I totally don't understand this product. Who wants to have a keyboard with not one but at least 3 cables attached? If the sell is the sideshow screen embedded in the keyboard then I'd rather have a USB keyboard with a screen and a traditional computer tucked away someplace.
I like the idea of this device, and the sideshow touchscreen is pretty clever, but I'm not really sure that I see the advantage of it over a nettop or a laptop, especially when you start adding complexity like wireless HDMI.
If what you're looking for is a low profile living room PC, there's really not any reason that you couldn't just have the PC attached to the TV directly, then use any number of wireless keyboard/mouse combos available for $30-$50 to control it from the coffee table. About the only advantage this would have over that settup is that you could move it from room to room more easily.
The question I have is...
If it isnt connected to a external display, can the 4 inch screen be used as a primary display? Or is that for certain apps only? That screen would be great for IM's.
Wow, looking at the PC in a keyboard, I thought I was looking at an ad in the back of PC Magazine, 15 years ago. What was the name of the company that always advertised - zero footprint or something like that?
Commodore put an entire computer into a keyboard back in 1982 and sold it for $595. 27 years later and Asus does the same thing but adds a touchscreen.
What's next Asus... a new take on the floppy drive?
@nickexperience: $1300? Actually, adjusted for Moore's law and the decrease in cost of equivalent computing power it would be well under $40. With no internal HDD or floppy drive, and no integral display it was little more than a rudimentary processor with a keyboard. What made it unique at the time was the relatively novelty of it. Most "dumb" cell phones have significantly more computing power than a Commodore 64 had, and can do far more, and are obviously available for around $50... the trick there is the bundling of phone services inflates the price.
@BeautifulAgony: @nickexperience: Whoa, whoa. Am I on Gizmodo? Did my not having coffee today trip my sarcasm detector? We're talking about a machine from 1982, and you're telling this guy the specs are different, so his comparison fails? 26 years, you asshats! Tech is a little different now...
@Craig Warrington: So what exactly was the point of your first post? Were you criticizing Asus's design for not bringing enough innovation to the all-in-one computer form factor?
And this isn't even the first copy of the Comodore64 form. Cybernet has been making (and still is) these long before Asus jumped on the bandwagon. I guess they're probably not innovative enough for you either..
09/14/09
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09/14/09
If what you're looking for is a low profile living room PC, there's really not any reason that you couldn't just have the PC attached to the TV directly, then use any number of wireless keyboard/mouse combos available for $30-$50 to control it from the coffee table. About the only advantage this would have over that settup is that you could move it from room to room more easily.
09/14/09
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09/14/09
08/21/09
If it isnt connected to a external display, can the 4 inch screen be used as a primary display? Or is that for certain apps only? That screen would be great for IM's.
08/21/09
08/21/09
The more things change, ...
07/31/09
Or, you could buy the better PC-in-a-keyboard.
Hell, it's even got a Core2Quad in it.
http://www.cybernetman.com/default.cfm?DocId=602
07/31/09
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07/31/09
Forgot what they were called, but this isn't new by any stretch of the imagination.
07/02/09
(what? old reference?)
06/15/09
03/03/09
03/03/09
Think of it as a laptop without the big screen, instead of just a keyboard that you don't understand.
03/03/09
What's next Asus... a new take on the floppy drive?
03/03/09
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03/03/09
Yea I didn't think it was necessary to point out the specs were different, nor did I need to factor in adjustments for inflation.
I guess in the future I'll resort to using sarcasm tags.
03/03/09
@supercollider: Ditto.
03/03/09
And this isn't even the first copy of the Comodore64 form. Cybernet has been making (and still is) these long before Asus jumped on the bandwagon. I guess they're probably not innovative enough for you either..