By Chris Chang, posted Jun 5, 2012 at 4:39 PM, 2,413 views,

Meet The ASUS TAICHI, World’s First Laptop with Dual 1080p Displays (video)

Taiwanese PC manufacturer ASUS has introduced a ridiculously brilliant product at Computex, a dual-screen laptop. Yup, it’s real, and it’s called the TAICHI. At first sight, you may think the TAICHI is just a laptop with ultra-thin design, but looking closer, you will see full-HD (1,920 x 1,080-pixel) screens on both sides of the lid. The screen on the outside is touch-capable and when the lid is closed, the TAICHI functions as a tablet, but with the lid opened both screens can be used independently, enabling same-time sharing with a friend face-to-face. Check out the video after the break to see it in action, and don’t miss out the wonderful moment of ASUS CEO Jonney Shih revealing the awesomeness of TAICHI.

Gallery: ASUS TAICHI hands-on

So, the TAICHI is designed in a laptop form factor but it has a second display that covers the entire back cover. You may ask, what’s the use of that second display? Well, ASUS wants you to use the Taichi as a Windows 8 Ultrabook, or close the lid to use it as a Windows 8 tablet. With the second display, it would be great for digital board games for two people face-to-face. Or maybe it would be cool to show stuff to members in a small group without the need to keep turning the laptop around. However we’re afraid “NSFW content” may accidentally show up on the second display if we forgot to turn off the function of displaying same content in mirror mode. Yeah, you know what we mean.

Here’s the specs. TAICHI will be powered by Intel Ivy Bridge Core i7 processors, and comes along with 4 gigs of RAM, SSD storage, dual-band 802.11n Wi-Fi, FHD/Super IPS+ displays (1920×1080 pixels) and dual cameras — a five-megapixel rear camera and front-facing HD camera. It will run Windows 8 for sure.

According to ASUS, the two screens can be used independently and that both can be used for different applications at the same time. This opens up possibilities such as having a friend play a Metro-style app while another person types away at the keyboard end. However, Windows 8 is required for this to work.

In ‘laptop’ mode, you can use TAICHI with a backlit QWERTY keyboard and trackpad.

The 11-incher TAICHI offers pretty much connectivity options which include two USB 3.0 ports, a micro HDMI port, a mini DisplayPort, a power button, lock toggle, a headphone jack, a volume up/down switch, a rotation lock button, and a power port.

It looks like ASUS Zenbook, and according to tech journalists who did a hands-on treatment with the 11.6-inch model on the show floor, it weighs virtually the same as the 11.6-inch Zenbook Prime. What’s more, ASUS is saying that the TAICHI might end up being thinner than the ASUS Zenbook Prime UX21A when the hardware is finalised.

This is how it looks like when the second display is turned off. Super glossy!

You can use TAICHI like a tablet when the lid is closed.

The whole thing is pretty cool huh? If you are ready to get one, please stay tuned. Pricing and availability for the ASUS TAICHI is not yet available. ASUS told everyone that the TAICHI will be released in either dual 13.3-inch screens or dual 11.6-inch screens. Whichever size you pick, you’ll get Super IPS+ 1080p panels. Man, we think this device is super cool, but we hope the battery doesn’t suck.

Source: PC Watch, Mobile01, udn
More Coverage: ASUS