I didn’t comment on the battery life claim because I’ve already said that I’m leery of it. Other devices using the same Nanobook reference design are topping out at 3.5 hours in a best case scenario. Seems like everyone is saying their devices run for 5 hours these days. ;)

hp has a touchscreen desktop, Kevin. Have you heard of it? *snark*

I agree that the screen must rotate and flip over so it’s a tablet. That doesn’t mean inking. It could just make it easier to hold when doing a bout of net *reading*. You can always keep the tabs open for replying via keyboard later.

Hmmm… you did not comment on his brag about battery life!

http://mikecane2008.wordpress.com/2008/02/07/some-cloudbook-news-too-big-screens/

I’m guessing that Kim meant Everex was considering an all-in-one PC with a 22 inch monitor similar to Asus’s upcoming E-DT iMac competitor. Because seriously, I can hardly imagine a 22 inch laptop at all, let alone a low-cost one.

I’m surprised that more people haven’t tried the XO system. I mean using a large trackpad that can accept input from a stylus. This emulates the experience one gets from using a little tablet like the wacom bamboo.

Apple seems to be going in that direction with the larger trackpad in the Air but I don’t think they have any intention of integrating a stylus.

jkk, I wasn’t speaking from an ink perspective at all. When I first heard that Asus was thinking about a touchscreen on the Eee PC, I spent several hours using a touchscreen, convertible tablet PC in its standard notebook mode, i.e.: screen facing me, with the keyboard exposed. My experience was exactly what I wrote above: minimal benefit. Granted, the Eee / CloudBook devices are smaller than the device I tested the experience with. Also note that I didn’t say it provides no benefit. ;)

How exactly does it make the device “more mobile”? Is your Eee PC more mobile than mine because it has a touchscreen? That’s just plain silly. One could also argue that a touchpad is “easier to use” than a mouse and if it is for that person, so be it. If the touchscreen you added to your Eee makes it easier for you to use, then that’s great! That doesn’t mean it will for everyone. It has to add value for consumers to embrace it; it can’t just be yet another input method just because it can be… my opinion of course… certainly debatable.

Let me pose a different question: have you *completely* abandoned the Asus Eee trackpad because you have a touchscreen on it?

“touchscreen in a notebook form-factor serves minimal practical usage unless the screen rotates around and down”

for inkers maybe but how many people ink? 0.000000000001% ?

touchscreen in small notebook form-factor makes it more mobile and faster/easier to use.