Acer is prepping a dual screen laptop

TAIWANESE COMPUTER MAKER Acer is readying a laptop with two touchscreens.

Pictures show that the firm is working on what looks like two Ipads hinged together, with the machine running Microsoft's Windows 7 operating system. Techreviewsource claims that the machine has a 2.67GHz Intel Core i5 processor but it is unable to provide further details. The two screens are 15-inch and have multitouch capabilities.

We saw something similar displayed by MSI at CES. That device also ran Windows 7 and, judging by these pictures of the Acer unit, was more pleasing on the eye. Apparently Acer's unit is "slow and buggy", though we're not sure whether that statement is aimed at the operating system or the hardware.

That said, the dual screen laptop is clearly some way from launch, with the report stating sometime in Autumn 2011, giving Acer ample time to address issues.

Though a dual screen laptop sounds like a great idea, there are a number of problems. Typing on a screen, as Iphone users have found out, does not provide any tactile feedback. While on a phone that may be acceptable, on a device where one expects to type a lot of text it might be a little less palatable.

Then there's the fact that displays still consume a good percentage of the overall power draw in a laptop. Having two of them is unlikely to help battery life.

Of course, these functionality issues are but a footnote when you consider how hip one must look with a dual screen laptop. Still, Acer does have time to work out these details before it announces the full specifications and pricing. µ