schleppable, engineering workstation.
December 20th, 2008 at 7:10 am
“I’m not entirely clear on where the secondary screen goes when not in use–whether it slides, folds, or detaches.”
So you’re reviewing something that you haven’t examined. A journalist and a moron, but I repeat myself.
December 20th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Hey, Heuristic, if you’re still there–where did I say I was reviewing the ThinkPad? Where did I express an opinion about it other than that it sounded possibly useful and that some workstation users will likely buy it?
–Harry
December 20th, 2008 at 8:56 am
Yes it would be good to gave some additional pictures of the thinkpad. I would like to see how this looks. Why not add some balance with a third screen on the left. Would be great for development. That Estari looks really interesting also.
Lighten up heuristic.
December 20th, 2008 at 9:48 am
>>>ThinkPads from the 1990s, the 701 (with its fold-out “butterfly” keyboard)
Ha. When that came out, one unit was in CompUSA with an IBM rep. She really *hated* that I wanted to try the keyboard at all.
Fitting that both that unit *and* CompUSA are today both FAIL!
December 20th, 2008 at 10:08 am
I had a 701 and it work great for a few years. I think I passed it on to someone at School. It was a great piece of kit except for the DSDN screen.
December 20th, 2008 at 5:16 pm
Great post Harry. I love what you’ve done with Technologizer. I think it would be neat if the screen folded in and was totally portable. I think it would be rather stupid if it had to detach.
Keep up the great blogging
December 20th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Laptops with smart design
December 21st, 2008 at 7:13 am
When flexible, paper-thin screens become a reality – expect this to take off again 🙂
December 21st, 2008 at 10:24 am
I guess the extra screen could be nice. But, really can you do much with a screen that small?
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:07 am
I work in an engineering office and about 75% of people here use dual screens. And maybe one in ten use their laptops (HPs & ThinkPads) with a separate monitor in a dual screen arrangement, using the main screen for viewing/editting and the laptop screen for CAD or GIS toolbars. This sounds like a pretty decent portable version of that setup, I can definitely see the market.
December 22nd, 2008 at 11:58 am
I like the laptop with the bottom touchscreen. Make it like that phone that the touchscreen presses down when you touch it. People will prefer that with the real “clicking” keyboard than one that is just a screen. It feels way more natural to type on.
Instead of having a CD drive, simply make the touchscreen able to read CDs’ groves by just placing it on the screen, it reads it and then you can take the CD right off.
April 7th, 2010 at 3:48 am
Ждем новых публикаций!
June 28th, 2011 at 5:37 am
Thanks for sharing! I don't think a "2 screen" laptop will take off. We are currently seeing a desire for smaller screen and tablets. This just seems to be a waste.
Orlando Audio Visual
August 4th, 2011 at 1:12 am
It is cool Laptop. i need it.
September 12th, 2011 at 6:09 am
We are currently seeing a desire for smaller screen and tablets. This just seems to be a waste.
Orlando Audio Visual
November 30th, 2011 at 1:09 am
I am fairly sure that Apple develops the actual App with input from Google but they don't have the control to add features like that.Bedriftsguiden