Video: Intel's four-screen laptop prototype hands-on
By Nilay Patel 
posted Sep 22nd 2009 8:06PM
posted Sep 22nd 2009 8:06PM
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I can't figure out what I'd use it for besides a music player, or video game menus. Cool idea, but I dunno how useful 3 would be.
Cool ideas have a purpose. This has no valuable purpose. It is therefore not cool. And a bit of a waste. Looks like Intel needed some things to take up space so they pulled some jackass's idea out of the garbage.
My guess is that this thing will rapidly end up in the Jawa sandcrawler nearest you, where you'll be able to get it on the cheap.
Screen 1: Family Guy
Screen 2: South Park
Screen 3: Engadget
Screen 4: Age- appropriate videos
Screen 1: Porn
Screen 2: Porn
Screen 3: porn
Screen 4: redtube
;D
i can see a buyer convincing themselves that it'll be useful, but when they actually have it, they'll never end up using it.
I'd rather convince myself to pay premium for one OLED screen rather than three...
I see realtime uses for it, it's not for everyone
Why not go ahead and make the Keyboard a Touch Screen virtual Keyboard?
The qwerty keyboard layout isn't good enough for that, and no one can think any farther.
I like physical keys, you don't have to look down at it to type/make sure your hands are in the right place.
Yeah, THAT'S what the world has been waiting for...
/s
hawks!
You will need an auxilliary brain to handle all those screens at the same time!
Looks interesting. Could be useful when gaming I guess
Why?
i really like that feature, you can have 1 screen for stock updates, another for IMs, and the third for pop up alert (alerts that windows pop up at the bottom right corner by default), other things like viewing a playlist. Shortcuts normally on your desktop can be accessed by them without moving or minimizing your current window on the main screen. Have shortcuts/ widgets all in the small screens and access what you need from there. I think its a great idea. ocz was doing something similar with big buttons on their keyboard, i think the sabre keyboard? this idea is much better and useful. just hope they do a cap. multitouch main screen.
We have all seen this before and it did look better, I believe it was some ASUS Laptop.
I can say I see any purpost to thise things, honestly I don't see any innoviation, its simply slap more memory, fasster CPU, better graphics and more screens (Lipstick on a pig)
We need better ideas than these. don't create things simply because you can creat things, creat things that ppl need and perhaps that might make an impace on a persions work and play habbits for the better.
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I am honesty getting bored with the same ideas comming for every company, Manufacturing Tech like 22nm, 35nm, and 45nm in the creation of CPU's, using less power to do the same things as before with CPU should be applauded, but all this other crap seem to be a wast.
If it's completely customizable, then it's a great idea and I love it. If those screens will only contain proprietary garbage, then it's worthless.
Word. That music player they demo-ed looked horrible, and isn't something I'd ever want to use. I guess at the end it depends on how well designed the user interface is and the applications we can bring over to the screens... A break or make sort of deal.
If you need stock updates that bad, you buy a second monitor. If you are on the go and need stock updates, you use a handheld device. I watch stocks throughout the day, these screens would waste space and would strain my eyes. I'd have to bend closer to see anything reasonable. At least I can bring my hand held device closer to my face. I am going to look pretty silly moving a big ass computer to my face.
So let's see... not good for stocks. Good for email, maybe chat? Ok. maybe it is useful to show me the album cover of what I am listening to but why do I care. Maybe some bored sole will write code for a game such as Simon Says.
its made for porn haha
I bet if Apple made this nobody would be saying "Why?" "I would never use this.." etc.
Apple has already done this with space, its just that it is not on the Keyboard and not touch, which hope they will come up with soon
that's the difference! apple would never do something like that. (maybe the new iPod Nano... anyway...)
It is cool but useless.
this steals the thunder from the AUX keyboard : http://www.artlebedev.com/everything/optimus-aux/
just have app/specific shortcuts on one of the three screens - color pallet, whatever.
We would say it even more.
Now all they need is for the screens to be in cartridges and wear out quickly so they can make money on people buying replacements.
