Slashdot Log In
Asus Launches Touchscreen Eee Desktop
Posted by
kdawson
on Tue Oct 14, 2008 03:08 PM
from the smearing-the-peanut-butter-and-jelly dept.
from the smearing-the-peanut-butter-and-jelly dept.
Barence writes "Asus has launched an Eee-branded 15.6" touchscreen desktop PC as a budget rival to HP's TouchSmart. Available for pre-order now on Play.com for £399.99 ($749), it shares much of the same specification as the Eee PC, but with a larger 160GB hard disk. Interestingly, it's listed as coming with XP installed, so we'd guess Asus will be using some sort of proprietary touchscreen interface — yet the image on the site clearly shows Linux on the screen, which may be a better bet for an easy-to-use touch system."
Related Stories
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Full
Abbreviated
Hidden
Loading... please wait.
Touchscreen?? (Score:5, Funny)
It would be even worse after Marmite on toast
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
People come to my cube all the time and poke my screen to point things out. Quite annoying.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I would just slap their fingers.
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
maybe Asus should sell a Don't-Touchscreen Eee Desktop.
just design the monitor so that any direct physical contact with the LCD display area produces a mild (or not so mild) electric shock--the greasier the finger, the higher the current.
perhaps they can even license the technology which Honda has apparently built into my car door. every time i get out of the car and grab the metal frame of the door to shut it, i get a nice jolt of static electricity. it's gotten to the point where i'll only put my hand on
Re:Touchscreen?? (Score:4, Funny)
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Why are you touching your screen if you don't have a touchscreen?
The same reason people touch themselves: because s/he can.
Re:Touchscreen?? (Score:4, Funny)
"Why are you touching your screen if you don't have a touchscreen?"
I'm trying to wipe off the collateral damage from my...surfing habits.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Where's the +1 Eww moderation??
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Touchscreen?? (Score:5, Funny)
It would be even worse after Marmite on toast :-)
Incorrect.
After you've been forced to eat Marmite on toast, nothing is worse.
Parent
I was in the UK last week (Score:2)
...now I've got three jars of Marmite!
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I agree 100%. I do not see the point of a touch screen for home or business use. The screen will quickly get smudged up and look gross and nasty and require constant cleaning. Of course, I suppose you could wear gloves, but how silly would it be to have to put on The Computer Gloves every time you wanted to look at something? More chances to scratch the display as well, and don't get too excited - you may push your computer right over.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It would be even worse after Marmite on toast :-)
What the heck is Marmite? Is it some kind of industrial orange jam used to weld railroad ties together?
*googles*
Oh, it's some British soy sauce equivalent. I think I'd rather eat my version.
Re: (Score:2)
No soy I'm afraid, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marmite [wikipedia.org]
I recommend it
Re: (Score:2)
Uh, yeah, it was the wiki article that said it was comparable to soy sauce in flavor.
Except it's British, which means it's probably an even nastier thing to spread on toast than soy sauce would be.
But I kid the British and their terrible, terrible food. ;)
Hampster Ball! (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Touch Screen interface (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Touch Screen interface (Score:5, Informative)
Honest question, not flaming: Ok, so if its a proprietary touchscreen interface, why would it be so much easier on Linux then XP
I had the exact same thought. I have a convertible tablet laptop, and sorry, but the tablet support and applications under XP and Vista are much better than what I've seen for Linux. In fact, I have Linux installed on this laptop (as well as tablet/stylus support and apps) but never use it. Unless if things have changed or I've missed out on something with Linux, I don't see why things would be much different for touchscreens as well.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
X recently integrated a touch screen interface, so yes, things are a bit different. I can't say how well it works though.
Re:Touch Screen interface (Score:5, Informative)
Interestingly, it's listed as coming with XP installed, so we'd guess Asus will be using some sort of proprietary touchscreen interface
I think this statement is also pulling straws.
A) An XP interface would NOT be any harder than a freaking mouse driver.
B) TabletPC XP already has multi-touch driver interfaces, that go back to 2003 from several vendors. Yes Apple Fans, WindowsXP TabeltPC devices existed back in 2003/2004 with multi-touch, far before any iPhone or multi-touch trackpads from Apple.
Crap like this is why Apple's marketing works so well, it gets repeated no matter what the truth is.
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Interestingly, it's listed as coming with XP installed, so we'd guess Asus will be using some sort of proprietary touchscreen interface
I think this statement is also pulling straws.
A) An XP interface would NOT be any harder than a freaking mouse driver.
