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Twin-Screen Vista Laptops

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wed Oct 04, 2006 10:55 AM
from the even-i-think-that-is-kinda-stupid dept.
Portables Displays Hardware
An anonymous reader writes ""Asus has shown off a prototype of the first dual-screen laptop, the W5Fe. These laptops, bearing the Intel codename 'Newport' have a standard screen on the inside plus a smaller, additional colour display on the outside of the lid. The second display is capable of showing video, flight departure information, movie show times, alerts, games, movies, images and MP3s, all while the laptop is switched off. According to CNET, the battery requirement for such a screen is minimal — with standard laptop batteries providing hundreds of hours of use."
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  • All this while switched off? (Score:5, Informative)

    by Yvan256 (722131) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @10:57AM (#16306715) Homepage Journal
    The second display is capable of showing video, flight departure information, movie show times, alerts, games, movies, images and MP3s, all while the laptop is switched off.
    Unless that second display is driven by a second motherboard, I don't see how it can do all that while the laptop is "switched off".

    Unless the author thinks that "closed lid = computer is turned off".
    • A second motherboard is not necessary. But some kind of logic board is if you want the information on the second screen to be dynamic. A static display doesn't need any processing ability.

      I'm a little concerned with the hundreds of hours of display time. The display is one of the leading power suckers in laptops (the cpu is ususally the prime culprit). Unless it's a reflective lcd display (think calculator type where there is no backlight) it should drain the batter in a few hours.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward
        Why a few hours? You can get around 8 hours of time out of a Nintendo DS with it's dual screens while playing games. I would imagine that a laptop battery is considerably more powerful than the DS battery.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by The MAZZTer (911996)

          A DS is specialized for playing games in a handheld form. As such it was designed to draw as little power as possible so the battery life could be prolonged.

          On the other hand, you have laptops with USB ports, hard disks, GBs of memory, large screens (these are the real power drainers I hear), disc drives, etc etc etc all which need power. And being PC compatible they can't really be too optimized to perform specific functions because they are general-purpose PCs. And when selecting a battery (plus the

    • Re:All this while switched off? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by CaymanIslandCarpedie (868408) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:06AM (#16306887) Journal
      Unless that second display is driven by a second motherboard

      If I remember correctly when these were first discussed years ago, that is in fact exactly the case. If memory serves its almost like an onboard PDA included with the laptop. When the laptop is on data is synched between the harddrive and the "pda" boards solidstate memory. I think there are some shared components like networking, etc but for the most part the PC is completely off and the "PDA" type functionalty runs almost completely seperately. Its been awhile so I could be remembering this incorrectly, but thats the basics of what I recall.
    • Unless that second display is driven by a second motherboard, I don't see how it can do all that while the laptop is "switched off".

      Unless the author thinks that "closed lid = computer is turned off".

      Way to go brainiac. But it does in fact have a (very little) second board that is powered independently indeed.

        • Re:All this while switched off? (Score:5, Funny)

          by suv4x4 (956391) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @12:09PM (#16307983)
          But that's my point. If there's a second motherboard (no matter the size) and a 2nd battery for it, it's still part of "the laptop". If the laptop is off, it means all its components should be off.

          Oh sorry I didn't know you're after a bitchfest, I would've brought my heavy dictionary so we can be pedantic together on what "turned off laptop" means.

  • Please god make sure its (Score:5, Funny)

    by LiquidCoooled (634315) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @10:58AM (#16306723) Homepage Journal
    Not using Sony batteries.
    Hundreds of hours of smoking hot performance.

  • Abuse (Score:5, Funny)

    by Daemonstar (84116) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @10:59AM (#16306743)
    Great, now when you go to a website, it will infect the laptop so that it shows ads or porn on the screen. :P
    • Great, now when you go to a website, it will infect the laptop so that it shows ads or porn on the screen. :P

      You call it abuse, I call it service!

  • Better Eat Your Wheaties! (Score:5, Insightful)

    by garcia (6573) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @10:59AM (#16306747) Homepage
    And the best part: it can run for "hundreds of hours without draining your notebook battery," according to the PortalPlayer site.

    I'd like to see some real world numbers for this. Watching video and using wifi (to access the flight schedule information) would certainly drain the battery a bit faster than "100s of hours" before delving into your notebook battery.

