28 ms·

Asus replaced the touchpad on its new ZenBook Pro with a 5.5-inch touchscreen

307 points by lando2319 8y ago

Crontab 8y ago
Speaking as someone who is slowly having more and more issue with glare, that last thing I want to a second light source on my laptop, but I can see where some people might like this.
systems 8y ago
that is very confusing i am sure the next step, someone will replace the physical keyboard, with full size touch screen and software keyboard and future laptops will come with two screens and no keyboard ... and they will be like tablets with double screen, and then someone will sell a physical keyboard accessory to the two screen laptop and .. it will be very confusing
- lando2319 8y ago
  Also looking on Amazon, there's at least some Asus Zen books already out which have a touchscreen, so what?, then you'd have a touch screen and a small touch screen over your touch pad...
- Nightshaxx 8y ago
  Lenovo already did it I'm pretty sure.
  - ant6n 8y ago
    yes, and without haptic feedback, it's terrible to type on.
- nomel 8y ago
  Here’s [1] a review for a Lenovo model. [1] https://www.cnet.com/news/no-keyboard-no-problem-welcome-to-the-dual-screen-laptop-era-asus-lenovo-intel/ https://www.cnet.com/news/no-keyboard-no-problem-welcome-to-...
- userbinator 8y ago
  someone will replace the physical keyboard, with full size touch screen and software keyboard Already done many years ago: https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/29/2509236/acer-iconia-6120-touchbook-review https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/29/2509236/acer-iconia-6120...
- baybal2 8y ago
  It not that easy to use when you can't physically feel the keys. And having to wipe the screen so often sucks.
  - hliyan 8y ago
    Haptic feedback?
    - dragonwriter 8y ago
      Haptic feedback is better than nothing, but it closes a small fraction of the gap rather than making touchscreen equivalent to a physical keyboard.
- gsich 8y ago
  Please not. Input delay is absolutely annoying.
lgleason 8y ago
At first I thought this was an Onion article...
marcelluspye 8y ago
Didn't razer do this some time ago? I think this kind of thing is pretty cool, but ultimately, a touchpad below my keyboard is akin to the ones on the dashboard of many modern cars (though a lot less dangerous) in that I don't want to look there.
- Nightshaxx 8y ago
  They had a prototype of one where the Razer phone acctually got put in the laptop and was used as a touch pad. Also I think there was a gaming computer with a screen for a numpad.
quantumofmalice 8y ago
This makes far more sense than apples touch bar, especially if it was modal with a few different keys that brought up different screens.
- agumonkey 8y ago
  Only advantage for apple is the location. Less visual context switching.
  - curun1r 8y ago
    It depends...for some tasks, it's less context switching. For example, Apple's Preview app has a feature where you can add a signature to a document. You can scan your signature, but you can also enter it on the touchpad. But the latter is very difficult because you can either look at your finger or the screen, but not both. Having this kind of screen would solve that problem.
analog31 8y ago
When I was looking for an inexpensive touch pad for a product idea, it appeared that small touch screens were only marginally more expensive -- and worked better -- than available off-the-shelf touch pads. That was without even lighting the display up. But of course the temptation to use the display for something would have been irresistible.
- walrus01 8y ago
  My theory is that economies of scale for 5.5 inch 1080p touchscreens in mainland Chinese manufacturing make it a lot cheaper now. That is just about the most common screen size and not the higher than 1080 resolution found on high end phones.
  - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
    The LCDs are probably not made in mainland China though, and ASUS is still Taiwanese.
    - walrus01 8y ago
      ASUS is Taiwanese but as with most Taiwanese oem and odm these days, does the bulk of its manufacturing in the mainland. Same for others like msi, tyan, supermicro, quanta, hon hai precision industry (foxconn), etc.
      - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
        It does the bulk of its assembly in mainland China, assembly != production obviously, which is why, for example, most of an iPhone isn’t made in China even if it is assembled there. Components not made in China are actually more expensive to source there outside of SEZs.
    - dogma1138 8y ago
      Nearly all LCDs in China are made in China. The largest OLED and LCD manufacturers are now in China and I'm not talking about LG Display or JDI those are now dwarfed by the likes of TCL (biggest LCD manufacturer AFAIK), Visionox (biggest OLED manufacturer AFAIK), Tianma, EverDisplay, BOE and many many others. http://www.boe.com/en/index/pei.html http://www.boe.com/en/index/pei.html http://www.tcldisplay.com/en/home/index.html http://www.tcldisplay.com/en/home/index.html https://www.tianma.eu/ https://www.tianma.eu/ http://www.visionox.com/en/index.aspx http://www.visionox.com/en/index.aspx http://www.everdisplay.com/en/ http://www.everdisplay.com/en/ The LCD and OLED panel in your phone is more likely made in China by a Chinese company, the irony is now that even Samsung had use Visionox AMOLED in their phones especially recently because they were constrained with supplying their OLEDs to Apple. ASUS does not make displays the only Taiwanese display manufacturer is AU Optronics IIRC and they don't make small and medium size displays. The only thing that China still doesn't do well are large screen OLEDs (LG is now building a factory in China for that) and that's about it. China is oddly pushing AMOLED to the limit and are leading the development as far as flexible displays go much further than Samsung or LG do at least publicly.
Operyl 8y ago
OK, I skimmed but didn't see: what if I rest my palms on my trackpad? I don't want random actions taking place because of this.
- naikrovek 8y ago
  It's a trackpad. What do you think it will do if you touch it accidentally? It's gonna fuck your shit up so bad that you can't undo it, just like a real trackpad would.
  - Operyl 8y ago
    Not true at all. macOS has some rather intelligent tracking if it’s a palm touching, or a finger for example. Alternatively, there’s also completely turning off tap to click. But that’s for taps, not for a full scale UI on my trackpad with dragging sliders etc.
    - naikrovek 8y ago
      Mac touchpads are better, but they still suck. The entire notion of the trackpad is flawed. They are awful, and no one cares. People just use them so much that they get used to them and they don't notice how anymore.
asafira 8y ago
I happen to have just watched this video that reviews the device: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wGGp88nBs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wGGp88nBs Around the 5:50 mark: "Obviously you could watch movies and stuff on this [the touchpad screen]." Who writes this stuff.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
jeswin 8y ago
I think this is a wonderful idea, given that touchscreen responsiveness and power optimization have been a focus of research over the last decade. At worst it's a touch pad, at best it's so much more. Of course a lot depends on how software developers will embrace it - and I hope Linux users get some love. (I wish Asus and reviewers will stay away from gimmicks like watching movies on it.) In any case, far better than removing a set of useful keys from the top of a physical keyboard. Add: this also enables new types of casual games, similar to Wordament, Angry Birds etc. Oh, and better smudge tools on Photoshop.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- TAForObvReasons 8y ago
  Office appears to have non-trivial ribbon integration: > The [Excel and Word] ribbon where they live occupies 20% of the screen on the ZenBook Pro, so shifting those functions to the top edge of the trackpad gives you more space to do your work. https://edgeup.asus.com/2018/take-control-with-the-zenbook-pro-ux580s-innovative-screenpad/ https://edgeup.asus.com/2018/take-control-with-the-zenbook-p...
- _wmd 8y ago
  At first sight the thing is terrifying, but it seems a rather quite reasonable alternative play on the touchbar that does not mess with the ability to sell the device. Two massive benefits: the tactile response of the keyboard is totally preserved, and the feature can be entirely disabled for conservative users who cannot think of an immediate use for the display. Clearly it will appeal to gadgeteers (as much as I expect the touchbar does) who can use it for instrumentation or other generally distracting applications. Then there is the blindingly obvious: video editing on a laptop always sucks, there is never enough screen space. But moving the monitor window (rendered video preview) to the touchpad area might change that considerably -- it amounts to a 25% increase in display area, and in a 'natural application' of video editing, the monitor would be separate anyway. I think this design, simply by virtue of being optional, and large and rectangular, is hugely more applicable than the touchbar. The modality (pumping F6 to enable/disable) could definitely be improved upon. I can imagine it quite natural to use a hot corner of the pad itself as a toggle, or perhaps some gesture or similar. Very excited to see how these work out in the real world
nerdwaller 8y ago
The big difference between the ASUS usage (which I wouldn’t consider buying) and the Apple TouchBar (one I don’t love, but can understand for non-pro users) is that the TouchBar is intended to not be an extension to the display[0]. The trackpad as a complimentary display seems pretty gimmicky - at least while the market share for the maker is so limited. Of course some level of that is up to the implementation of the various apps (but since it’s not 1st party to the OS, I expect usage issues). I’d expect a standard user (and even myself) to be highly confused about if they can use the area as a trackpad or if they need to toggle some mode. > Use the Touch Bar as an extension of the keyboard and trackpad, not as a display. [0]: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/touch-bar/touch-bar-overview/ https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...
- jeswin 8y ago
