The Ultimate Laptop

Author: Steve Martin

lapdualbigI think I’m in love…with a laptop. Yet, this laptop doesn’t even exist. It is a concept design put together by PC World as a wish list of things one might want to have in a laptop. Well, when I first saw the design I almost started drooling. Ok, maybe I actually did, but only a little. I would LOVE to have dual screens built into my laptop. Many of the other features in this concept drawing I could do without but those dual screens…oh baby!

I am big into screen real estate. My old tablet PC had screen resolution of 1024 x 768 while my new tablet sports resolution of 1400 x 1050. The higher resolution makes such a huge difference. Higher resolution is something I am willing to pay extra for. Now, if they made a laptop with TWO screens built in, I would be standing in line to buy it. Think of THAT kind of screen real estate in an all-in-one design. Ideally, I would like the screens to be 12.1″ or 13.3″ and the rest of the laptop to be normal size. I would also like it to have tablet functionality using a stylus. I don’t care for the 10 key built in (I suck at accounting). It must have a touchpad as I can’t stand the stupid little eraser nub that the Thinkpads always have in the middle of the keyboard. And, it needs to have a built in optical drive. Weight IS a factor as well. With dual screens you have to accept a little more weight but I would hope it could stay below 5 pounds. I believe my current tablet is around 4 pounds. Other than that, I am not too picky although a built in Sprint data card would be nice.

lenovodualLenovo recently announced a laptop that actually DOES have dual screens although it is not quite what I am looking for. Theirs has a main screen that is 17″ and a secondary screen that slides out of it that is 10.6″. See a video of it at CES 2009. I think they should have had a 10.6″ screen slide out of both sides of the main screen. It weighs in at 11 pounds though. At nearly 3 times the weight of my current laptop, that would be a little much for me to lug around. And, I would prefer to have two identically sized screens instead of a smaller slide-out. A third negative is price. The Lenovo starts at $3,600. That’s a little out of my league. Ok, that’s a LOT out of my league. But, the concept idea is now a reality. Now it is a matter of time before the various manufacturers start putting their own twist on the idea and come out with a bunch of different dual screen laptop models to choose from. I can’t wait for the love to become a reality for me.

So, what features are on your laptop wish list? Post comments and share your ideas.

5 Responses to “The Ultimate Laptop”

  1. Rob Says:

    I’m a desktop man currently but when it comes to laptops I don’t like to be tied to an outlet. Most important feature: battery life. Also, a screen which can be viewed in all types of light (including outdoors). An air card would be nice too, but I kinda feel I spend too much time on the interweb looking at blogs, making sarcastic comments, etc., etc., so maybe that isn’t a total necessity.

  2. Steve Martin Says:

    Yes, bright screens are awesome. My old tablet has a super dim screen but my current one is fairly bright. One problem with lots of battery time is weight. The more battery time you get, the heavier the laptop. I think we should have nuclear batteries that last maybe a year or so.

  3. Rob Says:

    Do you really want to hold a small nuclear reactor on your lap? That would be a failproof way to ensure you’re limited to your three existing children…

  4. Steve Martin Says:

    The battery would contain a very small amount of nuclear materials. And, the battery would be fully contained so that NO radiation could escape whatsoever. I heard about the idea 6 or 7 years ago because there was some company that actually WAS exploring the idea. And, they really did get SUPER long run times. Imagine not having to plug in for an entire year. It is almost too good to be true (which is probably why the technology never made it).

  5. Steve Martin Says:

    Here’s a link that talks about nuclear batteries that could last as long as 12 years. It also talks about how extremely safe the technology is.

    http://www.livescience.com/technology/050513_new_battery.html

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