ASUS plans to ship Fold / Unfold laptop concept this year!
By Paul Miller 
posted March 6th 2009 3:27PM
posted March 6th 2009 3:27PM
posted March 6th 2009 3:27PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
It still just looks like a binder with a keyboard in it.
Trapper-Keepbook
P-p-p-powerbook!
http://www.zug.com/pranks/powerbook/
(pics at bottom of page)
Kamokazi: Good job ruining it for yourself ;)
It's about time! I was tired of being jealous of MBP users having such spacious mouse pads!
SWEET!
Yeah, it may be Sweet, but if Apple had come out with this, then it would have been "super amazing sweet".
Coming to think of it, why didn't Apple come out with this ? My little sister says that the reason is, that Apple simply copies other manufacturers and does not itself, Innovate. She is only eight, what would she know ?
She also said, after all Apple is simply an assembler. She said that the components that Apple assembles into their cases, are the same generic components being put into other machines at half the price. She said that Apple gouges its customers and preys upon their gullibility. She is only eight.
She also said that OSuX (as she calls it), is simply a UNIX OS with a modified Gnome interface. She said that it should be free. What would she know.
@kcboy....
fail. there is no 8 year old that knows (or cares) about such topics. furthermore, how many gadgets has she had time to dissassemble and compare assembly notes? maybe now you should teach her to type so she can make her way onto engadget, post, and let you go about your life, seeing as you have a hard time forming an opinion of your own. effort on blogging team work though.
hey, kccboy2004 - Apple rules.
@ Bryan...
Are you for real???? I don't think the 8 year old was.
The FAIL is on you.
@kccboy2004 -
Bringing Apple into a totally unrelated post? What are you, an Apple fanboy?
@Bryan Thornsberry....
http://www.engadget.com/2008/12/23/nine-year-old-girl-is-youngest-person-to-become-microsoft-certif/3
don't assume the impossible.
Sounds to me like he's using his sister as a scapegoat in case his opinion gets shot down, didn't work though did it, lol.
That looks awesome
Yeah, but can it run Crysis?
Who knows, but it can fold and unfold..
You're not funny at all. That shit was maybe funny a year or two ago.
@Shmuck:
I'm not sure how much folding it could do. I don't think it will have a very powerful processor in such a tiny form factor. Though, I guess we already have enough free cycles floating out there to adequately fold proteins.
Seriously... I agree with neflow.
The least you could've done is reach for a folding@home pun.
hmmm... how about spects?...
Is it sturdy, can it survive being jostled around inside a backpack?
Can you adjust the monitor viewing angle in different lighting conditions?
Does it perform a real purpose? or does it exist simply for the sake of being different?
Best feature.
Cooling should be very nice and easy.
Yeah, who cares who it looks, that extra vent for cooling should take care of any problems having it in ur lap. On top of that the design allows extra palmspace, nice!
Didn't the OLD thinkpads have keyboards that folded/popped out? I think the 755 was the one that had it pop up. There was another which I don't remember the model that had the split keyboard that folded out.
Do you mean the IBM Thinkpad 701 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_keyboard
The ThinkPad 701.
The 701 is the butterfly keyboard one, correct. I was wrong, the 755 is not the one I was thinking of, but the 760ED. That one had the tilt keyboard on it.
Why is this considered an improvement? Am I missing something, because it looks as though that design adds nothing to the usability of the product...
It was originally designed to allow better airflow to the parts that are traditionally buried under the keyboard. This would be mean less fan usage and therefore less noise.
I like...
I really want that, minus the LED lighting.
you kidding me? i want it to constantly flash in rainbow colors!
I wonder how it will hold up under all the open and closes a lap top takes.
At first I thought the keyboard was removable when used at your desk...and I was all impressed. You gotta think that would be more useful, right?!
dribble dribble.
The way the guy is handling it makes it seem really fragile to me.
Well, it is a prototype.
Personally, I'd rather see the butterfly keyboard make a comeback.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_keyboard
I personally like the OLPC2 prototype/concept/mockup
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/28/olpc-2-0-dual-touchscreen-mockup-surfaces-in-the-wild/
having two screens that are both multitouch, one is keyboard, one is desktop
and if apple picked it up it would be able to 'flip' based on it's
orientation.
that would be total WIN if someone made that
What is the point of that again? Wrist room? I've never had a problem with that using a MacBook.
That is because apple laptop don't included nunber keay.
Is the fortune-teller paper thingy next to it a new addon? If so, I'm sold!
Your favorite color is: Blue.
OK, looks beautiful, but what's the benefit?
Yeah, I guess I don't get it. I look at it and wonder "Why should we care?"
I guess I'm in this camp, too. I mean, it looks like it gives a MINOR improvement to the depth of the laptop, but that's about it. Who have you ever heard say "Oh man, my laptop is just too long?" Usually width is the bigger issue - I have seen the "butterfly keyboard" mentioned above, and it seems to me to yield a lot larger benefit. This just seems kinda gimmicky - you could probably charge an extra $200 for this relatively useless (other than aesthetic) enhancement.
Folding @ home... and wherever you go!
Asus are leading the way at the moment when it comes to products imo
this thing is stupid -- i can't wait to see all the keyboards flying off this thing
That is not a folding keyboard - it just slides. It's amazing there aren't more usage of existing good folding designs - the true folding keyboard innovations were:
1. IBM Thinkpad 601C aka "butterfly" :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_keyboard
2. Think Outside's "Stowaway" keyboard - best being gen. 2 resold as the "Palm Portable Keyboard"
http://www.dansdata.com/portkey.htm
That is a seriously cool form-factor. Although I am a pretty confirmed Mac guy, I would be tempted by that, IF it is as small as it seems it could be, AND as easy to use as it SHOULD be.