  The examples they've currently demonstrated are useless, and that's probably because ASUS alone cannot bring software partners on board. Real use cases will arrive when Windows adds support for touchscreen pads, which I think they should do. Once software support is available, ASUS's implementation can be used by "pro-users" in novel ways; especially in content creation apps. Apple's bar is one dimensional, which limits what it can be used for. I wouldn't trade that for physical keys I press every day.
nielsbot 8y ago
For this to provide a great user experience Asus will need a really high level of software + hardware integration.. (Think Apple or Nintendo) Without that this is just a gimmick.
hliyan 8y ago
This is really going to distract touch typists due to peripheral vision. If they really want to do something revolutionary, they should try replacing the entire keyboard with a touch screen with haptic feedback (like the MacBook touchpad). Force touch when the keyboard is displayed will act as a keypress. Soft touch will control the mouse pointer.
- WiseWeasel 8y ago
  Something like this maybe: https://tanvas.co/ https://tanvas.co/ CES 2017 coverage by Engadget: https://youtu.be/LrbJWiAc6JI https://youtu.be/LrbJWiAc6JI
- nvarsj 8y ago
  Sounds absolutely awful. Your hands would be in pain using that after 8 hours.
_hardwaregeek 8y ago
I was walking through a computer store recently and I couldn't help but notice how tacky all the computers looked. The Touch Bar may be frivolous, pretty useless and a waste of money, but it blends into the design of the laptop and most importantly, is subtle. Now, Asus could certainly prove me wrong and implement some beautiful, understated software for the touchpad, but judging by the demo photos, that isn't the case. Not to mention, how does it perform as a touchpad? Will I have to avoid hitting some corner for fear that it will open a new app? At least the Touch Bar took away features that most consumers (i.e. non professional computer users) won't miss.
- giancarlostoro 8y ago
  I use a Trackball mouse so this sounds awesome but I already decided to get a Microsoft Surface Book 2 for my next laptop so I wont bother.
- mgiannopoulos 8y ago
  I’ve been trying to find a cheaper MBP replacement after 10 years with 3 MBP. Everything else is ugly. Some decent choices end up at the or worse price point as Apple.
  - mrep 8y ago
    Which model are you currently on because my top of the line 2013 15 inch MBP is still running like a champ. If you are willing to try out windows, the surface pros are actually pretty sweat. I got one for my gf for grad school and will probably get one for myself if my MBP ever dies.
    - mgiannopoulos 8y ago
      Retina 2012 MBP but the battery is practically dead and the monitor seems to be not bright as it used to be. I wouldn’t mind a CPU/RAM upgrade.
      - mrep 8y ago
_emacsomancer_ 8y ago
I'll be happy when Lenovo releases another ThinkPad which has NO trackpad, and only the TrackPoint.
- keyle 8y ago
  It probably wouldn't sell enough numbers and would be a financial disaster. As an option, that'd be nice. But that'd probably require re-engineering the inside shell...
  - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
    Until much more recently than I care to admit I'd never experienced an TrackPoint, and was (consequently) of the opinion that laptops were nearly unusable without a table and external mouse. TrackPoints make laptops actually usable (for me, at least).
    - keyle 8y ago
      yeah I had an old thinkpad that had one (pre-lenovo). Once I got used to it, it was the best pointing device by far. But anyone trying to use it on my laptop would instantly go 'nah-ah'.
      - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
        I have an older X200 which does lack a trackpad. I'm currently using a X230 which does have a trackpad, but I ended up physically disabling it (and the finger-print reader) simply by unplugging them, so when the Microsoft-powered 'teaching interface' in my own class failed (well, actually lots of times, but memorably – in two different semesters – when the students were giving presentations) I had to put my own machine in service as the 'projector driver', almost of the students were flummoxed by the TrackPoint (since the TrackPad obviously won't work, being unplugged), despite being business students who (I thought) should be familiar with ThinkPad and their TrackPoints.
- transfire 8y ago
yeukhon 8y ago
I thought I would hate the TouchBar. But after two days of using it, I like it. I have been using Pro version for about 3 months and I still love the TouchBar. I don’t know how to explain this, but I just no longer feels the need to press an esc key, and no more tapping for adjusting volume/brightness. I can also adjust font size or color in Words using the touchbar. My I can choose an emjoi in hipchat client using touchbar application. It feels great. This, I don’t know, really weird. I might have to try it, but I doubt I will like it at all. The whole purpose seems like a secondry screen to me. Constantly having to look down instead of looking at the bigger screen so you can control is so backward to me.
- Gigablah 8y ago
  Looking forward to your review after two days of using it.
  - yeukhon 8y ago
    I said 3 months. Please read.
    - sundvor 8y ago
      Ambiguous. Better: "But after only two days of using it, I liked it; I have been using Pro version for another ~3 months now and I still love the TouchBar."
    - saagarjha 8y ago
      You have a grammatical tense error that significantly changes the meaning of what you're trying to say.
- yedpodtrzitko 8y ago
  > Constantly having to look down instead of looking at the bigger screen so you can control is so backward to me ...unlike doing the same thing with TouchBar (?)
  - 8y ago
rjplatte 8y ago
This would be cool /if/ it added more functionality. For example—a digitizer, Force Touch, or both. I love my MbP Trackpad, but a digitizer would absolutely slay, especially combined with some sort of display.
- asafira 8y ago
  Do others here use the "hard push" functionality of their trackpad? I honestly forget that's a thing most of the time.
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    I use it constantly to preview links and look things up.
peterburkimsher 8y ago
This is really good for users of international keyboards like me! When I need to type Chinese or Korean then it's much easier on my phone than my laptop, because my laptop lacks the engravings.
gumby 8y ago
I'm glad someone is experimenting with new interfaces, but for me this is kind of a gimmick, like the MacBook touchbar or the big touch-sensitive screens in cars. Any interface that requires looking at it will slow me down/distract me. There's huge value in the keyboard keys all being in the same place and in not shifting your gaze in order to move the mouse pointer.
- some_account 8y ago
  I don't see the value in this myself either but nice with experiments I guess. I've never used my laptop and wished for a small screen in the touchpad. But for some tech, you have to try it to understand.
kensai 8y ago
They beat Apple to the punch! :) Seriously, I think it's a positive evolution. I wish they had the same laptop at 13" though.
theshadowknows 8y ago
How long until there’s a system dashboard running on that thing. That’d be really cool spot for it on a laptop. Especially if the touchpad works as usual and you can just glance at it for system updates.
onyva 8y ago
Why? As far as visuals go, the Touch Bar (which dislike) is at least in line of sight and you hands are not over it all the time. Regardless, why not just improve on using one's phone the way you can already with some 3rd party apps... since almost the first day touch screen phones were available? It can at least be positioned anywhere that works for you. You'd also save the world a cycle of e-waste for the sake of “we too” 2nd hand innovation. Imagine Microsoft would have actually worked with them to salvage and re-purpose the millions of Windows phones (now in dumpsters and land fills), as detachable touch pads.
avcdsuia 8y ago
I think Asus's Project Precog[0] deserves more interests than this. We programmers always complain about display size , ratio and amount. Using this dual screen laptop vertically with your beloved external keyboard could be sublime. It's like having two Surface Pro tablets right in front of you, or a dual screens desktop setup that fits in a backpack. As long as my way to interpret this product works, I don't care whatever Asus comes up with to make it feels like a normal laptop. [0]: https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/ https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/
- mwill 8y ago
  There's a picture with the exact setup you describe[0] and it's all I want now. I hope it makes it actually makes it to a launch. [0]:https://cdn.pocket-lint.com/r/s/660x/assets/images/144750-laptops-review-asus-precog-initial-review-concept-notebook-with-two-screens-in-the-flesh-image3-z6fjwp450d.jpg https://cdn.pocket-lint.com/r/s/660x/assets/images/144750-la...
- ipython 8y ago
  Looks awesome... but what does that have to do with AI? I guess “optimized for blockchain” was already taken?
  - RickS 8y ago
    It seems that by AI they mean "non keyboard input", and not... any of the other wildly more practical uses of that term. > Project Precog is designed to provide a smooth and intuitive experience for industry-leading AI technologies. With support for the Windows Cortana and Amazon Alexa voice services, the dual-screen design lets you keep your main tasks in full view while Cortana and Alexa process other tasks on the second screen Definitely feels like a weird marketing gimmick atop an already strong looking product offering.
tambourine_man 8y ago
>Unlike Apple’s limited and unhelpful MacBook Pro Touch Bar… I’m not big fan of the touch bar either, but to state an opinion as fact is just bad journalism.
- lloeki 8y ago
  This[0] almost made me finally accept the idea of possibly having the TouchBar on my next laptop. [0]: http://vas3k.com/blog/touchbar/ http://vas3k.com/blog/touchbar/
  - deergomoo 8y ago
    I thoroughly enjoyed that article. It was a weird decision to not make the default state of the Touch Bar be a widget bin. They could even have launched yet another App Store for it.
- eksemplar 8y ago
  There isn’t any real description of how the thing operates either. I mean, a big part of the reason I’m using a MacBook Pro is because it’s touchpad is damn near magic. I don’t care about office integration, all I care about is how well it operates compared to the trackpad on a MacBook, and I donut I’m the only one.
