Dual Screen Laptops

We have earlier told you about some innovative notebooks including the Fujitsu’s Turntable PC, the dual-display Asustek notebook and the One-On-One dual LCD display, called ‘Tenbuno.’ And, this Dual Touch Screen Laptop from Canova is another ultimate notebook design meant for the creative mind. The notebook features dual display with touch-sensitive screens, sketch pad, music score, graph paper, an electronic pen and a dedicated hardware for its smooth functioning.

There’s a new dual screen laptop on the block and it comes courtesy of gScreen Corp. The two screens on the G400 are of equal size – both 15.4 inch backlit LEDs, so you can work seamlessly on a very spacious canvass. The G400 also comes with up to 8 GB of RAM, up to 500GB hard drive, 6 USB 2.0 ports, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8 GHz T9600 or P8400 2.26-GHz and the Quadro FX 2700M or GeForce 9800M GT from Nvidia.

Not too shabby. Of course, the double vision does mean that it’s a bit on the heavy side. The G400 weighs in at 3.49kg and is due to be released on 25th February. No word on price yet but we’ll keep you posted.

When it comes to computer displays, bigger is almost always better.

Many desktop computer users are now turning to ever larger monitors, using the bigger screens to display more panels of information. Some workers even turn to using multiple monitors to display complex data.

Now, a computer technology company in Harrisburg, Pa., wants to break the visual barrier with portable computers. For the last four years, Estari Inc., has been working on a laptop that could be considered a true "eye-catcher."

Estari's 2-VU machine is similar to other conventional laptop machines. With a low-power Intel microprocessor, 30 gigabyte hard drive and 256 megabytes of memory, the 2-VU even runs standard computer software such as Microsoft's Windows XP or Windows 2000.

But the real gem of the 2-VU is what it doesn't have. Instead of a keyboard, the 2-VU places a second LCD display screen in its place.

Robert Carberry, chief operating officer for Estari, says the idea is to provide mobile PC users a machine that gives them a wide view of computer data.

"There are a lot of industries where the workers use two monitors [with their desktop PCs] at the same time to multi-task," says Carberry. "The idea is to provide the power and benefit of dual screens in a mobile version."

Smart, But Pricey Machine

Both of the 2-VU display panels are touch-sensitive and are controlled by software and hardware created by Estari. Users can move "windows" of computer information — say, a Web page — between the two screens or stretch them across the displays as if they were one screen.

The software is also "smart" enough to know when the computer is in "portrait" mode, as if it was being used like an electronic book, or in "landscape" mode as in a traditional laptop computer.

Since the laptop lacks a "real" keyboard or mouse, Estari worked with other companies to develop software that understands notes and commands written on the screen using a plastic stylus. Users can also choose to have the computer display a virtual keyboard on one screen or connect an actual keyboard.