Main screen- main screen stuff
1st screen- torrent moniter
2nd screen-weather/time/calendar
3rd screen-quick app launcher
1. Why do you need to monitor your torrents in real time? My torrent software just shows the number of completed downloads on the system tray icon, and it's more than enough for me
2. Do you seriously need to be checking the weather and the calendar _all_ the time? Couldn't you just click on the taskbar clock to bring up the pop-up calendar and the weather when you need to see it?
You also have a smartphone which should be displaying those things as soon as you turn it on.
3. How is that better than just having some shortcuts on the keyboard? I'd rather have some OLED keys for this purpose
Well why is the hell having these screens a bad thing? That makes no sense. What about the people outside your house who find this thing useful?
1st Screen- Torrent monitor : Because I have to see every packet as it being received and the speed graph update every second coz I got nothing better to do in the world !!!
2nd Screen-weather/time/calendar : Coz I am constantly worried that the date would suddenly turn 2012 and climatic extremes would kick in and flood the entire US and throw USS J F Kennedy on the White House !!!!
3rd screen-quick app launcher: Coz I cant put my most used programs in the Quick launch menu and hit win+whatever number the program is key OR find it in the recently used programs list when I hit the win key OR already have the file already associated to the program OR hit win key, type whatever the name of the program is and hit enter. No, I need a small screen that shows all the programs on my pc to launch the one secret program I have to get myself a ticket on the secret ship the government is building to escape from the whatever the hell 2012 will do to earth !!!!
Oh yeah.....u have a point !!
Now we know why they make tiny atom based 'desktop'. computers all over, you need the space to put your gigantic multiscreen 'laptop'
*rubs forehead* Gah. I'm so sick of people's short sightedness. If something is new people on this site automatically call it shit and say its pointless.
Secondary Screen
1: Twitter\Facebook
2: RSS scrolling feed
3: System Monitor (Temp, load, mem, etc)
Yah pointless. *rolls eyes* Oh wait. The point is that you don't need to go and view another screen to get at the info you want most. The only downside to this would be the fact that the screens are drawing power which on a laptop is, as always, at a premium. Granted they are pretty small and OLED.
Being the MMO player that I'm, I see some very niche market potential for extra info with those game (a la G15 keyboard).
Dumb Idea. Seriously Intel?
The screens take up too much vertical space above the keyboard, so the trackpad tiny. Why not have a big ass MacBook style trackpad with a screen built in. That way, the track pad and the additional monitor are both nice a big. I bet down the road, Apple will put a display of some sort under that glass trackpad.
John Doe makes a good point. I could easily find use for the four screen on this laptop. I think it looks slick and would buy one, but when will this be an affordable reality? Thanks for the post Engadget!
I can imagine the battery life of this thing...like 10 minutes?
Justin Morneau getting hit by that foul ball..... ouch.
I don't know about extra mini-displays for a laptop, but maybe it would work with a desktop keyboard--but there I would want two or three iPhone-sized displays, tilting up a bit from the top of the keyboard. Maybe applications would tie in to those displays to show different aspects of something you're working on.
This is brilliant. You sell it, I'll buy it.
i supposed this will have the crappiest of battery life.
LEEEEROOOOOOOYYYYY JEEEENNKIIIINNSSSSSSSS!!!
Is it just me or does anyone else find it strange that they call it a four-screen laptop prototype yet in the gallery they call it a three-screen prototype?
Pointless. Not only would you barely see them at some angles but they'll just eat even more precious battery life. Maybe a single line low power display for scrolling RSS and stuff like that but 3 frickin LCDs has no use whatsoever. If people desperately need one what about a screen multitouch pad or just a one of those screens?
Sounds like 'Spaces' on OS X in functionality purposes kinda?
This would benefit me greatly, as I keep track off multiple "bits" of information at once (stock prices, weather, news feeds, etc.)
I currently use the Split Screen plug-in for Firefox but find that it gets in my way once in a while.
Isn't this just a reboxed Windows Vista gimmick?
Kind of useless screen real estate. Its too much at such a bad angle that you wouldnt be able to pay much attention to it. Maybe if it flipped out of that spot.
Use Linux with multiple work spaces and all you need to switch between them is a keyboard shortcut, which you can setup to any keys... It takes fraction of a second to switch between them... or see all of them at once...
It's been in Linux for years now... and no need in additional screens!!!
Useless "innovation" in my opinion.