Hands-on video of Asus' SideShow W5

Engadget has a video demo of the Asus SideShow here.

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/07/hands-on-video-of-asus-sideshow-laptop/

 

Personally I've seen many ways sideshow will be an important part of our lives in the near future..... I think the W5's aux display is simply the jump off point in terms of notebooks and although it will be the first notebook to display this new tech, it certainly won't be the last. Expect plenty of models to be fitted with sideshow displays over the coming year and expect some new designs, like the Lambo Vx2 to be one of, if not THE, first model to be design specifically around an aux display....... I've used sideshow on a larger scale and I can certainly see where this will come in handy, not only on notebooks, but on plenty of other devices...... To key in on one thing mentioned in the report, watch out of this year's line of Harmony's remotes by Logitech. I believe at LEAST the top of the line model will show off integration with sideshow.

 

I can't imagine myself ever really using something like that. It might be a nice little feature, but I'd rather do away with it and save $100-200...

 

Amen to that

 

I'm not concerned about the money, added bulk and weight is more worrisome.

 

IF the sideshow does not access the main computers hard drive

and has a seperate ram.....

what is it doing? Based on the reviewers summary: this is a palm pilot you can upload small applications to.

Only its attached to your notebook where as a real palm pilot is not.

It has much less function than I thought. I thought it would be attached to the hard drive of the main computer and could access its files.
So, I envisioned that it was a palm pilot attached to a 160 gb hd, at least, and all of your files as well.\

So, when you are not using windows you switch to side view to listen to all your mp3s and then wait for outlook to alert you of an email.

But according to the reviewer the best you could do is upload 1 gb of stuff to keep you entertained until you felt like booting up windows again.

Theres a key assumption I made that must be incorrect.

 

I'm sure it's a lot more useful than I'm thinking it is. But I don't really see it as something to put on the list of must-haves for my next notebook purchase.

And am I the only one who gets a chuckle out of the name "sideshow"? It kind of matches the humpbacked form of the W5. Maybe if it was flush I'd like it more.

 

Pretty useless in my opinion. I had a PDA before (and tossed it within a year or so) but the main irony about the aux screen is that it's attached to the back of the screen of your laptop.

With that said, if you want to do anything with the aux screen, you have to pull out your entire, bulky laptop. Anybody who has any common sense would opt out of that $100-$300 option and use that money for a real, portable PDA instead.

If you have the laptop out already, might as well boot that up and use it.

 

I thought the entire idea was a little much... something for the lazy person who couldn't open their lid. However, after seeing it in action and getting a good feel for the gadgets they're using and just the possibilities.... it has it's place for sure... simply having a clock, a stock ticker, and a new email notification, can really keep you on top of things in places where opening up your system is difficult......... say on a subway... perhaps in a meeting where you're supposed to be paying attention... things like that.

 

Perhaps if it were on the front edge (like on the Clevo M570U), it would be less obtrusive. And you could just peek into your bag and look at the screen rather than having to pull your notebook out to look at the back of the LCD.

I'm not a fan of the bulge that it currently occupies (unless it looks a lot thicker than it really is).

 

If you're on some sort of transportation, that implies you have your laptop closed and sitting on your lap. I don't know of anybody who carries their laptop straight-up out of the case like that and having the aux screen probably won't make them change that habit much as well.

If you're in a meeting, aux screen or not everybody and their mother will be able to tell that you're messing around with it to 'sift' through emails. Clock? Who cares, that's what watches, cell phones, and clocks on the walls are for - if you have to pull out your laptop to tell time, that's pretty sad.

Aux screens, pogs, friendship bands, racing combat wings, Reebok Pumps, O.J. Simpson, and Snakes on a Plane - what do they all have in common? All were incredibly hyped up, transiently popular, and then simply disappeared into oblivion/uselessness.

 

It doesn't have to add bulk...

Like the LG Z1 which was displayed at CES07

http://www.engadget.com/2007/01/08/lge-z1-laptop-packs-sideshow-too-but-sexier-this-time/

 

Well the big thing you get with using the lid is a much larger space....... so, although a little led screen may work for the edge on a THICK laptop, it wouldn't work on a model like... well any of the current models in the Asus lineup.. I'm not sure what is taking up SO much room.... it's supposed to be using an OEL screen and the thickness of this W5 model hasn't changed since Bill Gates announced sideshow a year and half ago...... knowing the thickness of a system like the W5 and the thickness of the panels - like the lcd lid - the thickness shown seems more like they're using an lcd rather than an oel.... and if they use an oel, they should be able to make it less obtrusive... Give it a generation and I think we'll soon see it's one of those things we'll wonder how we lived without them. I know for one thing, Asus wants to use it to replace the "audio dj" that they've built into many of their models over the years.... basically it was used to play cd's while the lid was closed and the system was off...... Many people including myself always thought it was a neat feature, but I never use it..... Others use it all the time. So, it'll have to grow on us... but there is no doubt it'll be part of the majority of systems in the next couple of years.

 

O.J. Simpson

 

that guy in the video is retarded, doesn't know how to pronounce auxiliary

 

I would like to see a wireless sideshow device that could utilize a bluetooth connection. You wouldn't even have to pull out your laptop then.