- Larrikin 8y ago
  The most stressful thing about starting my next job is that I've got to choose a new laptop only for work. I've only used a Mac for years and this is the first time I've ever considered switching because there are no computers they make that I actually want. Apple has really dropped the ball on their entire line and the touchbar eliminating a lot of useful keys is a pretty bad idea compared to replacing the touchpad.
  - whymauri 8y ago
    I've gotten used to using the touch bar for function keys and [esc] after only a week or so. It's fairly customizable, which surprised me. I don't think it's that bad, but then again I am not paying for it (company hardware).
petecox 8y ago
This could be useful for app development. A 1080 landscape device on the keyboard, mirrored at 4X on screen. (Although the digits used are different. When in landscape, my fingers cradle a phone at a 45-60 degree angle with both thumbs used for input. On a horizontal touchpad the index finger(s) are doing much of the input)
kjeetgill 8y ago
The biggest question I have is if the input resolution and latency are better than a traditional touch pad. The additional display will never be useful enough to overcome a mediocre touch pad experience. It seems to support acting as a second display so I'm feeling optimistic about Linux.
npunt 8y ago
The Zenbook is a decent looking computer, and this completely cheapens the look of it. The trackpad display is trash - it's a low-contrast LCD with bad backlight bleed and aggressive matte finish... something out of the parts bin of cheap phones and old car infotainment systems. When compared to the higher quality main display it looks totally out of place. If they fixed that, there'd still be the issue of usability & utility. This doesn't seem like a complementary feature, it seems like two separate devices bolted together that require heavy context shifting (e.g. if the music card is up, you can't just use the trackpad to access something else on your computer). As implemented it seems like yet another electronics company gimmick like 3d TVs - made because its easy to build, not because the feature offers enough utility to justify its complexity. That said, I hold out hope for a lay-flat dual-display clamshell with proper haptics and that re-thinks the entire input UI around that paradigm.
- alluro2 8y ago
  https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/ https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/
crazy_monkey 8y ago
This is better than the touchbar at least. You can use this to watch Youtube videos or movies while working! :D
geoalchimista 8y ago
Seems quite functional and elegant. Everything that touchbar is not. In retrospect, I think Apple's gonna regret the touchbar design. (But I do have doubts on this touchscreen design like how frictionless it is for a user to switch back and forth between its touchpad and touchscreen functionalities.)
- saagarjha 8y ago
  > Seems quite functional and elegant. Everything that touchbar is not. How so?
  - jayd16 8y ago
    Enough space to actually have some good UX, tool tips etc. This is adding features to the touch pad instead of replacing function keys and losing physical key response.
robbrown451 8y ago
The killer app for this is a touchscreen keypad, for the new generation of technology users that type better on one of those than on an actual keyboard.
jlebrech 8y ago
when apple puts a touchpad along the top it's genius, when asus puts it at the bottom it's "dubious"
- saagarjha 8y ago
  That's because the bottom isn't generally a great place to put a screen if you want it to be visible and usable. It's where your palms are, not your fingers, and generally it'll be at least partially covered by your hands.
jaxondu 8y ago
Razer has a prototype where the touchpad is an empty slot where you can insert your smartphone into, and use the smartphone screen as touchpad.
saagarjha 8y ago
Not sure about this design, since it introduces modality where there previously was none. Obviously I haven't used this, so I can't comment on it that way, but I fear people accidentally tapping on things in the trackpad when it's in "touchscreen" mode when they really meant to move their cursor around.
- KozmoNau7 8y ago
  That's exactly my concern as well. With current laptops, the touchpad is always the touchpad. When you touch it, the cursor moves, end of story. I don't want to look down to make sure I'm not opening menus or whatever. On the other hand, I can see a use for modal controls. Sliders, knobs and so on. But then I would also like a dedicated pointing device as well, like a trackpoint.
sorokod 8y ago
I am genuinely puzzled - what problem does this solve?
- Jerry2 8y ago
  It solves marketing dept's "laptops aren't selling, we need a new gimmick" problem.
Elect2 8y ago
They are making laptop more difficult to use.
pmontra 8y ago
We'll see if the touchscreen gets any traction. I'd like to point out that this is perhaps the only non Mac laptop that has a 15" screen and doesn't have a number pad. The keyboard is aligned with the center of the screen and the space bar is almost there too. Joy! I could buy this laptop only for that, even if with Linux I'll probably have to wait the next laptop before the touchscreen is of any use. But no, the RAM is capped at 16 GB and I'm using 32 GB on my HP laptop (several projects for several customers, each one with a different language and environment.) However my 15" laptop has a useless (for me) number pad with the result that I have to shift it half to the right to be able to keep my hands in front of me and not skewed to the left, which would probably do nasty things to all my upper body. This is the norm for all 15" laptops and I wonder if their designers stopped at the cover page of Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things", with the famous teapot for masochists, and deluded themselves into believing that this is the right way to build stuff. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/1452654123 https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/...
- lloeki 8y ago
  > The keyboard is aligned with the center of the screen and the space bar is almost there too. Joy! Oh the keypad hell, it's been such a RSI inducer on my back for years. What nonsense is this to put a keypad on the right side of keyboards which results, being right handed, in either the mouse being too far right or the keyboard being off center.
  - jeswin 8y ago
    I keep the mouse below the external keyboard (instead of to the right), and it has worked out really well for me. It may not work well with laptops though, since the trackpad adds to the distance the hand must travel. But I still wanna put it out there for all the external keyboard users. Illustration: https://twitter.com/jeswin/status/680343382783213568 https://twitter.com/jeswin/status/680343382783213568
  - Tijdreiziger 8y ago
    A good design centers the touchpad on the alphanumeric part of the keyboard, example: http://xahlee.info/kbd/i/Dell_Inspiron_laptop_keyboard_2014-02-07-2.jpg http://xahlee.info/kbd/i/Dell_Inspiron_laptop_keyboard_2014-...
meuk 8y ago
Maybe I'm a bit conservative and/or sour, but I think this is a bad idea for two reasons. 1. It will require a lot of developer effort and testing on this specific device. I regard this as a move in the bad direction: Computer interfaces should be more unified, not less. 2. You're giving the touchpad two functions which are not compatible (and the second function is not necessary: we already have a screen!). If you're happily clicking your way through stuff and some menu suddenly shows up, you will click a bunch of random stuff.
- sheerun 8y ago
  You can just display what's on main screen and have nice touch support without having your fingerprints visible on screen and wiggling laptop.
  - meuk 8y ago
    That could work well! Although it's not really what the article suggests. If you have Spotify on your touchpad like in the picture in the article, that means that you can't use your touchpad - I imagine it would be bloody annoying.
    - Dylan16807 8y ago
      At worst you have to hit a button to switch input type. An extra keypress before using touch controls isn't too bad.
    - alkonaut 8y ago
      There has to be some kind of quick switch to toggle between direct input to the small screen, and using it as a touchpad. E.g drag in from outside the edge of the small screen to begin using it as a touchpad. Drag from the inside and out off the screen to switch to direct touch. For obvious reasons it can’t be both a touchpad and a touch screen at the same time.
- EugeneOZ 8y ago
  Just use it in touchpad mode :) I think it's great idea. I usually have my iPhone exactly under the keyboard when I play games - this way I can read something between matches. Even reply in Skype to simple questions :)
mamon 8y ago
This is the MacBook Pro's touchbar done right :)
garganzol 8y ago
It is just a gimmick. There is a display for that, no need to mess with touch screen (or touch bar).
tudorw 8y ago
I generally touch type, so not sure why I'd want to look down to do things. I like the matte finish on the screen though.
yani 8y ago
This is exactly what Apple should have done.
ferongr 8y ago
If my experience with Asus Android devices and routers is anything to go by, the feature will be a minimum viable gimmick with lots of bugs that will be abandoned down the line.
b212 8y ago
I'm never ever going to buy another ZenBook again. I got one for my girlfriend and another one for my dad, around the same time one of my dev friends also decided to move to ZenBook from rMBP. Compared to Macbooks it looks, feels and works cheap (the trackpad, d'oh), but that's not the major issue as almost everything is that way excepting Surafaces/XPSes. But the real issue here is this: hinges. They're horrible. They break every 2 to 9 months. Their quality is also very easy to test - just open any ZenBook in shop and wobble it. Macbook's screen is as solid as rock, won't move an ich, while ZenBooks one - well, it wobbles. Almost unusable on the bus for example, your screen will shake as hell on even smallest bump or corner. And then the hinges will break and Asus will replace them for you. And the new ones will last a year, if you're lucky. Then it happens again and again and all of sudden you're out of warranty and at this point, after replacing hinges for a few times, you're told that they'd gladly replace them for you - and it costs only around $400, while you paid for your ZenBoook $1000, two years ago. %#$# them. And I wasn't unlucky, this is considered normal for Asus: http://www.breadcrumbsguide.com/asus-zenbook-review/ http://www.breadcrumbsguide.com/asus-zenbook-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP-NwyE4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP-NwyE4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ju1aCd4iOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ju1aCd4iOo etc. Terrible, terrible build quality and no respect for consumers, don't even go near them.
