ASUS' Dual Panel Touchscreen PC at CeBIT

discourse · 03-03-2009, 06:22 AM

From Engadget

Quote:

It may be snoozin' time on the East Coast of America, but things are already getting heated in Hannover. Live from the CeBIT floor, we present to you ASUS' Dual Panel touchscreen PC. The show models were still very much conceptual, with the hinges showing signs of imperfections and the interface not quite ready to be touched by onlookers. We did spot that the units on hand were humming along on Windows 7, though. The on-screen keyboard looked great from where we stood, but it's tough to say how hard it would be to get used to banging out dissertations on a flat panel. At any rate, feel free to browse the gallery below -- and stick around, we'll be bringing you lots, lots more where this came from.

Jellby · 03-03-2009, 06:38 AM

It's more a Don't Touchscreen

Phogg · 03-03-2009, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by discourse

From Engadget

This is something I have wanted for a long time.
Only make it netbook sized.

discourse · 03-03-2009, 12:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jellby

It's more a Don't Touchscreen

I'm hoping it has the same kind of sunlight-readable monochrome mode screen you would find on an XO laptop. It kind of also looks like the XO2 concept.

Ziguezon · 03-03-2009, 01:09 PM

While we're on the topic of netbooks with decent ebook reading potential, this one also caught my eye today:

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

The keyboard is detachable, leaving you with a Linux based touchscreen tablet. I find the specs and the pricing to be very interesting. Not sure how I feel about the measly 8GB of storage, however.

GntlmnBndt · 03-03-2009, 01:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziguezon

Not sure how I feel about the measly 8GB of storage, however.

It is just a MicroSD card, and I am pretty sure 16GB cards have been announced even without stepping up to MicroSDHC. I wonder if it supports MicroSDHC?

The Bandit

Ziguezon · 03-03-2009, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GntlmnBndt

It is just a MicroSD card, and I am pretty sure 16GB cards have been announced even without stepping up to MicroSDHC. I wonder if it supports MicroSDHC?

Don't know. If it were only an ebook reader then it wouldn't be too much of a problem, but as a netbook, 8 or 16GB wouldn't really cut it. I would probably just carry around a few USB pendrives with me for extra storage.

Here is some further information from laptopmag in which they mention how maxing out at 32GB would still pale in comparison to the 160GB of storage offered by other netbooks:

http://blog.laptopmag.com/always-inn...ind-of-netbook

Regardless, it still remains a very interesting gadget in my opinion.

F.F. · 03-03-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziguezon

While we're on the topic of netbooks with decent ebook reading potential, this one also caught my eye today:

http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/

The keyboard is detachable, leaving you with a Linux based touchscreen tablet. I find the specs and the pricing to be very interesting. Not sure how I feel about the measly 8GB of storage, however.

I dont know, but that seemed too fragile to me... I wonder if the screen can drop if its carelessly handled...

Ziguezon · 03-03-2009, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by F.F.

I dont know, but that seemed too fragile to me... I wonder if the screen can drop if its carelessly handled...

Possible. But the beauty of this device is that at only $299, it wouldn't be the world's greatest tragedy. I do hope it's built securely enough to prevent something like that from happening, though.

By the way, my apologies for getting away from the original subject of this thread.

Ziguezon · 03-03-2009, 02:57 PM

Here is a shot of the Touch Book user interface (not too shabby):

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10185351-1.html

Now getting back to the original thread subject: It would be very interesting if the Asus dual panel or the XO2 could be used with a regular usb or bluetooth keyboard, with both panels forming a single display. It would need to be propped up on a stand, which would be a little inconvenient, but I think I could live with that.

Ankh · 03-03-2009, 08:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ziguezon

But the beauty of this device is that at only $299, it wouldn't be the world's greatest tragedy.

Check the pre-order page, $299 is for the tablet (screen, upper part of the combo) only. $399 for keyboard+tablet. The catch is that "keyboard" portion holds the second battery which extends time between recharges from 2-3 hours (tablet only) to 10-15 hours (for the combo). Essential feature.

The combo weighs a lot, but the device is functional netbook. Lots of pixels on that screen, and open source, too... Darn, no pre-order for us poor Canadians.

Ziguezon · 03-03-2009, 09:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ankh

Check the pre-order page, $299 is for the tablet (screen, upper part of the combo) only. $399 for keyboard+tablet. The catch is that "keyboard" portion holds the second battery which extends time between recharges from 2-3 hours (tablet only) to 10-15 hours (for the combo). Essential feature.

The combo weighs a lot, but the device is functional netbook. Lots of pixels on that screen, and open source, too... Darn, no pre-order for us poor Canadians.

I would definitely get the combo. But if the tablet portion were to break it would only cost $299 to replace, since I'd already have the keyboard. I would of course be very careful and not handle it in such a way that the screen might pop off.

I hope it will be available in Canada in the near future, and if so, that they don't pull one of those "not available in Quebec" stunts. Those are no fun.

Ankh · 03-03-2009, 09:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GntlmnBndt

It is just a MicroSD card, and I am pretty sure 16GB cards have been announced even without stepping up to MicroSDHC. I wonder if it supports MicroSDHC?

It is highly likely that it does. The hardware is open, and it is a modification of Beagle board. Based on the posts in beagleboard forums, beagleboard happily boots of the SDHC cards (provided that the feature is chosen and compiled in the linux kernel).

S.Canton · 03-03-2009, 10:32 PM

Looks like an interesting little piece of hardware. I'll be interested to see where they end up going with it.

fugazied · 03-03-2009, 10:39 PM

I can't wait until these devices make it into the consumer market on a large scale.

Hopefully Amazon is watching and Kindle V4 or V5 is more like a book format, touchscreen and color.

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03-03-2009, 06:38 AM	#2
Jellby frumious Bandersnatch Posts: 7,543 Karma: 19001583 Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Spaniard in Sweden Device: Cybook Orizon, Kobo Aura	It's more a Don't Touchscreen

03-03-2009, 01:09 PM	#5
Ziguezon Ogg Vorbis Posts: 145 Karma: 292661 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	While we're on the topic of netbooks with decent ebook reading potential, this one also caught my eye today: http://www.alwaysinnovating.com/touchbook/ The keyboard is detachable, leaving you with a Linux based touchscreen tablet. I find the specs and the pricing to be very interesting. Not sure how I feel about the measly 8GB of storage, however.

03-03-2009, 02:57 PM	#10
Ziguezon Ogg Vorbis Posts: 145 Karma: 292661 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Sony PRS-505	Here is a shot of the Touch Book user interface (not too shabby): http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-10185351-1.html Now getting back to the original thread subject: It would be very interesting if the Asus dual panel or the XO2 could be used with a regular usb or bluetooth keyboard, with both panels forming a single display. It would need to be propped up on a stand, which would be a little inconvenient, but I think I could live with that.

03-03-2009, 10:32 PM	#14
S.Canton Groupie Posts: 174 Karma: 12 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: Kindle 2	Looks like an interesting little piece of hardware. I'll be interested to see where they end up going with it.

03-03-2009, 10:39 PM	#15
fugazied Wizard Posts: 1,305 Karma: 1958 Join Date: Jan 2009 Device: iPod Touch	I can't wait until these devices make it into the consumer market on a large scale. Hopefully Amazon is watching and Kindle V4 or V5 is more like a book format, touchscreen and color.