Dual Screen Notebooks - They're Here, and Competing with one Another

Dual screened notebooks have become more than concept - we've gotten to the point where two versions of a similar dual screened netbook are competing with one another over price and features. Excellent.

Around two months ago we speculated about the future of dual screened notebooks, taking note of past entries and current concepts andprototypes. Since then, that Kohjinsha prototype has gone on sale, delivering close to but not quite what was promised at CEATAC. And more recently still, before the Kohjinshas would have been delivered in fact, an Onkyo rebadge of the dual screened netbook has appeared, essentially offering a superior product for the same price.

Companies don't compete like this unless they see there is a market for it, and that means good things for the dual screened market. I'm not sure what the volume of orders Kohjinsha received was, but it was apparently enough that somebody else wanted to get in on the action and profits.

In case you were wondering, the Kohjinsha DZ sported netbook sized 1.02 x 8.26 x 0.74~1.65 inch dimensions and a weight of 4.09 pounds. Of course, it had the dual 10.1" displays, although each only managed a maximum resolution of 1,024 x 600. For a processor you get an HD capable 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo to go along with 1GB RAM (upgradable to 4GB) and a 160GB 5400RPM HDD. Battery life was supposedly 4.5 hours and it packed Windows 7 Home Premium. The cost found on their website is currently ¥79,800 ($909).

The Onkyo DX, on the other hand, features a resolution of 1,366 x 768 on each display - which is what had been promised at CEATEC in the first place. It also upgrades the HDD to a 320GB 7200RPM unit, and starts you off with 2GB RAM (similarly upgradable to 4GB). The price (as listed on their website) jumps incrementally to ¥84,800 (~$966) for these upgrades.

It's still too early to say if this isn't destined to be a niche market, but this competition assures us that there is at least a real market of some kind for this kind of device. Or, at least, that the kind of people paid to research if there is a market for something thinkthere's something here. Because when it comes down to it, you're still paying nearly $1,000 for the processing power of a netbook - and I'm not sure there are many would be willing to pay that much.

Whether this new genre lives or dies may come down to whether there is enough demand to continue to lower that price point. At what point would you buy a dual screened netbook? Or does ~$1,000 sounds reasonable enough for you, given all those wonderful pixels? Let us know what you think in the comments.