Sony's E Series displays for the Post-It addict

Until the entirety of the corporate world finally comes around to modern utilities like Outlook reminders and Google Calendar, those little yellow Post-Its will continue to dominate desktops across the land. Apparently Sony Europe has chosen to facilitate this environmentally irresponsible practice, by adding a special panel for the increasingly-obsolete sticky notes below the screens on their new E series LCD monitors. The panel also boasts a "handy groove which is ideal for holding pens" so you'll never miss a message in case, you know, you forget you're sitting right in front of a computer. Both the 17-inch and 19-inch models max out at 1280 x 1024 resolution and sport an average response time of 8 milliseconds, so we'll be interested to see how many extra Euros a run-of-the-mill monitor costs when it has a piece of plastic slapped on the front that may or may not disable screen angle and height adjustability.

[Via Gadgetizer]

[Patel @ Jun 12th 2006 12:49AM]

This is brilliant i already own a sony lcd monitor and have post it notes all ova the display!

Good work Sony :D


Jay

[Scabrous Vermicelli @ Jun 12th 2006 1:03AM]

I use the under-the-display area on the iMac G5 for this all the time. The pen groove here is a nice touch though.

[asurroca @ Jun 12th 2006 1:10AM]

Wow, the Sony E series monitor. It's an idea whose time has come...and gone. And to think they could have done something ACTUALLY useful and innovateive with that space, like integrate something like that Optimus mini-three LCD!

[Dario @ Jun 12th 2006 1:26AM]

who says sony doesnt have good inovation ideas.
this looks good overall

[Dave @ Jun 12th 2006 1:50AM]

OMG its still SONY so youll get ROOTKITS and if the PS3 was any example itll prolly be like $8000!1!111

Seriously though, If I hadn't just bought a new 17 incher I probably would've gone for these models. But shouldn't the 19 inch have a higher display resolution? Thought the 19 inch standard was 1600x1200. Correct me if I'm wrong, though.

[Oddmanout @ Jun 12th 2006 2:55AM]

That's just perfect. I can so easily picture this thing festooned with numerous little yellow post-its with usernames and passwords conveniently written for your spoofing and corporate espionagic pleasure...

[Mike @ Jun 12th 2006 3:08AM]

This would be perfect for my ex-boss and coworkers, there would be post-its everywhere around the office, I always just did the windows key+r shortcut which would autofill notepad ready for those quick messages though :)

[Krono6 @ Jun 12th 2006 3:53AM]

This'll seem perfect for my friend, who's been keeping post-its everywhere around her existing monitor ^-^

[CJ @ Jun 12th 2006 4:01AM]

asurroca: Totally agree. I mean, it's like adding a casette tape interface to my PC just in case I still use that media. Come on, folks, move forward, not back.

Dave: I am using a Dell E196FP 19 incher, and it also tops out at 1280x1024 32bit. Which is great for me, because I'll be able to use that new USB docking station with video which tops out at the same resolution/depth.

[Ferran @ Jun 12th 2006 6:14AM]

I use digital 3M post-notes:

http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/digital/digital_notes.html

[rickm @ Jun 12th 2006 7:03AM]

I'm with Ferran, I use the software post its. No losing them unless I delete 'em. Very handy if you don't have a monitor (laptop only here).

[Aris @ Jun 12th 2006 7:30AM]

As the inventor of postits I commend every effort made to increase their utility. I personaly lurve how my iMac has a large blank space under the screen specificaly designed by my mate Ive after I spoke to him about how little space the aluminium CinemaDisplays had for my postits. His design spared me from writing postits upside down to fit them on the top part of the bezel of my previous 23 incher. Now the PC people can benefit too!

[lyd @ Jun 12th 2006 7:41AM]

I can't remember the exact price but this monitor was the winner of the test in Computer-Bild (a german magazine) this week and its price was nearly the same with other monitors.
I think post-its are still a very good way to take notes. When talking with the phone I only have one hand free and can't write fast enough in the computer with only one hand.
Like Dave, I thinks they should offer higher resolutions. 1280*1024 on 19-inch is probably good for older people but people with a better vision will probably prefer higher resolutions.

[tiuk @ Jun 12th 2006 10:03AM]

My boss is probably the biggest post-it note user I've ever met. I wouldn't be suprised to learn he has stock in 3M. Anyway, I introduced him to a program called Stickies:

http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/

It has a lot of neat little features, too. It quickly made its way around the office, and gets used by the employees that don't have company email addresses as an instant message system (which isn't really the purpose, but it shows it's handy for more than just post-it type stuff). Anyway, neat, free program that's worth checking out.

[TIMMAH! @ Jun 12th 2006 11:50AM]

Wow, this is so unlike Sony to actually address a customer need. Has anyone tested it to make sure it's actually compatible with US post-its (or does it refuse to stick notes that aren't produced by Sony?)

[Fei @ Jun 12th 2006 1:03PM]

To Dave and lyd, 19" LCDs do not come with anything higher than SXGA (1280x1024). I do not believe that there is a single 19" LCD monitor (or panel for the monitor) on the market anywhere in the world that is higher SXGA. (Laptop LCDs are another story.)

[Bud Landry @ Jun 12th 2006 2:25PM]

Actually there are plenty of corporate environments (think retail) where there is no availability of digital postits, not that digital postits are going to help you on the sneakernet, where the work is all being done.

When a terminal is a dumb kiosk used by all, that cannot save little 'asides' expecting all interaction in a rather closed way, a place for pens, and sticky notes, makes perfect sense.

[rutsy5 @ Jun 12th 2006 5:29PM]

why don't they make it removable, so you can attach it to a variety of screens and let you not have that big chunk of plastic in the way when you're putting it...places.