The absolute torrent of tablet PCs and touch-sensitive smartphones is a clear indicator of which way this industry is going to follow in the near future. After years of research and hard work, this way of user interaction has been brought to perfection, and the fact that more and more manufacturers, but also users, are abandoning the “obsolete” concept of using PCs and phones isn’t to surprise. Notebooks and PCs, however, have yet to embrace this trend.
Last year, Toshiba presented a very interesting device, called Libretto W105. The device in question is a 7” tablet PC which had an additional screen instead of the keyboard section. However, the bad software, weak battery and a rather high price prevented this dual-screen portable device from achieving major success. Learning from others’ mistakes, other companies got down to work and started preparing their own touchbooks.
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Acer is one of the companies that seriously started dealing with the portable market, especially touch-sensitive devices, in 2011, and their latest product is the dual-screen notebook called Iconia 6120. The Iconia series also comprises two tablets, A500 and W500, as well as the S300 smartphone. This is a serious enough hint that Acer is keen on joining the race with other leading companies, such as HTC and Samsung.
Iconia 6120 is comprised of two connected 14” capacitive screens. Although you’d expect this device to be choke full of various details, Acer has opted for a more neutral variant - and wasn’t wrong in doing that. If you’ve ever doubted Acer’s ability to build a high-quality device exterior, a few minutes with Iconia will be enough to dispel that. Most of the touchbook is made of metal, which gives the device firmness and shock resistance. Of course, this has taken its toll on the weight, making this notebook one of the heavier ones we’ve encountered lately. However, the design is so good that not even the biggest of sceptics will be left indifferent. All connectors are logically placed, while the easily removable bottom lid is another plus on the list, enabling easy access to internal components; you won’t need a screwdriver or any other tools to replace the HDD or add more RAM, nor will you need to worry about breaking the plastic.
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The main role in this film is played by the screens, or more precisely, the bottom screen. Instead of the typical mechanical keyboard, you get a virtual one in Iconia. As the screen has a diagonal of 14”, the keyboard is pretty large, and in chiclet style, with a fine gap between individual keys. Their size is ideal for users with fingers of all sizes. The typing itself requires a bit of practice, though. In the beginning, the user simply lacks the feeling of actually inputting data, as there’s no feedback from the virtual keyboard, in this case, the PC. You can assign a sound to be played upon the press of a key, which helps greatly; we were able to use the PC comfortably after a mere half an hour, and had great fun doing that. We were even able to type “blindly” after some additional time. Of course, the number of errors is far bigger in this scenario than would be the case with an ordinary keyboard, but that’s to be expected. The more you use the keyboard, the better you will become at it. Besides the regular keys, the virtual keyboard also contains many additional options. For text input, there’s the XT9 prediction dictionary, which is most useful when typing in English, as well as the “handwriting” option, which has more of a fun value than any actual one. The top right corner has media player controls, as well as standard Windows shortcuts: save, copy, paste, print. Below the keyboard, there’s a small touchpad with two buttons, which does its job well enough. For the keyboard to be displayed, you need to do one of two things. The first option is to press the button situated between the two screens, opposite to the power button. The second is more fun, and involves placing both your palms onto the screen, which will cause the PC to start the virtual keyboard automatically.
