I gotta say, the Gandalf comment really put a smile on my face.

Ive got a Toshiba 5200 that is a plasma.
Of course, it would burn your lap if it remained too long...

The original color laptops were all plasma... gas plasma... but still!

[support.microsoft.com]

Toshiba T5100 and T3200 laptops have EGA gas plasma displays. When Microsoft Windows 3.0 or 3.1 are installed as EGA, labels of selected icons and title bars of active windows are invisible.

RESOLUTION
To correct the problem, install the video display enhancement program XCHAD.EXE available from Toshiba.

MORE INFORMATION
Toshiba provides this screen utility for its laptop gas plasma displays. XCHAD provides brightness and contrast control for the Toshiba gas plasma display. By creating a batch file or putting an XCHAD.EXE command in the AUTOEXEC.BAT file, the screen contrast can be greatly enhanced.

The XCHAD.EXE program is on the Toshiba Diagnostics and Supplemental disk you receive with the Toshiba DOS disks.

@reefdweller: Would burn like the eye of Sauron? Huh huh? =]

I prefer plasma TV's, but on laptop screen, the burn in would be a killer.

I miss Wendy-O-Williams and the Plasmatics

is it too much to ask to have some cheesy orchestral music playing in the background of this page? I mean, I look at the picture, and I am waiting to hear what he's directing.

They'd have to drop down the heat issue - given_

It's already bad enough with the batteries upping the temp_

Then there's still the issue of artifacting like the 'old' CRTs did in the 80's and early 90's_

And finally - they need to solve the active-use life problem where Plasma Screens tend to degrade very quickly after the first couple or 3 years of regular use_

Heat problem? What the heck are you guys talking about? If the display uses less power than LED light source, how much heat do you think it will output?

@ripfire4: I was just about to say the same thing. Glad somebody else around here is willing to think about basic physics before they start typing....

No thanks. I don't want my lower bar there always.

i'd tap that.

Blast from the past...

I can dig my compaq portable III out of the closet... Hot orange plasma display action... party like it's 1986.

confident predictions...

oled is on a quicker timeline to be the low power direct emissive display panel of choice for laptops.

Swapping ccfl for led is going to keep lcd ahead of the alternatives until oled takes over.

That would be cool, hi-def all the time and not have to worry.

umm ... burn in? or am i missing something?

I remember my dad's Toshiba plasma portable, circa 1989... good times. That bright orange screen... so high contrast.

Photos here.

I'm offended that you all can't tell the difference between Gandalf and Dumbledore.

(That's right, I made a Harry Potter reference. What of it?!?!)

He's screaming to the LCD booth:
THOU SHALL NOT PASS!!!

Plasma laptops? I don't freaking think so. OLED is here, and is going to make short work of both LCD and Plasma TVs.

@92BuickLeSabre:
yeah, one of them's openly gay and the other one is also gay.

has anyone ever used a plasma for any kind of PC monitor? i can't stand plasmas up close... they have to be big and far away to appreciate. can they get the pixels small enough, too?

by the time Plasma can get massively lower power consumption, tiny pixels (at least 1280x800 on a 15" screen, please), ultra-thin displays... i'm sure OLED will be commonplace already.

There are more problems plasma has to overcome first, especially cell size, right now it's still impossible to create small enough cells to have a decent resolution with a 15" monitor.

LOOK OUT! He is casting news ticker burn-in +3!!!

Best. Headline. Ever.

Ok, almost.

I'll second (3rd? 5th?) - what about burn-in dummy? Nothing I want more than a permanent image of START and Firefox/Google Reader burned into my screen.

Burn baby burn!

Not to mention, plasmas still have power consumption issues. Sure it's less than CRT, but it's still considerably more than an LCD... do we have so much battery life these days that we don't have to worry about it?

@macserv: That remains to be seen. OLED is crazy $$$. We simply don't know yet if they'll be able to bring it down. But I see the point that this guy doesn't have to be better than LCD today, he has to be better than whatever's available in 2011, or whenever this thing sees light of day.

@Worf: Did you even RTFA?