MSI shows off convertible 'SketchBook' laptop concept
By Donald Melanson 
posted May 20th 2010 2:36PM
posted May 20th 2010 2:36PM
Well, it looks like MSI isn't waiting for Computex to show off some of its wild, new concept devices -- it's just unveiled this so-called "SketchBook" at an event in Amsterdam. Offering a new twist on the convertible laptop, this one doesn't actually convert into a tablet, but rather features a rotating base that has a keyboard on one side and a full-size graphics tablet on the other -- hence the name. Unfortunately, MSI is staying mum on any other details at the moment -- let alone pricing or availability -- but our counterparts at Engadget Spanish did get a chance to check out an early, non-functioning prototype of the device. Check out a shot of it after the break, and hit up the source link below for the complete hands-on.
Well, it sure is different!
it looks like there's enough room to put the keyboard and touchpad in the same surface like usual though
So tired of broken concept promises. Call me when you have an actual product released. :| That looks dumb BTW.
@One Love "Concept Promises"? Lol, Big Steve himself never even confirmed the device, or whether it would be designed upon. It was just a drawing and a video that we expected MS to make. There was no promise.
@N900 Uhm we are waiting for msi not ms
I think I'd rather have a standard convertible with a digitizer.
Consider my interest piqued
@BlackedOut
I agree. If they keep it cheap its definitely a nice little netbook. I really don't see the downside of having that pad. It would be great while using one note during class.
@BlackedOut
Mine too. I'm still waiting for a replacement to a paper notebook.
The death of Courier still stings.
@Kamalot
Yeah thats the thing with MS, they come up with stunning prototypes and drop them at the 11th hour.
If I had a £1 for every good idea that MS came up with and screwed up, i'd actually have more cash than Bill himself.
@BlackedOut
I genuinely do not understand this, if you aren't drawing directly onto the screen then how do you know where you're drawing on your designs? How will you know where the pen is on the screen in relation to the touch pad? Is this just an incredibly stupid moment for me or would a digitizer not make 1000 times more sense?
@GetInMyBelly
Lmao how do you think its been done for so many years. From my experience (not much) most designers still use a separate tablet or slate when sketching, shading etc.
@Jimbob
That shouldn't surprise you since.... they're a software company
Bah, I'd much rather draw on the screen and see directly what I'm drawing. I'd much rather go with the HP for outside sketching and an Cintiq for indoor.
I'm spoiled
I see very detailed drawings. If that's the case, then what they're going for is a million miles away from the awful graphics pads that you use for verifying credit cards.
How much you want to bet it was inspired by scrapped the Carrier?
@Incorrigible Err.. "inspired by THE scraped Carrier"?.. lack of sleep ftl!
@Incorrigible What the heck's a "Carrier"? Is it a new pigeon-based media consumption device?
@kdilkington Yes the Carrier, you swipe your stylus down the runway to launch the F-22's. =P
@Incorrigible lol.. correction " COURIER" :-P
@N900
Admittedly anal, but F22's aren't carrier based.
@brenro
F35?
If you see a stylus they blew it.
@proee Cuze real artists draw with their fingers!
@p0p0 Why did everyone downrank him? He was making fun of steve jobs for saying that. Good try though, everyone.
@proee +1 for being misunderstood
So is the no keyboard thing gonna be the new big thing on the next MBP? I can see apple putting it there next to the no mouse buttons.
@Con Seannery
I do touch type on my iPad. Just stick small pieces of chewing gum on f and j.
No butons is growing like hell.
@Con Seannery
This has a keyboard. It flips over to use the digitizer.
I hate this kind of crap. Technology for technology's sake is always full of FAIL.
If it is truly made for sketching, then make it a portable version of Wacom's Cintiq in which you draw right on the screen... basically a TABLET.
If you are going to draw without having a screen behind it (and instead have to look elsewhere for the image), then just buy a $5 paper sketchbook and scan in the designs when you are near a computer.
Nothing beats pencil on paper.
@Hazdaz
completely agree. I was using an Intuos for years and it took me some time getting used to draw on the pad and looking at the monitor, but in the end it worked out pretty well, tho like you said, I was mostly drawing on paper, scanning and tracing lines and adding detail in Photoshop with the Wacom
Then I went for the Cintiq and boy is this a much bigger pleasure and I never really use the draw/scan/trace tehnique anymore.
I will never ever go back to a device where I must draw somewhere and look at what I'm drawing somewhere else. It's old and shouldn't be done anymore.
@FMinus
i prefer a normal graphics tablet to a cintique, because drawing for long periods of time on a screen makes my hand get hot and sweaty.
but even more important than that, i like being able to see the whole image. no hand and pencil blocking parts of the image. i like that i can see through the brush tip (as represented on screen by a transparent circle) at exactly what i'm doing.
i find this msi device to be very interesting, so long as they price it right, and the sensitivity of the drawing surface is up to mark... so to speak :P
I can't think of proper use for it apart form designing things...
@pankomputerek Well, that's the point. =]
@pankomputerek but even for a specific use, it's awful, the drawing area is so wide and short, and drawing on something that far off the table makes my wrist hurt just thinking about it
It's all going to come back to the f#$King laptop. You can't beat it.
as someone who works on a 22" cintiq i have NO desire whatsoever to ever draw on this POS. who wants garbage like this, it is a silly gimmicky thing that solves nothing
@aaronaut
22" cintiq ? Noob... I draw with a broom on a 3meter canvas in front of my projector...
;-)
@Avaron hahaha hey i just haven't had time yet to install my homebrew hacked together johnny-lee-wiimote-headtracking set-up where i won't even have to use my hands at all, i'll just use the power of my neck!
@aaronaut
A cintiq is great. It is also hella-expensive and not very portable.
This product seems to address those two weaknesses of the cintiq.
@Kamalot i just can't see why any designer i know would choose this over the ipad with sketchbook pro and a pogo stylus, even if this contraption is pressure sensitive.
@aaronaut
i would choose it over a cintique, because it's replacing a SKETCHBOOK. it's not for finished artworks, it's for sketches. so portability is important.
i would choose it over the ipad, especially if it's pressure sensitive, because when not drawing with it, it TURNS INTO A REAL COMPUTER.
@aaronaut
Cause most of us need more than fingerpaint.
Dear MSI:
Pick one
-Draw a keyboard on the touch pad, so it can be used easily as a touch keyboard
-use a touch screen
Buy a Wacom Tablet ... get started for real
its m11x-ish in a weird way . . .
isn't Sketchbook what some people call Facebook? just a thought...
This thing sucks for designing due to the low power of the netbook and it sucks as a netbook becuase of the extra crap
Cool! Retro.
What's wrong with these companies? Use the stylus ON the screen, not off to the side. I'd rather have direct feedback, not indirect feedback, any day.
despite the marketing, but maybe it was intended primarily for writing. it looks good for non-latin characters. in any case, i'm sure it's cheaper than a full touchscreen. it is, after all, a netbook.