Are Two Screens Better Than One?

By Robin Raskin | Monday, December 13, 2010 at 2:37 pm

Last Gadget Standing Nominee: Acer Iconia

Price: TBD

When I first saw this, I thought I was looking at the world’s biggest Nintendo DS. But Acer’s Iconia a true original.

It’s a notebook computer, based on the Intel Core i5 processor. It has two LCD screens–one on the bottom and one on the top, offering you a ton of options for usage.

At the launch Acer said the Iconia offers the “versatility of a conventional 14” form factor with a unique dual-screen layout and highly intuitive all-point multi-touch functionality, which means you can use all the fingers of your hands.” You can browse the web or watch a video on the top screen while you’re composing a document or creating a spreadsheet on the bottom screen, for example. Or just browse the Web across two screens by laying the notebook flat. Reading a large Web page is a total treat.

The coolest part of the touch experience is that there’s ten-finger multitouch. To switch between apps, for example, you just lay five fingers on the screen and the Acer navigation ring appears. Place both palms on the screen and a virtual keyboard appears. A built in gesture editor lets you decide how you want to use the multitouch most effectively.

It remains to be seen how users will take to a two screen notebook, but it’s one of the most innovative designs I’ve seen in a long time. Prices will vary with features (including HDMI, 3G and Dolby sound) but Acer did not offer a suggested price at the time of launch.

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Are Two Screens Better Than One?

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