    Mmmm, marketingspeak.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by gEvil (beta) (945888)
      I believe they're saying that the small screen uses the notebook battery, but that the notebook battery is such a ridiculously overpowered power source for such a tiny device/screen that you can use it for hundreds of hours without making much of a dent to the battery's overall charge.
  • Sure, the battery use is minimal to display info to the screen. But how am I going to get my flight departure time, weather, movie times, news, whatever-else-it-wants-to-show-me? Magic? I'd imagine it would need some processing and networking. Probably wireless networking, which likes to eat battery life. Does it need to turn on the processor, too? Does it have a separate processor for computing this information?

  • Showing what now? (Score:5, Funny)

    by Monokeros (200892) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @10:59AM (#16306759)
    The second display is capable of showing MP3s? That's handy.
    I like watching audio; cuts down on noise pollution.
  • I envisioned dual screens, where both screens are full-sized. This is hardly a new concept, having a smaller screen on the lid. A lot of flip phones sport "dual" screens. The extra screen also seems add a significant amount of thickness to the laptop. It would be nice to have a laptop with two full screens though...

    • Re:Technically dual screen. (Score:5, Funny)

      by truthsearch (249536) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:04AM (#16306853) Homepage Journal
      Yeah, then two people could play a game of Battleship with only one laptop!
    • My (somewhat) old Dell Inspiron 700m has the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 chipset (82852/82855) which has two display adapters (second one is connected to the external monitor port) so I have it hooked up to a second monitor which gives me twice the pixels... very nice.

      This does require that the computer be turned on and using power... I'm not sure how Asus manages to run the second screen without using power.

    • I also originally thought and had my hopes dashed that it would be a laptop with a second screen that folds out. At work we have LCDs attached to very desk that you plug into, and I also have an additional LCD at home. However, at a customer's site it's always painful to be stuck on the single laptop screen and having to keep flipping between windows. Come on, I know some laptop maker can get it right and lead the market into offering dual displays which will takeoff when people use them.
      • I don't want notebooks to get any larger than they are, thanks. And two full screens will suck up an enormous amount of battery life, too. I'd rather have longer battery life and a more portable device than a dual-17" (or 20" (single) as Dell is making now) monster of a notebook.
        • Dual 15" displays where the screens would fold out of the notebook should be able to keep the same overall size, but make it thicker because of the additional screen. And nobody says you need to get one, when dual screen notebooks come out I'd be very surprised that they would stop making single display notebooks. So for each their own.
      • Just install SUSE or Mandriva with the new 3D Desktop. Put your windows on separate desktops. This way, you still have to switch between windows, but the 3D desktop makes it more fun.
        • That would end up being even less efficient. Sure you get the cool looking eye candy, but I know it will get old the hundreth time you need to switch apps. I'm sure the flipping of the 3d cube takes longer than the a different window just being drawn on the screen.

  • Comments you'll get (Score:3, Funny)

    by wonkavader (605434) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:09AM (#16306949)
    "We can't wait for this to hit the streets (probably some time after Vista's release) -- not necessarily because we want to use any of the functions, we're just complete posers. Imagine the looks you'd get on the train! -RR"

    Comments like: "That's the biggest damn PDA I've ever seen." or "Shit, guy, you should buy a video Ipod."

  • We need dual screens on the inside. (Score:5, Interesting)

    by VidEdit (703021) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:12AM (#16306983)
    The second, cell-phone-style screen on the outside is cute, but what would be really useful would be one or two additional laptop screens that would swing out like a two fold restaurant menu. While a triptych screen laptop might be a little heavier and need strong hinges, it would be great for video editing and such...

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by DarthTaco (687646)

      The second, cell-phone-style screen on the outside is cute, but what would be really useful would be one or two additional laptop screens that would swing out like a two fold restaurant menu. While a triptych screen laptop might be a little heavier and need strong hinges, it would be great for video editing and such...

      I think a good head mounted display would be the better option. They aren't there yet, but I expect they will be before long. Something like the glastron with higher resolution and some mini

    • but what would be really useful^H^H^H^H^H^H heavy and short on battery life

      There, fixed that for you.

  • this is not new... (Score:5, Informative)

    by chasingporsches (659844) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:12AM (#16306985)
    this is just an implementation of the windows sideshow technology shown atleast over a year ago by microsoft. more info here: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvista/features/for everyone/sideshow.mspx [microsoft.com]
    • I've heard it comes complete with a suite called Sideshow Bob.
    • So I can buy one of these new laptops with dual screens from MS too? Or were they just showing off the possiblity? This is the first real product I've heard of that actually implements the technology that MS provides.
  • Obviously they aren't exactly "off" when the second display is being used - they are in some kind of special lower power mode. However, I think this is a cool idea. I have definiately heard of it before this (possibly it was mentioned at WinHec?), although I haven't seen one before.