- utbabya 8y ago
  I moved to macbook when my ASUS laptop's hinges broke about 4 years ago because it's ~50% of the cost to fix it. The macbook's capacitor died earlier this year (funny enough it doesn't complete kill it, just makes it run extremely slow, without EE background it gave me a hard time to figure this out), I went to back to PC because it cost ~80% of the cost to fix it, and, touchbar. But you're right, it's been so many years and ASUS still haven't figured out hinges that don't break? Don't think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
  - christophilus 8y ago
    What do you mean by really slow? My old MacBook is also running slowly, and I hadn't thought of the capacitor as being a possible culprit.
dsego 8y ago
So you PC/windows guys, wasn't having a touchscreen on your laptop the be-all and end-all? Didn't work out? Wasn't gimmicky enough?
- Intermernet 8y ago
  I've been using touch screen laptops for so long now that when I use a mac I instinctively touch the screen to do certain things (usually scrolling) and am surprised / disappointed when nothing happens. I'm really surprised that Apple haven't combined the mac and the ipad yet.
- itomato 8y ago
  So many fingerprints
- nine_k 8y ago
  It's good for certain things in tablet mode. It's not easy to reach in proper laptop mode when you have to lift your arm and push the screen which is not firmly held.
codedokode 8y ago
A screen in a touchpad can be useful because it can help users to understand how to use different features like side scrolling or drag-and-drop. Also it can be used to display some useless information, like time, current keyboard layout or CPU load. Putting buttons on a touchpad is not the best idea because they would interfere with its normal usage. And by the way, why nobody makes separate keys for layout switching? It is very inconvenient to have a single key to switch layouts (like Win + Space that is the default for Gnome). It would be much better to have separate physical keys for each language so I can start typing with one of them and never type in the wrong layout. Seriously, why didn't anyone invented it yet?
- mbel 8y ago
  > Seriously, why didn't anyone invented it yet? Perhaps the user demand is not so big or even noticeable? It starts to make sense when you type in more than two languages regularly. I would argue that there are only couple of percents of bilingual users and people using three and more languages are even less common.
  - codedokode 8y ago
    But laptops often have useless keys like Caps Lock or even Scroll Lock (who uses that?) or Pause that doesn't pause anything. Replacing them with language switch keys makes more sense. You have to switch to Latin to type things like emails, URLs, foreign band names etc. And if you are writing a code then you have to switch constantly to type comments and messages in your naive language. So inconvenient. Bilingual users are not that rare, at least at school most people in my country study some foreign language. Of course it doesn't mean they are going to use it after graduation, but anyway.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
actionowl 8y ago
Why has it taken so long for this to happen?
bitwize 8y ago
Well, it beats replacing the keyboard with a touchscreen (something which I believed Asus did once, years ago). EDIT: I'm thinking of the Acer Iconia 6120, not an Asus product.
aorth 8y ago
Gimmick. Horrible.
jmartrican 8y ago
Just as a second monitor its a killer app. The ability to drag windows into it seems like a big deal.
chiefalchemist 8y ago
I think I'd rather keep a standard touchpad and instead be able to add a small tablet-sized second (or third) monitor. A screen for small things I need to see - especially when I'm working somewhere without my usual at-my-desk setup.
frogpelt 8y ago
Amazon should sell a laptop like this and play ads on the touchpad. The Amazon Fire Laptop with Special Offers.
djsumdog 8y ago
Dave 2D had a great video review on this product. What makes this totally different from the touch bar is with the touch bar, you have to wait for developers to add support in their products (or as a dev, write your own tooling). Apple has the muscle to simply make everyone support their crappy bar. The ZenBook screen is usable right away by anybody. You can just drag any window there. It can be your Steam chat while playing a game, it can be a browser with a Twitch stream or soccer game running in the background while your program, it can be your color pallet for Resolve while editing video ... It can be used for a lot of things the end user can take advantage of immediately without waiting for a developer to make explicit use of it. I wonder if it will work on Linux.
- ajross 8y ago
  > I wonder if it will work on Linux. If it's on one of the built-in Intel graphics outputs, then it will likely work out of the box (though of course none of the desktops will understand where it's supposed to be and probably put it in the wrong place, etc...). If it's some crazy piece of hardware Asus found, then maybe never.
  - deleted 8y ago
    [deleted]
  - reitanqild 8y ago
    > (though of course none of the desktops will understand where it's supposed to be and probably put it in the wrong place, etc...). Changing display layout on modern Linux desktops is really really simple IMO. You just open display settings and drag them into the layout you want.
    - friesen 8y ago
      or xrandr --output $touchpadscreen --below $builtinscreen
  - aswellian 8y ago
    Exactly that, proprietary hardware will limit usefulness for anything beyond specially developed Windows functionality. And, even if the hardware can be hacked for Linux the question becomes, how can it be made functional in a desktop environment independent way? Been doing R&D for a similar concept for several years, a detached video enabled trackpad. The key functionality which all concepts to date lack, is being OS agnostic and allowing end-user customization of functionality. It's a good effort, but is likely only the beginning...
ape4 8y ago
This is neat. But it needs some purpose. Maybe some indy developer will invent a good use for it!
booleandilemma 8y ago
A lot of naysayers on this thread but I just wanted to say I think it’s a cool, innovative feature. It’s like having a second monitor without having a second monitor. Apple is probably bummed they didn’t release it first.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
slim 8y ago
Killer app for this is full screen Nintendo ds emulator (any desmume dev here?)
zitterbewegung 8y ago
This looks like an interesting feature. I wonder though if you would get some neck strain since you are looking downwards at the track pad for a long amount of time.
AdmiralAsshat 8y ago
Off-topic: I had to whitelist javascript on the AMP page to get it to load properly, where it promptly pulled down nine JS scripts: https://imgur.com/SkQgMOU https://imgur.com/SkQgMOU Wasn't the whole point of AMP to stop this crap?
- d4l3k 8y ago
  Loading multiple scripts from one site isn't actually a performance issue. With HTTP2 there's almost no overhead since they all get multiplexed as streams over the same connection. With server push you also don't even have to have to wait for multiple round trips. https://medium.com/@asyncmax/the-right-way-to-bundle-your-assets-for-faster-sites-over-http-2-437c37efe3ff https://medium.com/@asyncmax/the-right-way-to-bundle-your-as... AMP is more focused on UI responsiveness with things like having a fixed content layout so the page doesn't jump around when things load, as well as loading things asynchronously in the background so first paint is faster. Splitting up the JS so only the first paint JS loads immediately and then progressively upgrade the page is actually a good thing. It makes it immediately usable for slow connections. https://www.ampproject.org/docs/fundamentals/spec#performance https://www.ampproject.org/docs/fundamentals/spec#performanc...
tiny-dancer 8y ago
How realistic is it that the screenpad will actually be a "drop in" real phone one day?
- itomato 8y ago
  I think it's more realistic to think there would be an app to let your phone act like Apple's Magic Trackpad without needing to house it in the laptop chassis.
linkmotif 8y ago
This is the logical next step and I’m all for it except it would be great if PC manufacturers first made their trackpads at least as good as Apple’s before they move on to whole new technologies.
itomato 8y ago
Toshiba produced a model ca. 2002 with a display in the trackpad. That the idea of an additional display in that form factor hasn't caught on says a lot about the usefulness of the feature in general. It's tough to imagine the end-user utility will outweigh the engineering challenges to make this viable longterm. https://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=384180 https://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?conten...
- monocasa 8y ago
  > That the idea of an additional display in that form factor hasn't caught on says a lot about the usefulness of the feature in general. Or maybe it says more about the economics. Screens have gotten cheaper since then.
Negative1 8y ago
It's another Window tethered to your trackpad. Probably my cynical side talking but I don't see how this will save me much time from using Spotlight, Alfred or Launchy. And yes, I have a touchbar and feel much the same towards it. On the flip side, having all keys as little oleds that can be remapped to anything I want is something I would likely use constantly.
notadoc 8y ago
Probably slightly more useful than a Touch Bar, but still it's another over engineered solution looking for a non-existent problem.
cheaprentalyeti 8y ago
This reminds me, out of curiosity, does anyone know of any "Turn your phone into a bluetooth touchpad" apps that actually work and don't need you to be running special software on your laptop? I want to be able to use my phone or tablet as a touchpad.

