Dual screen laptops: The good, the bad and the ugly

Wondering what the two screens can do on a laptop? Read on to find some amazing facts about the SpaceBook. The SpaceBook is the new laptop with two screens. It comes with two HD LED displays in 17 inches. The design trend has surpassed the latest Core i5 and Core i7 processors. The thickness of the laptop is about 1.7 inches and weighs over 4.5 kilograms. According to the manufacturer, it has the largest screen space than any other laptop in the world. Though it sounds quite unbelievable, some pictures of the prototype model are already available on the internet. The company has also started taking pre-orders.

SpaceBook Dual Display Laptop

The inventor of this new laptop is Gordon Alan Stewart, who created the special design just because he wanted a video editing workstation when he was on a six-month holiday. He felt that carrying two monitors around may not be comfortable especially, when staying in a hotel. This is certainly one of the best solutions to those who are used to working with two screens and are required to travel often as well. This however, is not the first laptop with two screens. Lenovo has come up with a model two years ago in which the laptop had a main screen of 17 inches and a small slide-out screen of 10.6 inches.

The good

Two monitors are better than a single one especially, for the graphic designers who need to do a lot of editing. Most of the users who require large screen space opt for buying an inexpensive second monitor and connect it to the computer which enables them to double the desktop space. When you have multiple displays you can actually adjust what you want to see on the second screen. There are various other benefits of using dual monitors.

The desktop can be spread over both the monitors and helps you to drag the items between the screens. Most of the people use this type of monitors with default settings.

You can duplicate the displays on both of the monitors. This is a default setting for the laptops as well. This feature is very useful when you want to give a presentation by connecting your laptop to a large monitor or projector.

Sometimes you may want to keep the screen of one of the monitors blank after connecting to the large desktop. When it is disconnected the original displays are restored.

By using two monitors you will change the way of using the laptop or computer. It helps you to be creative and experiment with sizing application widows and keep some information in constant view while working with others. With the extra working space you will be able to play better and work even better.

Scope for improvement

Most of the users who work with dual monitors are passionate about the benefits. They believe that there is more scope for improvement in the use of such devices. A company called Quantum Data Inc more than 84% of the employees using dual displays. The company's CEO believes that people using two displays with different resolutions should use the larger one for browsing, writing and sending mails. Another company, The Durkin Agency Inc. also is following suit by providing the employees with dual displays for handling various tasks.

The bad

Some of the features that bring out the negative side of the product are low battery life, heavy, over heating issues, noisy fan and very few ports.

Acer has launched a dual display laptop known as the Acer Iconia. The second screen is located in place of the keyboard. It has overall good performance and a customizable keyboard. Some of the negative aspects include its weight and un-portability, no optical drive, no card slot and has only average battery life.

Another dual screen laptop is Toshiba Libretto W100. It is very light and easy to carry, can be used as an e-book and the keyboard can be customized. Some of the downsides include low battery life, noisy fan, overheating problems, few ports and very costly.

What needs change

If the battery life is enhanced and the weight reduced, most of the users may consider shifting to these models due to the convenience they offer. The cost is also a limiting factor to a certain extent.

The ugly

The SpaceBook and Lenovo dual screen laptops are very expensive. The Core i5 version of the SpaceBook costs about $2395. The number of programs and toolbars may be very useful at certain times if the design of the devices is less cumbersome, lighter and cheaper. The laptop should be made more economical if it has to be successful.

The verdict

The dual screen laptops can be the best replacement for professionals who need to do heavy-work and have to often travel.