    Too bad I can't get an OS X laptop with this feature.

  • Pimp my Laptop (Score:5, Funny)

    by iSwitched (609716) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:14AM (#16307043)
    Yo dog, we took your boring laptop and added a 7" monitor!

  • Dual-screen? (Score:3, Insightful)

    by ThinkWeak (958195) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:16AM (#16307077)
    When I talk about dual-screens, I typically refer to the ability to utilize two screens at the same time to accomplish tasks. Having a screen on top of my laptop would just one more thing to replace when someone slams their overpacked suitcase up against my laptop case in the overhead.

    Now show me a laptop that folds open to have two 19" screens side-by-side and you have yourself a deal.

    • Re:Dual-screen? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Kesch (943326) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:47AM (#16307581)
      Au contraire, I consider myself to be accomplishing two tasks when I read Slashdot on the main screen and subject everyone else to goatse on the mini screen.
  • I wouldn't mind having a decent interface to my mp3player that's easy to use while the laptop is closed.

    Also being able to scan for wifi coverage without walking around with the laptop open like an idiot would be a nice change.

    Overall, seems like a good idea.
  • Now my boss will expect twice the amount of work from me.

  • Yes, they are off (Score:4, Informative)

    by hacksoncode (239847) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:23AM (#16307173)
    Wow, I shouldn't be surprised to see Slashdot blithering on about something it knows nothing about, but every time I see it I still am... almost makes me think I might be an optimist.

    Try reading the fine manual on Sideshow.

    Anyway, yes, the laptop is off when this thing is running (at least in the most classic implementation). They have their own ARM9 processor and memory. They work a bit like a PDA stuck to your laptop that syncs with the laptop when it's on and then can show information when it's off.

  • Wouldn't a tablet be doing it now?

  • Wrong (Score:5, Informative)

    by suv4x4 (956391) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @11:36AM (#16307387)
    This is not a "twin screen" laptop your title-inventing fact-bending fact-manglers!

    This is an "aux" display which is part of the native Vista featureset, and FAR from being the first laptop manifactures with this facility.

    There you go [pcworld.com]

    And those that said it can't work with your laptop off: that's the whole point. Or you think I'm gonna spin my laptop all the time to see both displays?

    Yes, the aux display has standalone electronics, it wastes very little power, and it can sync with Vista and work with the laptop off. Only when you need to access the HDD (like, listen to mp3-s) the laptop powers up when you use the aux display.

    What kinda geeks are you, waiting for my sorry ass to explain all of this to you!
  • According to the "PortalPlayer" site, this is, in effect, a PDA built into the lid of a laptop.

    - It is a seperate QVGA display, but relies on a system-on-a-chip and custom board to drive it. It derives power presumably from the laptop battery, but more than likely at lower draw.
    - It is updated with new information when the laptop's main OS is on (ActiveSync, anyone?).
    - It runs XML-based "gadgets" -- my guess is something like Confabulator widgets -- that perform certain functions.

    My question is, why on eart
  • I'm sure I saw a laptop where someone had glued an iPaq to the outside with a usb cable to their laptop. that thing was horrendously bulky!

    a bit of JFGI and I found it:

    makezine article [makezine.com]

  • From around 1983:

    http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c =499 [old-computers.com]

    (small 2nd screen above the keyboard, in case it isn't obvious)

    I always thought that it was a daft idea then...

  • Just stupid (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Sylver Dragon (445237) on Wednesday October 04 2006, @02:24PM (#16310143) Journal
    Am I the only person that hates the little screens put on the outside of the shells of flip cell phones?
    The reason I buy a flip phone is because I want to protect the screen when it is in my pocket. Now, insted of a nice protective plastic cover, I have another LCD screen which can get broken. Now they want to do this to my laptop? No! The last thing my laptop needs is a screen that will get destroyed the firt time I accidentally hit a table with my laptop bag.
    The clamshell top has a purpose, to protect the screen, it is not just wasted space which could use another fragile part.
    • ..I thought it was some dual same size screen that cleverly folded out of the case. Now that would be spiffy!
      I was thinking along the same lines like it was going to be a huge Nintendo DS.

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