Would you use touch screen on a laptop with a multitouch OS?

Take a look at this video from the Verge: Windows 8 touch gestures vs keyboard and mouse - YouTube

It compares Windows 8 touchscreen vs laptop. Some things seem better with the touch screen but some require more work than before. For instance minimizing now requires dragging the screen instead of clicking a button in Windows 7. Also, with a touch screen laptop, the bezel and screen will need to be on the same plane for the swipe in actions.

So would you buy and use a touch screen laptop? BTW, this isn't just a Windows 8 question. I can almost guarantee that OS X and Ubuntu will add touch capabilities in a future version at some point. Touch screen desktops/laptops are coming.

 

No I wouldn't. Reason is I can't stand fingerprints on the screen, but more importantly I don't see the value in taking my hands off the keyboard and mouse to touch the screen. I think it is one or the other (desktop/laptop vs. tablet).

- Tim

 

I would imagine touch screens would probably be more useful to a graphics artist, but then again there are tablets for that too.

 

Or get the best of both worlds, Lenovo ThinkPad X220 tablet with pen + multi-touch. Or an X61 tablet.

 

No.

The form factor isn't meant for it. You want touch? Get a tablet or a Wacom USB tablet.

 

I wouldn't mind if a company made a 14" version of this... it's nice to have the option of using your fingers or a pen. I used a tablet very often when I was in undergraduate. I still have to go to conferences or lectures that require note taking and I prefer to write.

 

I'd use one.

Wouldn't buy one.

 

Probably not unless I thought it was something I could do better with my hands. I'm lazy and I can do the majority of multi touch functions with my mouse, so why bother lifting my arm?

On a side note, I'm not lazy 100% of the time, I do excercise. I'm not a complete computer slob, honest.

 

while I want microsoft surfaces 2.0, I probably wouldnt want it besides a tablet notebook or in a meeting/creativity room.

basically it has a chance that I would want one, if it were in a notebook tablet format, however I dont imagine I would use it in a common notebook

 

First it looks infantile (horrible pastels colors). And second, it don't look as it they've worked out all the bugs yet?

 

Maybe if I were using a stylus with the touchscreen...

Otherwise, I'd go OCD over the fingerprints (I apparently have somewhat oily hands, as my keyboard tells me >.>). I don't find keyboard shortcuts/Thinkpad nub to be complicated at all, so I don't have a really good reason to get a touchscreen anyway.

 

We all do. Although some more so than others. For that reason alone I find tough screens totally unappealing.

 

I guess I notice it more than some others then, since I'm pretty OCD about a computer's cleanliness.

Anyway, the only useful place a touchscreen will be outside of tablets/phones imo is a tablet PC, where it makes more sense to me. The current touchscreen all-in-ones scream "gimmick!" to me; I'd imagine it'd be extremely uncomfortable to use that feature when sitting away from the display at the usual distance. As for laptops, I don't see what's wrong with a touchpad/nub/mouse, and trying to write on a touchscreen with a laptop's usual hinges seems awkward.

 

I'm always cleaning other people's computers. If it's dirty I can't help myself. Dust, dirt, hair, grime, fingerprints, etc... some people are just dirty. Bleh. I carry a packet of Windex Wipes in my bag just for emergencies like that. lmao.

But yes, I agree. A touchscreen on a normal notebook (that's not convertible) is purely a gimmick. Almost like 3D screens on phones... look how well that worked out.

 

Hence those little cleaning clothes makes a fortune with touch exploding in popularity. I found the touch on the M6600...a bit useless. Even the multi-touch on my X220 tablet is more useful..

 

Well all of your OCD tendencies can be solved merely by installing a screen protector on your laptops. How about then?

Mr. Mysterious

 

So you're saying I don't need a shrink? That's a relief.

 

But then you just end up with finger prints on the screen protector instead. Same problem.

 

He's saying you can't see them. You know, out of sight out of mind.

 

LOL. Worse that being on the actual screen. Plus screen protectors are hard enough to apply to small displays without bubbles. You'd have to send me to the funny farm after a day of trying to get all the bubbles out of a 13-15" screen protector.

Then you have your varying grades of screen protectors with varying levels of transmittance and some will have optical degradation and then some will have flaws...

Just, no.

 

If they can get it to work like Leap then I'm good.

 

That.

Completely agree.

Hybrid = failing or performing overally below average than if the system/os were optimized for one direction.

 

Everyone needs shrinks Would you like my card?

Not necessarily. The matte screen protector I use on my iPad ($5 at most) does not hold any fingerprints at all.

Well you're gotta do SOME work No sense in life being too easy, eh?

Mr. Mysterious

 

Take a look at the Leap Motion though ( Introducing the Leap - YouTube)

I don't know if I'd use it though Looks tiring !

 

I think that provided you had something comfy to rest your elbows on then that shouldn't be too bad, though it might limit your range of movement. Whether I'd use it is another thing.

I remember when someone I know suggested that voice interaction would be the future of computer use. I pretty much facepalmed.

 

In fact, it's just a matter of time and user-friendly interface...
For example:
BumpTop 3D Desktop Prototype - www.bumptop.com - YouTube
How convenient touch gestures to do it!

With best regards,
Alex.

PS. Indeed, I rarely use my M6600 touchscreen, but my little daughter has found constant use for it! For example, it scrolls through the pages on youtube...

 

Wow, that video is all the way in 2006. Actually the bolded part is interesting. I would guess that most people who answered this thread are in their 20's or older. But today, small kids expect everything with a screen to have touch capabilities (it's annoying actually). In a few years, it is likely that laptops will be more of a rarity replaced by hybrids. And even traditional laptop could see unorthodox designs like being holdable sideways like a book. It'll need to be much lighter than 5 lbs of course. You'll see all sorts of new designs in hardware and software as manufacturers fight off the iPad and Android tablets.

 

IMO, the only way that a laptop with a touchscreen will work *without* awkwardness would either be with a traditional Tablet PCs (like the X220t) or with some other way to flip the screen around (a la Insprion Duo).

It's not just little kids, apparently. My mom's main piece of technology is her iPhone 4 and when she uses my W520, she tried to scroll by wiping her finger across my display

 

Yeah, that's what I meant by hybrids--essentially laptops that can be converted to tablets.
Touch screens are inherently less optimal but are more intuitive to non-technical users. No right click, no rollovers, no Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V. Unfortunately, if that is what the masses want, we can only resign ourselves to this eventuality and invest in iKlear and Omnicleanz.

 

Why on earth would I won't my laptop to become a tablet? Laptops are laptops and tables are cheap imitations of the original. I find them of limited use at best and trendy at worst. Serving of no more value other than to give someone bragging right to the next nifty Apple gadget.

Now you get the picture.

 

Does being eighteen group me in with "the kids"?

 

here is an interesting read: Intel: Touch Screens Likely in Windows 8 Notebooks | News & Opinion | PCMag.com

most people seem to enjoy touchscreen laptops. I personally would find it useful

 

As the basis for their risky w8 business, Microsoft points to the old debate over the mouse. Why take your hands off the keyboard to use a mouse/why reach out to a screen? We businesspeople can't be productive with a mouse/touchscreen, its fun but only a toy.

Creating the Windows 8 user experience - Building Windows 8 - Site Home - MSDN Blogs

That massive ms blog post has some references to people sounding the exact same way about the mouse as some people in this forum about the touchscreen.

Of course, that proves nothing, and no arguing will amount to anything, so we will continue to wait and see.