307 points by lando2319 8y ago

Speaking as someone who is slowly having more and more issue with glare, that last thing I want to a second light source on my laptop, but I can see where some people might like this.

systems 8y ago

that is very confusing i am sure the next step, someone will replace the physical keyboard, with full size touch screen and software keyboard and future laptops will come with two screens and no keyboard ... and they will be like tablets with double screen, and then someone will sell a physical keyboard accessory to the two screen laptop and .. it will be very confusing

lando2319 8y ago
Also looking on Amazon, there's at least some Asus Zen books already out which have a touchscreen, so what?, then you'd have a touch screen and a small touch screen over your touch pad...
Nightshaxx 8y ago
Lenovo already did it I'm pretty sure.
- ant6n 8y ago
  yes, and without haptic feedback, it's terrible to type on.
nomel 8y ago
Here’s [1] a review for a Lenovo model. [1] https://www.cnet.com/news/no-keyboard-no-problem-welcome-to-the-dual-screen-laptop-era-asus-lenovo-intel/ https://www.cnet.com/news/no-keyboard-no-problem-welcome-to-...
userbinator 8y ago
someone will replace the physical keyboard, with full size touch screen and software keyboard Already done many years ago: https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/29/2509236/acer-iconia-6120-touchbook-review https://www.theverge.com/2011/10/29/2509236/acer-iconia-6120...
baybal2 8y ago
It not that easy to use when you can't physically feel the keys. And having to wipe the screen so often sucks.
- hliyan 8y ago
  Haptic feedback?
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    Haptic feedback is better than nothing, but it closes a small fraction of the gap rather than making touchscreen equivalent to a physical keyboard.
gsich 8y ago
Please not. Input delay is absolutely annoying.

lgleason 8y ago

At first I thought this was an Onion article...

marcelluspye 8y ago

Didn't razer do this some time ago? I think this kind of thing is pretty cool, but ultimately, a touchpad below my keyboard is akin to the ones on the dashboard of many modern cars (though a lot less dangerous) in that I don't want to look there.

Nightshaxx 8y ago
They had a prototype of one where the Razer phone acctually got put in the laptop and was used as a touch pad. Also I think there was a gaming computer with a screen for a numpad.

quantumofmalice 8y ago

This makes far more sense than apples touch bar, especially if it was modal with a few different keys that brought up different screens.

agumonkey 8y ago
Only advantage for apple is the location. Less visual context switching.
- curun1r 8y ago
  It depends...for some tasks, it's less context switching. For example, Apple's Preview app has a feature where you can add a signature to a document. You can scan your signature, but you can also enter it on the touchpad. But the latter is very difficult because you can either look at your finger or the screen, but not both. Having this kind of screen would solve that problem.

analog31 8y ago

When I was looking for an inexpensive touch pad for a product idea, it appeared that small touch screens were only marginally more expensive -- and worked better -- than available off-the-shelf touch pads. That was without even lighting the display up. But of course the temptation to use the display for something would have been irresistible.

walrus01 8y ago
My theory is that economies of scale for 5.5 inch 1080p touchscreens in mainland Chinese manufacturing make it a lot cheaper now. That is just about the most common screen size and not the higher than 1080 resolution found on high end phones.
- seanmcdirmid 8y ago
  The LCDs are probably not made in mainland China though, and ASUS is still Taiwanese.
  - walrus01 8y ago
    ASUS is Taiwanese but as with most Taiwanese oem and odm these days, does the bulk of its manufacturing in the mainland. Same for others like msi, tyan, supermicro, quanta, hon hai precision industry (foxconn), etc.
    - seanmcdirmid 8y ago
      It does the bulk of its assembly in mainland China, assembly != production obviously, which is why, for example, most of an iPhone isn’t made in China even if it is assembled there. Components not made in China are actually more expensive to source there outside of SEZs.
  - dogma1138 8y ago
    Nearly all LCDs in China are made in China. The largest OLED and LCD manufacturers are now in China and I'm not talking about LG Display or JDI those are now dwarfed by the likes of TCL (biggest LCD manufacturer AFAIK), Visionox (biggest OLED manufacturer AFAIK), Tianma, EverDisplay, BOE and many many others. http://www.boe.com/en/index/pei.html http://www.boe.com/en/index/pei.html http://www.tcldisplay.com/en/home/index.html http://www.tcldisplay.com/en/home/index.html https://www.tianma.eu/ https://www.tianma.eu/ http://www.visionox.com/en/index.aspx http://www.visionox.com/en/index.aspx http://www.everdisplay.com/en/ http://www.everdisplay.com/en/ The LCD and OLED panel in your phone is more likely made in China by a Chinese company, the irony is now that even Samsung had use Visionox AMOLED in their phones especially recently because they were constrained with supplying their OLEDs to Apple. ASUS does not make displays the only Taiwanese display manufacturer is AU Optronics IIRC and they don't make small and medium size displays. The only thing that China still doesn't do well are large screen OLEDs (LG is now building a factory in China for that) and that's about it. China is oddly pushing AMOLED to the limit and are leading the development as far as flexible displays go much further than Samsung or LG do at least publicly.

Operyl 8y ago

OK, I skimmed but didn't see: what if I rest my palms on my trackpad? I don't want random actions taking place because of this.

naikrovek 8y ago
It's a trackpad. What do you think it will do if you touch it accidentally? It's gonna fuck your shit up so bad that you can't undo it, just like a real trackpad would.
- Operyl 8y ago
  Not true at all. macOS has some rather intelligent tracking if it’s a palm touching, or a finger for example. Alternatively, there’s also completely turning off tap to click. But that’s for taps, not for a full scale UI on my trackpad with dragging sliders etc.
  - naikrovek 8y ago
    Mac touchpads are better, but they still suck. The entire notion of the trackpad is flawed. They are awful, and no one cares. People just use them so much that they get used to them and they don't notice how anymore.

asafira 8y ago

I happen to have just watched this video that reviews the device: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wGGp88nBs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5wGGp88nBs Around the 5:50 mark: "Obviously you could watch movies and stuff on this [the touchpad screen]." Who writes this stuff.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

jeswin 8y ago

I think this is a wonderful idea, given that touchscreen responsiveness and power optimization have been a focus of research over the last decade. At worst it's a touch pad, at best it's so much more. Of course a lot depends on how software developers will embrace it - and I hope Linux users get some love. (I wish Asus and reviewers will stay away from gimmicks like watching movies on it.) In any case, far better than removing a set of useful keys from the top of a physical keyboard. Add: this also enables new types of casual games, similar to Wordament, Angry Birds etc. Oh, and better smudge tools on Photoshop.

deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
TAForObvReasons 8y ago
Office appears to have non-trivial ribbon integration: > The [Excel and Word] ribbon where they live occupies 20% of the screen on the ZenBook Pro, so shifting those functions to the top edge of the trackpad gives you more space to do your work. https://edgeup.asus.com/2018/take-control-with-the-zenbook-pro-ux580s-innovative-screenpad/ https://edgeup.asus.com/2018/take-control-with-the-zenbook-p...
_wmd 8y ago
At first sight the thing is terrifying, but it seems a rather quite reasonable alternative play on the touchbar that does not mess with the ability to sell the device. Two massive benefits: the tactile response of the keyboard is totally preserved, and the feature can be entirely disabled for conservative users who cannot think of an immediate use for the display. Clearly it will appeal to gadgeteers (as much as I expect the touchbar does) who can use it for instrumentation or other generally distracting applications. Then there is the blindingly obvious: video editing on a laptop always sucks, there is never enough screen space. But moving the monitor window (rendered video preview) to the touchpad area might change that considerably -- it amounts to a 25% increase in display area, and in a 'natural application' of video editing, the monitor would be separate anyway. I think this design, simply by virtue of being optional, and large and rectangular, is hugely more applicable than the touchbar. The modality (pumping F6 to enable/disable) could definitely be improved upon. I can imagine it quite natural to use a hot corner of the pad itself as a toggle, or perhaps some gesture or similar. Very excited to see how these work out in the real world

nerdwaller 8y ago

The big difference between the ASUS usage (which I wouldn’t consider buying) and the Apple TouchBar (one I don’t love, but can understand for non-pro users) is that the TouchBar is intended to not be an extension to the display[0]. The trackpad as a complimentary display seems pretty gimmicky - at least while the market share for the maker is so limited. Of course some level of that is up to the implementation of the various apps (but since it’s not 1st party to the OS, I expect usage issues). I’d expect a standard user (and even myself) to be highly confused about if they can use the area as a trackpad or if they need to toggle some mode. > Use the Touch Bar as an extension of the keyboard and trackpad, not as a display. [0]: https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/macos/touch-bar/touch-bar-overview/ https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guideline...

jeswin 8y ago
The examples they've currently demonstrated are useless, and that's probably because ASUS alone cannot bring software partners on board. Real use cases will arrive when Windows adds support for touchscreen pads, which I think they should do. Once software support is available, ASUS's implementation can be used by "pro-users" in novel ways; especially in content creation apps. Apple's bar is one dimensional, which limits what it can be used for. I wouldn't trade that for physical keys I press every day.

nielsbot 8y ago

For this to provide a great user experience Asus will need a really high level of software + hardware integration.. (Think Apple or Nintendo) Without that this is just a gimmick.

hliyan 8y ago

This is really going to distract touch typists due to peripheral vision. If they really want to do something revolutionary, they should try replacing the entire keyboard with a touch screen with haptic feedback (like the MacBook touchpad). Force touch when the keyboard is displayed will act as a keypress. Soft touch will control the mouse pointer.

