News

A brilliant portable computer idea: two screens, no keyboard!

"Half way between a book and a computer," said one commentator of the Estari 2-VU dual screen laptop computer.

It comes as no surprise to find that the Daily Telegraph really liked it. Well, it sounds like the Telegraph liked it. It did say: "This is more like it," according to Estari's publicity page - but the point remains; this is a device that could surely appeal only to that lost generation of nearly-retired veterans of the typing pool era, who think keyboards are things secretaries use.

It comes as no surprise to find that Seybold mentioned it: the Seybold Report on Internet Publishing (Vol. 3, No. 5) apparently said:

"[The 2-VU] is not only larger than the other readers, it has two, side-by-side color displays, making it look more like a traditional book."

Curiously, Internet Business took a spookily similar approach. It reported:

"[The 2-VU] is not only larger than the other readers, it has two side-by-side color displays, making it look more like a traditional book."

No keyboard, eh? What else? Well, it does at least have wireless, both Bluetooth and WiFi . The device also has "a modem" to allow you to download books for reading. And that's it; the touch screens are the only interface you get. Unless, of course, you have a USB keyboard to plug in - tucked under the other arm, perhaps?

With two screens, a 20 GB disk, and a mobile Pentium 4 processor at 1,000 MHz, the battery has a load to carry; battery life is estimated at around two hours. And all for what? To be able to read Adobe Acrobat .PDF files side by side?

Our take: Estari is a software company, expert in document management. That's the day job; we think they should stick to it. As for the pension scheme, we think it should be pensioned off ...

If you really want more: visit Estari's Dualscreen web site. Ignore all mentions of "palm of your hand" in excited reviews; this baby has two 15-inch diagonal screens, and weighs more than they'll admit. Actually, it's lovely; we thought the age of crazy inventors was gone ... and it's great to find that it hasn't.