B) TabletPC XP already has multi-touch driver interfaces, that go back to 2003 from several vendors. Yes Apple Fans, WindowsXP TabeltPC devices existed back in 2003/2004 with multi-touch, far before any iPhone or multi-touch trackpads from Apple.
Crap like this is why Apple's marketing works so well, it gets repeated no matter what the truth is.
Thanks. I was insisting to a friend a couple months ago that another friend of mine had a multitouch Windows tablet of some sort long, long before Apple had anything of the sort. Now I can easily find the wiki pages to send to him to prove it.
Everything old... (Score:2)
So it took 8 years to get a follow-up to 3Com's Audrey. At least it is a $100 bucks cheaper this time.
Re: (Score:2)
Woops, $749, so it is $250 more.
Why would you want it? (Score:2)
Adding a touchscreen would allow you to do what exactly? I can't see it adding ease to surfing/word processing.... However, the HDD space could be useful, so kudos there...
Re: (Score:2)
Adding a touchscreen would allow you to do what exactly?
It would allow you to touch the screen to interact with your computer... kinda though that was obvious...
Kidding aside, the DS showed that at least with games, the touchscreen could be used well, just takes a little imagination. It wouldn't improve programs or current interfaces much, but that's to be expected as current interfaces were not specifically designed for touchscreen input, they were designed for a mouse. I didn't own a computer at the time, but I would guess that when the computer mouse was f
um (Score:2, Funny)
head asplode
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
This is pretty close. (Score:5, Interesting)
I'd love to have a little wall-mountable computer that could play videos, mp3s, and interact with my network.
No need for a fast cpu - i'm not going to do any work standing there; or play any games. But with a webcam and Skype or IM, it would make a great phone replacement. Maybe a photo screensaver that pulls from a network folder or flickr account.
Basically what I'm looking for is a larger (and faster) version of the Nokia n800. I'll definitely buy one when they get the size and price right.
A Better Idea (Score:2)
Release a touchscreen/tablet Eee PC laptop.
Touch Screen: Single Touch Panel (Score:2)
That means no multitouch or Tablet functionality. Handy to read ebooks perhaps and operate non-existing toy-like software.
What is desired is a TabletPC + multitouch hybrid. This one has neither and thus is a niche product using obsolete technology.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes I agree. And I've never looked but it's disappointing to read linux doesn't have great support for touch displays, well according to other posts listed here.
And I've always pictured a multitouch being able to bring up a virtual keyboard so one can type a quick email/message. I know virtual keyboards have existed for ages, but I mean a nice, maybe semi-transparent overlay keyboard that can be quickly brought up/discarded.
Does the Mac or some other windows variant have something like this?
Re: (Score:2)
Oddly enough that's kind of the trick the iPhone uses...
Touchscreen laptop (Score:2)
This is neat and keen, but what I really need for my sales force is a CHEAP touchscreen laptop.
If they did this to their current laptop model, I'd be screaming for a passle of these.
Unit Conversion (Score:5, Funny)
Parent
Re:Unit Conversion (Score:5, Funny)
Six.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
In other words, Ant P, think different.
Re: (Score:2)
Tertiary-E?
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
Tertiareee
Re:One thing I've always wondered... (Score:5, Informative)
According to Wikipedia [wikipedia.org], it's pronounced like the letter "e", but that's stupid so I just call it the Triple-E.
Parent
Re:One thing I've always wondered... (Score:4, Informative)
That's a surprisingly common mistake. its "a Triple-E" not "an Triple-E". You always alter the article (a or an) based on the sound of what you are actually saying.
a Liquid Crystal Display
an LCD ("ell-see-dee")
an AAA member (pronouncing each letter: ay-ay-ay)
a Triple "A" member
As for the eee, its pronounced as a regular long 'e',
or 'eee' is to 'eee PC' what 'i' is to 'iPod'
Parent
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
It's "it's", not "its".
Re:One thing I've always wondered... (Score:4, Insightful)
According to wikipedia [wikipedia.org]:
Since I'm not American, and Slashdot is (loosely) a scientific or technical publication, I think I'm justified in putting my comma outside the quotation marks.
Parent
Re: (Score:2)
How the hell do you pronounce the durn thing? I've always been calling it the "Triple-E", but saying "an Triple-E" isn't proper English. So what is it? E e e? A drawn-out e? Something else?
Actually, i never really noticed how many E's were in it, i just call it the E-E-PC. Kind of wrong, but if you look at it like E-ee-PC, it works, and it sounds good.
-Taylor
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
It's not a portable, it's a desktop.