WiseWeasel 8y ago
Something like this maybe: https://tanvas.co/ https://tanvas.co/ CES 2017 coverage by Engadget: https://youtu.be/LrbJWiAc6JI https://youtu.be/LrbJWiAc6JI
nvarsj 8y ago
Sounds absolutely awful. Your hands would be in pain using that after 8 hours.

_hardwaregeek 8y ago

I was walking through a computer store recently and I couldn't help but notice how tacky all the computers looked. The Touch Bar may be frivolous, pretty useless and a waste of money, but it blends into the design of the laptop and most importantly, is subtle. Now, Asus could certainly prove me wrong and implement some beautiful, understated software for the touchpad, but judging by the demo photos, that isn't the case. Not to mention, how does it perform as a touchpad? Will I have to avoid hitting some corner for fear that it will open a new app? At least the Touch Bar took away features that most consumers (i.e. non professional computer users) won't miss.

giancarlostoro 8y ago
I use a Trackball mouse so this sounds awesome but I already decided to get a Microsoft Surface Book 2 for my next laptop so I wont bother.
mgiannopoulos 8y ago
I’ve been trying to find a cheaper MBP replacement after 10 years with 3 MBP. Everything else is ugly. Some decent choices end up at the or worse price point as Apple.
- mrep 8y ago
  Which model are you currently on because my top of the line 2013 15 inch MBP is still running like a champ. If you are willing to try out windows, the surface pros are actually pretty sweat. I got one for my gf for grad school and will probably get one for myself if my MBP ever dies.
  - mgiannopoulos 8y ago
    Retina 2012 MBP but the battery is practically dead and the monitor seems to be not bright as it used to be. I wouldn’t mind a CPU/RAM upgrade.
    - mrep 8y ago

_emacsomancer_ 8y ago

I'll be happy when Lenovo releases another ThinkPad which has NO trackpad, and only the TrackPoint.

keyle 8y ago
It probably wouldn't sell enough numbers and would be a financial disaster. As an option, that'd be nice. But that'd probably require re-engineering the inside shell...
- _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
  Until much more recently than I care to admit I'd never experienced an TrackPoint, and was (consequently) of the opinion that laptops were nearly unusable without a table and external mouse. TrackPoints make laptops actually usable (for me, at least).
  - keyle 8y ago
    yeah I had an old thinkpad that had one (pre-lenovo). Once I got used to it, it was the best pointing device by far. But anyone trying to use it on my laptop would instantly go 'nah-ah'.
    - _emacsomancer_ 8y ago
      I have an older X200 which does lack a trackpad. I'm currently using a X230 which does have a trackpad, but I ended up physically disabling it (and the finger-print reader) simply by unplugging them, so when the Microsoft-powered 'teaching interface' in my own class failed (well, actually lots of times, but memorably – in two different semesters – when the students were giving presentations) I had to put my own machine in service as the 'projector driver', almost of the students were flummoxed by the TrackPoint (since the TrackPad obviously won't work, being unplugged), despite being business students who (I thought) should be familiar with ThinkPad and their TrackPoints.
transfire 8y ago

yeukhon 8y ago

I thought I would hate the TouchBar. But after two days of using it, I like it. I have been using Pro version for about 3 months and I still love the TouchBar. I don’t know how to explain this, but I just no longer feels the need to press an esc key, and no more tapping for adjusting volume/brightness. I can also adjust font size or color in Words using the touchbar. My I can choose an emjoi in hipchat client using touchbar application. It feels great. This, I don’t know, really weird. I might have to try it, but I doubt I will like it at all. The whole purpose seems like a secondry screen to me. Constantly having to look down instead of looking at the bigger screen so you can control is so backward to me.

Gigablah 8y ago
Looking forward to your review after two days of using it.
- yeukhon 8y ago
  I said 3 months. Please read.
  - sundvor 8y ago
    Ambiguous. Better: "But after only two days of using it, I liked it; I have been using Pro version for another ~3 months now and I still love the TouchBar."
  - saagarjha 8y ago
    You have a grammatical tense error that significantly changes the meaning of what you're trying to say.
yedpodtrzitko 8y ago
> Constantly having to look down instead of looking at the bigger screen so you can control is so backward to me ...unlike doing the same thing with TouchBar (?)
- 8y ago

rjplatte 8y ago

This would be cool /if/ it added more functionality. For example—a digitizer, Force Touch, or both. I love my MbP Trackpad, but a digitizer would absolutely slay, especially combined with some sort of display.

asafira 8y ago
Do others here use the "hard push" functionality of their trackpad? I honestly forget that's a thing most of the time.
- saagarjha 8y ago
  I use it constantly to preview links and look things up.

peterburkimsher 8y ago

This is really good for users of international keyboards like me! When I need to type Chinese or Korean then it's much easier on my phone than my laptop, because my laptop lacks the engravings.

gumby 8y ago

I'm glad someone is experimenting with new interfaces, but for me this is kind of a gimmick, like the MacBook touchbar or the big touch-sensitive screens in cars. Any interface that requires looking at it will slow me down/distract me. There's huge value in the keyboard keys all being in the same place and in not shifting your gaze in order to move the mouse pointer.

some_account 8y ago
I don't see the value in this myself either but nice with experiments I guess. I've never used my laptop and wished for a small screen in the touchpad. But for some tech, you have to try it to understand.

kensai 8y ago

They beat Apple to the punch! :) Seriously, I think it's a positive evolution. I wish they had the same laptop at 13" though.

theshadowknows 8y ago

How long until there’s a system dashboard running on that thing. That’d be really cool spot for it on a laptop. Especially if the touchpad works as usual and you can just glance at it for system updates.

onyva 8y ago

Why? As far as visuals go, the Touch Bar (which dislike) is at least in line of sight and you hands are not over it all the time. Regardless, why not just improve on using one's phone the way you can already with some 3rd party apps... since almost the first day touch screen phones were available? It can at least be positioned anywhere that works for you. You'd also save the world a cycle of e-waste for the sake of “we too” 2nd hand innovation. Imagine Microsoft would have actually worked with them to salvage and re-purpose the millions of Windows phones (now in dumpsters and land fills), as detachable touch pads.

avcdsuia 8y ago

I think Asus's Project Precog[0] deserves more interests than this. We programmers always complain about display size , ratio and amount. Using this dual screen laptop vertically with your beloved external keyboard could be sublime. It's like having two Surface Pro tablets right in front of you, or a dual screens desktop setup that fits in a backpack. As long as my way to interpret this product works, I don't care whatever Asus comes up with to make it feels like a normal laptop. [0]: https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/ https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/

mwill 8y ago
There's a picture with the exact setup you describe[0] and it's all I want now. I hope it makes it actually makes it to a launch. [0]:https://cdn.pocket-lint.com/r/s/660x/assets/images/144750-laptops-review-asus-precog-initial-review-concept-notebook-with-two-screens-in-the-flesh-image3-z6fjwp450d.jpg https://cdn.pocket-lint.com/r/s/660x/assets/images/144750-la...
ipython 8y ago
Looks awesome... but what does that have to do with AI? I guess “optimized for blockchain” was already taken?
- RickS 8y ago
  It seems that by AI they mean "non keyboard input", and not... any of the other wildly more practical uses of that term. > Project Precog is designed to provide a smooth and intuitive experience for industry-leading AI technologies. With support for the Windows Cortana and Amazon Alexa voice services, the dual-screen design lets you keep your main tasks in full view while Cortana and Alexa process other tasks on the second screen Definitely feels like a weird marketing gimmick atop an already strong looking product offering.

tambourine_man 8y ago

>Unlike Apple’s limited and unhelpful MacBook Pro Touch Bar… I’m not big fan of the touch bar either, but to state an opinion as fact is just bad journalism.

