Dialogue's Flybook VM laptop with airline friendly telescoping screen

Ahhh, so that's what you get when you cross a Clio NXT and swing-arm styled iMac... the Flybook VM from Taiwan's Dialogue. That swingin' 12.1-inch, 1280 x 768 widescreen panel folds down and around tablet-style which is sweet enough. But the inclusion of a telescoping arm means the panel can be projected safely away from that reclining econo-class fatso seated in front of you. The VM is Dialogue's first Core Duo (1.66GHz) and sports Intel's 945GM integrated graphics, up to 2GB of RAM, a 1.8-inch 30GB disk, integrated webcam, stereo speakers, fingerprint reader, ExpressCard slot, 802.11a/b/g WiFi, Bluetooth 2.0, a dual-layer DVD writer, and up to 7 hours off optional six-cell battery. Wait, there's more. According to the press release, the VM will also feature a built-in GSM/GPRS/EDGE radio. Oh please daddy, give us a pinch and tell us that's true 'cause that little tidbit is conspicuously abscent from their website's specs. No word on pricing or availability but at 3.6-pounds and about an inch thick, we'll be keeping an eye out sho'nuff.

[Via RegHardware]

[Intrepid @ Jun 8th 2006 8:50AM]

"and swing-arm styled iMac..."

Ummm.... random Apple comment? Didn't Intel design swingarm laptops?

[Dustin @ Jun 8th 2006 8:52AM]

Holy crap that is an awesome machine. Does anyone have a Flybook? Can you comment on the build quality/support/customer service?

I'm really considering this being my next laptop.

[Thomas Ricker @ Jun 8th 2006 8:59AM]

Intrepid, that's not a "random" Apple comment at all. The iMac made the swing-arm display recognizable to the average consumer. Thus the reference.

Thomas

[Intrepid @ Jun 8th 2006 9:07AM]

Really? But it's not at all based on the "swing-arm" reference that Apple 'designed' (or copied from a desk-lamp!). Sorry Tommy Boy.

[hitkaiser @ Jun 8th 2006 9:08AM]

Yay comments back on!

Anyways, this seems great, not just for flying, the prob. I have with my laptop is its unergonimical stance with the "low" screen and keyboard too close... this laptop can help solve those problems without having to get that external keyboard monitor etc..

[n8diggity @ Jun 8th 2006 9:44AM]

5 years ago my portable DVD player from Panasonic did this swingarm screen thing. I did like it on flights. I always thought laptops should do the same thing. Hope they start selling this.

[Isaac Levy @ Jun 8th 2006 9:59AM]

No. Not the thing that apple copied from a desk lamp intrepid. The electrong icon of the swing arm isq Apple's iMac, regardless of where they got it from.

[ptrader @ Jun 8th 2006 10:24AM]

Methinks it might tke some getting used to shoving your hands UNDER the monitor to type in the photo's configuration. But probably worth it.

[diulei @ Jun 8th 2006 11:29AM]

Hm, all things interesting things from computer companies in Taiwan on Engadget. How come these things hardly make it stateside? Am I not looking in the right places? I've only seen the heavy hitters like Asus or Acer commonly. The only "smaller" company that I've seen around is Averatec.

[wickedawesome @ Jun 8th 2006 11:46AM]

Now I just need macro-focus eyeballs so I can use a computer with its display in my face.

OR I could save my thousands of dollars for bloody marys on the plane.

[Phil Ringsmuth @ Jun 8th 2006 12:52PM]

Did nobody else notice that in the "press shots" shown here, you can't get your hands under the screen to access the keyboard? Anyone?

[brian welch @ Jun 8th 2006 3:39PM]

Phil:

I noticed the same thing - my first reaction was "neat, the commoner in the seat in front of me nearly broke my lappy last week", but then I noticed that I wouldn't actually be able to work (at least according to the picts).

Maybe play solitare or something. heh

-bw

[Brandon J @ Jun 8th 2006 4:52PM]

looks like plenty of room to fit your hands to me. u just can't see the keyboard, which isn't exactly what I would call necessary. either way, nobody is forcing u to use the same setup as pictured above. I thought it was pretty obvious that they were just showing the reach in those particular shots, which looks best suited for watching a movie or something.

[Simon @ Jun 8th 2006 5:08PM]

Those press shots look like it's for watching a movie than for working. But as that is a flexible arm you can actually move the screen to another position if space allows. Who would have guessed ... ;)

Anyway, I do own a Flybook A33i, one of those with the twistable screen. So, in reply to Dustin:

I never needed their customer support so I can't say anything about it, but regarding the quality of it I can say that I never had any problems with it though it feels a bit cheap having a pure plastic casing. It would be nice if it would be sturdier, but it never faild me anyway.

There are two issues though. First, there are no hardware buttons for things like left-click or cursor movement when you use it in tablet mode. And second in tablet mode the audio is pretty bad. The speakers are not good as can be expected, but in tablet mode you will even get bad audio when using headphones.

The screen is brilliant and the keyboard feels good if you can work with the small size. All together, I love it for being so small and versatile.

[Guruboy @ Jun 8th 2006 6:27PM]

Does anyone besides me get turned on with the mention of a "telescoping screen"?

[Andrew @ Jun 8th 2006 6:55PM]

my experience with flybooks is limited, but as far as i could tell it is a desirable little piece.
the case indeed is not very good looking, but it packs a lot of technology in that small form factor. the phone idea is really good and u can use it whenever there's no wi-fi around.
pair it with a bluetooh headphone and you're all set.
as for this little baby, i guess you can use the touchscreen for working while flying...