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Razer Built a Laptop With Three Screens Because Why Not? (engadget.com)
At CES in Las Vegas today, Razer unveiled a prototype that could change the way we play. Behold: Project Valerie, the world's first laptop to incorporate three built-in monitors. From a report on Engadget: Each screen measures 17.3 inches with 4K resolution -- that's 12k total (11520 x 2160) viewing space. They slide out from the central lid chassis under their own power and autonomously position themselves to create a full 180-degree viewing area, powered by NVIDIA's Surround View technology, which enables programs to spread a single image across multiple monitors. All of the computer's wiring is internal so you won't have to worry about snagging power cords as the screens deploy. The Valerie also utilizes Razer's short-throw keyboard, an all-aluminum case and the computing prowess of the 17-inch Blade Pro. No word on pricing.
Why not?
3 minute battery life.
John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
They had a ThinkPad with a second physical screen before, it didn't exactly set the world's collective hearts aflutter. Granted the second one was much smaller than the primary, but they tried it and found it wasn't what the consumers wanted. I don't see why someone would want to commit to a laptop form factor with 3 screens. There are plenty of good reasons to use a laptop - I do the vast overwhelming majority of my own work on a laptop - but this seems like a solution in search of an answer.
Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
I use two extra monitors with my top two laptops, but they are a lot larger than these because I use them when docked at work or home. I wouldn't want two dinky little laptop monitors strapped onto my laptop, not even for free.
I actually use three screens on my desktop. And yes, I do use all three windows. One window has my code, the second the output, the third has e-mail or diagnostic crap up. Useful to see all three at once.
I hate working from a laptop because of the single screen.
I suspect Razer don't have the business user in mind though.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
autonomously position themselves to create a full 180-degree viewing area
Judging by the pictures, where the hell are they getting the 180-degree viewing area from? Are we expected to use the thing with our faces 1mm away from the screen?
Because Why Not?
Because weight, I imagine. How heavy is this thing?
Don't get me wrong. I hate this move to anorexic electronics as much as the next person, cutting off hours of battery life, upgradability and replaceability of parts, and very useful peripheral sockets in a desperate attempt to save a couple more grams of weight... but if this thing has three monitors it's got to weigh far more than can be comfortably carried by hand or used in a traditional notebook space. Imagine trying to use it on an airplane.
Speaking of which... what is the battery life of this thing? It better have an SSD, because otherwise I imagine 5% of its useable battery life would be used up in the computer bootup process alone.
Also, ever try to use a laptop in coach (i.e., "cattle car" or "steerage") on an airplane? There, having enough elbow room for a single small monitor (plus a keyboard + trackpad) is a challenge. I can't imagine what trying to roll out three monitors would be like.
Now you have a reason to sit in the center seat. Until now most people usually prefer aisle or window.
Slide out under their own power? And that's going to last, what, six weeks before it gets stuck? The screen hinge is already a primary point of failure for laptops, let's double the weight load with flimsy motors and rails! Definitely another "more money than sense" moment in computer gaming.
And a normal keypad would be nice, too. People don't game with those anymore?
I don't game on PCs at all, and this totally caught my interest. three, 4k displays? If the CPU/GPU power and RAM and drives are there, all you'd need to carry around to make this a decent setup are a real keyboard and a mouse. I don't give the south end of a northbound rat if it isn't "thin". I don't really care if it's light or quiet, either.
After Apple's latest fiasco dumbing down their laptops, I'm not feeling all that resistant to going Windows, laptop-wise. My only Apple choice right now is a used machine off of EBay. Something that actually has ESC/F-keys and ports to connect to things. Something even further behind the CPU curve, sigh. Damn you, Apple.
[runs off to look at specs]
I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
To emphasis this point, here is a list of the bits I need for my current three monitor desktop setup.
If I had a Razer 3 monitor laptop, the sum total of bits would be:
No need for Cables, stand, UPS, external USB hub etc.
So please Razer make this bad boy and soon.
Meh. I tried multiple screens. It sucks having to always turn your head back and forth all day long. I prefer one giant screen to multiple tiny ones. Dell U3014 FTW.
I once ran 4 24" monitors laid out end to end and I hated it both for what you mention and also what I need always seemed to be on the farthest monitor which took "forever" to get to.
Now, however, I found standing them up in portrait mode is perfect for me since I'm working on code all day and it lets me see even more of it at once. I've also found that 3 seems to be my magic number as that is what I have connected to my laptop, but I have a 4th on my desktop and I find I don't use it much.
So as others have said, it just depends on what you are doing and how you use them.
Plus... if I *really* had to use it on a plane, I could just power it up while closed & have it act like a wi-fi access point, so I can use it via Remote Desktop from my convertible tablet-ultraportable laptop ;-)