lloeki 8y ago
This[0] almost made me finally accept the idea of possibly having the TouchBar on my next laptop. [0]: http://vas3k.com/blog/touchbar/ http://vas3k.com/blog/touchbar/
- deergomoo 8y ago
  I thoroughly enjoyed that article. It was a weird decision to not make the default state of the Touch Bar be a widget bin. They could even have launched yet another App Store for it.
eksemplar 8y ago
There isn’t any real description of how the thing operates either. I mean, a big part of the reason I’m using a MacBook Pro is because it’s touchpad is damn near magic. I don’t care about office integration, all I care about is how well it operates compared to the trackpad on a MacBook, and I donut I’m the only one.
Larrikin 8y ago
The most stressful thing about starting my next job is that I've got to choose a new laptop only for work. I've only used a Mac for years and this is the first time I've ever considered switching because there are no computers they make that I actually want. Apple has really dropped the ball on their entire line and the touchbar eliminating a lot of useful keys is a pretty bad idea compared to replacing the touchpad.
- whymauri 8y ago
  I've gotten used to using the touch bar for function keys and [esc] after only a week or so. It's fairly customizable, which surprised me. I don't think it's that bad, but then again I am not paying for it (company hardware).

petecox 8y ago

This could be useful for app development. A 1080 landscape device on the keyboard, mirrored at 4X on screen. (Although the digits used are different. When in landscape, my fingers cradle a phone at a 45-60 degree angle with both thumbs used for input. On a horizontal touchpad the index finger(s) are doing much of the input)

kjeetgill 8y ago

The biggest question I have is if the input resolution and latency are better than a traditional touch pad. The additional display will never be useful enough to overcome a mediocre touch pad experience. It seems to support acting as a second display so I'm feeling optimistic about Linux.

npunt 8y ago

The Zenbook is a decent looking computer, and this completely cheapens the look of it. The trackpad display is trash - it's a low-contrast LCD with bad backlight bleed and aggressive matte finish... something out of the parts bin of cheap phones and old car infotainment systems. When compared to the higher quality main display it looks totally out of place. If they fixed that, there'd still be the issue of usability & utility. This doesn't seem like a complementary feature, it seems like two separate devices bolted together that require heavy context shifting (e.g. if the music card is up, you can't just use the trackpad to access something else on your computer). As implemented it seems like yet another electronics company gimmick like 3d TVs - made because its easy to build, not because the feature offers enough utility to justify its complexity. That said, I hold out hope for a lay-flat dual-display clamshell with proper haptics and that re-thinks the entire input UI around that paradigm.

alluro2 8y ago
https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/ https://www.asus.com/Project-Precog/

crazy_monkey 8y ago

This is better than the touchbar at least. You can use this to watch Youtube videos or movies while working! :D

geoalchimista 8y ago

Seems quite functional and elegant. Everything that touchbar is not. In retrospect, I think Apple's gonna regret the touchbar design. (But I do have doubts on this touchscreen design like how frictionless it is for a user to switch back and forth between its touchpad and touchscreen functionalities.)

saagarjha 8y ago
> Seems quite functional and elegant. Everything that touchbar is not. How so?
- jayd16 8y ago
  Enough space to actually have some good UX, tool tips etc. This is adding features to the touch pad instead of replacing function keys and losing physical key response.

robbrown451 8y ago

The killer app for this is a touchscreen keypad, for the new generation of technology users that type better on one of those than on an actual keyboard.

jlebrech 8y ago

when apple puts a touchpad along the top it's genius, when asus puts it at the bottom it's "dubious"

saagarjha 8y ago
That's because the bottom isn't generally a great place to put a screen if you want it to be visible and usable. It's where your palms are, not your fingers, and generally it'll be at least partially covered by your hands.

jaxondu 8y ago

Razer has a prototype where the touchpad is an empty slot where you can insert your smartphone into, and use the smartphone screen as touchpad.

saagarjha 8y ago

Not sure about this design, since it introduces modality where there previously was none. Obviously I haven't used this, so I can't comment on it that way, but I fear people accidentally tapping on things in the trackpad when it's in "touchscreen" mode when they really meant to move their cursor around.

KozmoNau7 8y ago
That's exactly my concern as well. With current laptops, the touchpad is always the touchpad. When you touch it, the cursor moves, end of story. I don't want to look down to make sure I'm not opening menus or whatever. On the other hand, I can see a use for modal controls. Sliders, knobs and so on. But then I would also like a dedicated pointing device as well, like a trackpoint.

sorokod 8y ago

I am genuinely puzzled - what problem does this solve?

Jerry2 8y ago
It solves marketing dept's "laptops aren't selling, we need a new gimmick" problem.

Elect2 8y ago

They are making laptop more difficult to use.

pmontra 8y ago

We'll see if the touchscreen gets any traction. I'd like to point out that this is perhaps the only non Mac laptop that has a 15" screen and doesn't have a number pad. The keyboard is aligned with the center of the screen and the space bar is almost there too. Joy! I could buy this laptop only for that, even if with Linux I'll probably have to wait the next laptop before the touchscreen is of any use. But no, the RAM is capped at 16 GB and I'm using 32 GB on my HP laptop (several projects for several customers, each one with a different language and environment.) However my 15" laptop has a useless (for me) number pad with the result that I have to shift it half to the right to be able to keep my hands in front of me and not skewed to the left, which would probably do nasty things to all my upper body. This is the norm for all 15" laptops and I wonder if their designers stopped at the cover page of Norman's "The Design of Everyday Things", with the famous teapot for masochists, and deluded themselves into believing that this is the right way to build stuff. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/dp/1452654123 https://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/...

lloeki 8y ago
> The keyboard is aligned with the center of the screen and the space bar is almost there too. Joy! Oh the keypad hell, it's been such a RSI inducer on my back for years. What nonsense is this to put a keypad on the right side of keyboards which results, being right handed, in either the mouse being too far right or the keyboard being off center.
- jeswin 8y ago
  I keep the mouse below the external keyboard (instead of to the right), and it has worked out really well for me. It may not work well with laptops though, since the trackpad adds to the distance the hand must travel. But I still wanna put it out there for all the external keyboard users. Illustration: https://twitter.com/jeswin/status/680343382783213568 https://twitter.com/jeswin/status/680343382783213568
- Tijdreiziger 8y ago
  A good design centers the touchpad on the alphanumeric part of the keyboard, example: http://xahlee.info/kbd/i/Dell_Inspiron_laptop_keyboard_2014-02-07-2.jpg http://xahlee.info/kbd/i/Dell_Inspiron_laptop_keyboard_2014-...

meuk 8y ago

Maybe I'm a bit conservative and/or sour, but I think this is a bad idea for two reasons. 1. It will require a lot of developer effort and testing on this specific device. I regard this as a move in the bad direction: Computer interfaces should be more unified, not less. 2. You're giving the touchpad two functions which are not compatible (and the second function is not necessary: we already have a screen!). If you're happily clicking your way through stuff and some menu suddenly shows up, you will click a bunch of random stuff.

sheerun 8y ago
You can just display what's on main screen and have nice touch support without having your fingerprints visible on screen and wiggling laptop.
- meuk 8y ago
  That could work well! Although it's not really what the article suggests. If you have Spotify on your touchpad like in the picture in the article, that means that you can't use your touchpad - I imagine it would be bloody annoying.
  - Dylan16807 8y ago
    At worst you have to hit a button to switch input type. An extra keypress before using touch controls isn't too bad.
  - alkonaut 8y ago
    There has to be some kind of quick switch to toggle between direct input to the small screen, and using it as a touchpad. E.g drag in from outside the edge of the small screen to begin using it as a touchpad. Drag from the inside and out off the screen to switch to direct touch. For obvious reasons it can’t be both a touchpad and a touch screen at the same time.
EugeneOZ 8y ago
Just use it in touchpad mode :) I think it's great idea. I usually have my iPhone exactly under the keyboard when I play games - this way I can read something between matches. Even reply in Skype to simple questions :)

mamon 8y ago

This is the MacBook Pro's touchbar done right :)

garganzol 8y ago

It is just a gimmick. There is a display for that, no need to mess with touch screen (or touch bar).

tudorw 8y ago

I generally touch type, so not sure why I'd want to look down to do things. I like the matte finish on the screen though.

yani 8y ago

This is exactly what Apple should have done.

ferongr 8y ago

If my experience with Asus Android devices and routers is anything to go by, the feature will be a minimum viable gimmick with lots of bugs that will be abandoned down the line.

b212 8y ago

I'm never ever going to buy another ZenBook again. I got one for my girlfriend and another one for my dad, around the same time one of my dev friends also decided to move to ZenBook from rMBP. Compared to Macbooks it looks, feels and works cheap (the trackpad, d'oh), but that's not the major issue as almost everything is that way excepting Surafaces/XPSes. But the real issue here is this: hinges. They're horrible. They break every 2 to 9 months. Their quality is also very easy to test - just open any ZenBook in shop and wobble it. Macbook's screen is as solid as rock, won't move an ich, while ZenBooks one - well, it wobbles. Almost unusable on the bus for example, your screen will shake as hell on even smallest bump or corner. And then the hinges will break and Asus will replace them for you. And the new ones will last a year, if you're lucky. Then it happens again and again and all of sudden you're out of warranty and at this point, after replacing hinges for a few times, you're told that they'd gladly replace them for you - and it costs only around $400, while you paid for your ZenBoook $1000, two years ago. %#$# them. And I wasn't unlucky, this is considered normal for Asus: http://www.breadcrumbsguide.com/asus-zenbook-review/ http://www.breadcrumbsguide.com/asus-zenbook-review/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP-NwyE4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP-NwyE4H4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ju1aCd4iOo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ju1aCd4iOo etc. Terrible, terrible build quality and no respect for consumers, don't even go near them.

