If there’s one thing I know about longtime readers of this web site, it’s that you love to complain about large screen bezels. Sure, netbook bezels have come a long way since the Asus Eee PC 701 with its bezel that was almost larger than the screen itself. But when you’re looking at a tiny laptop, it’s kind of hard not to wonder how much larger the screen could be if there wasn’t all that plastic surrounding it.
Well, it looks like we may get to find out later this year. DigiTimes is reporting that Acer plans to launch a notebook later this year that’s all screen and no bezel. Instead of a traditional laptop lid, the cover of the Acer laptop would be printed right onto the back of the glass display panel.
DigiTimes says the laptop will also have a touchscreen keyboard, which will also be thinner and lighter than a traditional keyboard. Overall, the concept sounds a lot like the MSI dual screen netbook that I saw at CES — only without the bezel or lid.
The design will help keep the laptop super thin and light — and possibly rather fragile. I’d hate to drop this thing on the floor.
If it had an OLED screen, there would be no need for a back light since it is self elluminating. The newer OLED are hardier.
https://www.oled-display.net
Since the screen is one of the most power hungry components, doubling that power draw doesn’t seem like a good idea. I hope they’ve got some new lower power screen technology in those netbooks.
If the second screen is being used as a keyboard, I see no reason why it needs to be backlit. It’s the backlighting that sucks down the power. They could go with a transflective screen for the secondary screen and only turn the backlighting on when necessary.
And as I’ve said before, “no bezel” only makes a difference if you can open the thing up completely and make one giant virtual display. And in that case, it’s only one edge that needs the “no bezel”.