utbabya 8y ago
I moved to macbook when my ASUS laptop's hinges broke about 4 years ago because it's ~50% of the cost to fix it. The macbook's capacitor died earlier this year (funny enough it doesn't complete kill it, just makes it run extremely slow, without EE background it gave me a hard time to figure this out), I went to back to PC because it cost ~80% of the cost to fix it, and, touchbar. But you're right, it's been so many years and ASUS still haven't figured out hinges that don't break? Don't think they deserve the benefit of the doubt.
- christophilus 8y ago
  What do you mean by really slow? My old MacBook is also running slowly, and I hadn't thought of the capacitor as being a possible culprit.

dsego 8y ago

So you PC/windows guys, wasn't having a touchscreen on your laptop the be-all and end-all? Didn't work out? Wasn't gimmicky enough?

Intermernet 8y ago
I've been using touch screen laptops for so long now that when I use a mac I instinctively touch the screen to do certain things (usually scrolling) and am surprised / disappointed when nothing happens. I'm really surprised that Apple haven't combined the mac and the ipad yet.
itomato 8y ago
So many fingerprints
nine_k 8y ago
It's good for certain things in tablet mode. It's not easy to reach in proper laptop mode when you have to lift your arm and push the screen which is not firmly held.

codedokode 8y ago

A screen in a touchpad can be useful because it can help users to understand how to use different features like side scrolling or drag-and-drop. Also it can be used to display some useless information, like time, current keyboard layout or CPU load. Putting buttons on a touchpad is not the best idea because they would interfere with its normal usage. And by the way, why nobody makes separate keys for layout switching? It is very inconvenient to have a single key to switch layouts (like Win + Space that is the default for Gnome). It would be much better to have separate physical keys for each language so I can start typing with one of them and never type in the wrong layout. Seriously, why didn't anyone invented it yet?

mbel 8y ago
> Seriously, why didn't anyone invented it yet? Perhaps the user demand is not so big or even noticeable? It starts to make sense when you type in more than two languages regularly. I would argue that there are only couple of percents of bilingual users and people using three and more languages are even less common.
- codedokode 8y ago
  But laptops often have useless keys like Caps Lock or even Scroll Lock (who uses that?) or Pause that doesn't pause anything. Replacing them with language switch keys makes more sense. You have to switch to Latin to type things like emails, URLs, foreign band names etc. And if you are writing a code then you have to switch constantly to type comments and messages in your naive language. So inconvenient. Bilingual users are not that rare, at least at school most people in my country study some foreign language. Of course it doesn't mean they are going to use it after graduation, but anyway.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

actionowl 8y ago

Why has it taken so long for this to happen?

bitwize 8y ago

Well, it beats replacing the keyboard with a touchscreen (something which I believed Asus did once, years ago). EDIT: I'm thinking of the Acer Iconia 6120, not an Asus product.

aorth 8y ago

Gimmick. Horrible.

jmartrican 8y ago

Just as a second monitor its a killer app. The ability to drag windows into it seems like a big deal.

chiefalchemist 8y ago

I think I'd rather keep a standard touchpad and instead be able to add a small tablet-sized second (or third) monitor. A screen for small things I need to see - especially when I'm working somewhere without my usual at-my-desk setup.

frogpelt 8y ago

Amazon should sell a laptop like this and play ads on the touchpad. The Amazon Fire Laptop with Special Offers.

djsumdog 8y ago

Dave 2D had a great video review on this product. What makes this totally different from the touch bar is with the touch bar, you have to wait for developers to add support in their products (or as a dev, write your own tooling). Apple has the muscle to simply make everyone support their crappy bar. The ZenBook screen is usable right away by anybody. You can just drag any window there. It can be your Steam chat while playing a game, it can be a browser with a Twitch stream or soccer game running in the background while your program, it can be your color pallet for Resolve while editing video ... It can be used for a lot of things the end user can take advantage of immediately without waiting for a developer to make explicit use of it. I wonder if it will work on Linux.

ajross 8y ago
> I wonder if it will work on Linux. If it's on one of the built-in Intel graphics outputs, then it will likely work out of the box (though of course none of the desktops will understand where it's supposed to be and probably put it in the wrong place, etc...). If it's some crazy piece of hardware Asus found, then maybe never.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
- reitanqild 8y ago
  > (though of course none of the desktops will understand where it's supposed to be and probably put it in the wrong place, etc...). Changing display layout on modern Linux desktops is really really simple IMO. You just open display settings and drag them into the layout you want.
  - friesen 8y ago
    or xrandr --output $touchpadscreen --below $builtinscreen
- aswellian 8y ago
  Exactly that, proprietary hardware will limit usefulness for anything beyond specially developed Windows functionality. And, even if the hardware can be hacked for Linux the question becomes, how can it be made functional in a desktop environment independent way? Been doing R&D for a similar concept for several years, a detached video enabled trackpad. The key functionality which all concepts to date lack, is being OS agnostic and allowing end-user customization of functionality. It's a good effort, but is likely only the beginning...

ape4 8y ago

This is neat. But it needs some purpose. Maybe some indy developer will invent a good use for it!

booleandilemma 8y ago

A lot of naysayers on this thread but I just wanted to say I think it’s a cool, innovative feature. It’s like having a second monitor without having a second monitor. Apple is probably bummed they didn’t release it first.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

slim 8y ago

Killer app for this is full screen Nintendo ds emulator (any desmume dev here?)

zitterbewegung 8y ago

This looks like an interesting feature. I wonder though if you would get some neck strain since you are looking downwards at the track pad for a long amount of time.

AdmiralAsshat 8y ago

Off-topic: I had to whitelist javascript on the AMP page to get it to load properly, where it promptly pulled down nine JS scripts: https://imgur.com/SkQgMOU https://imgur.com/SkQgMOU Wasn't the whole point of AMP to stop this crap?

d4l3k 8y ago
Loading multiple scripts from one site isn't actually a performance issue. With HTTP2 there's almost no overhead since they all get multiplexed as streams over the same connection. With server push you also don't even have to have to wait for multiple round trips. https://medium.com/@asyncmax/the-right-way-to-bundle-your-assets-for-faster-sites-over-http-2-437c37efe3ff https://medium.com/@asyncmax/the-right-way-to-bundle-your-as... AMP is more focused on UI responsiveness with things like having a fixed content layout so the page doesn't jump around when things load, as well as loading things asynchronously in the background so first paint is faster. Splitting up the JS so only the first paint JS loads immediately and then progressively upgrade the page is actually a good thing. It makes it immediately usable for slow connections. https://www.ampproject.org/docs/fundamentals/spec#performance https://www.ampproject.org/docs/fundamentals/spec#performanc...

tiny-dancer 8y ago

How realistic is it that the screenpad will actually be a "drop in" real phone one day?

itomato 8y ago
I think it's more realistic to think there would be an app to let your phone act like Apple's Magic Trackpad without needing to house it in the laptop chassis.

linkmotif 8y ago

This is the logical next step and I’m all for it except it would be great if PC manufacturers first made their trackpads at least as good as Apple’s before they move on to whole new technologies.

itomato 8y ago

Toshiba produced a model ca. 2002 with a display in the trackpad. That the idea of an additional display in that form factor hasn't caught on says a lot about the usefulness of the feature in general. It's tough to imagine the end-user utility will outweigh the engineering challenges to make this viable longterm. https://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?contentId=384180 https://support.toshiba.com/support/viewContentDetail?conten...

monocasa 8y ago
> That the idea of an additional display in that form factor hasn't caught on says a lot about the usefulness of the feature in general. Or maybe it says more about the economics. Screens have gotten cheaper since then.

Negative1 8y ago

It's another Window tethered to your trackpad. Probably my cynical side talking but I don't see how this will save me much time from using Spotlight, Alfred or Launchy. And yes, I have a touchbar and feel much the same towards it. On the flip side, having all keys as little oleds that can be remapped to anything I want is something I would likely use constantly.

notadoc 8y ago

Probably slightly more useful than a Touch Bar, but still it's another over engineered solution looking for a non-existent problem.

cheaprentalyeti 8y ago

This reminds me, out of curiosity, does anyone know of any "Turn your phone into a bluetooth touchpad" apps that actually work and don't need you to be running special software on your laptop? I want to be able to use my phone or tablet as a touchpad.