Vista Sideshow worth the cost?

Hi just wanted to know what the general concensus on the vista sideshow feature. Basically an external display on the lid of the laptop which can be used to view emails, appointments, play music, video, view photos, etc whether the laptop in on, off or in sleep mode. Just wanted to know how many people see value in it. Is it worth an extra $100 to some or do most see it as a gimmick. Lets also say that it would be on a 15.4" laptop where as so far I've personally seen it on ultraportables.

 

THe idea is cool...reminds me of a giant cellphone. You can see whos calling you and sometimes take pictures with the outside screen, but the inside screen has all the display and option features. Unfortunatly, i think people would much rather see an upgraded processor/gpu than an extra screen for another hundred dollars, so it probably won't be acceptable as a 100 dollar upgrade/add on.

Also, i dont' know about you guys, but the lid of the laptop seems like an accident prone place for a screen.

 

thanks for the feeback.

To date i think the Asus f5e (i hope thats correct) and an LG model has popped up with the sideshow. I honestly didn't see the benefit at 1st but when you think about it there are some useful applications. I saw the developers saying that it would be nice to check appointment details without having to power on the whole laptop and waiting for everything to load. Listening to music and skipping tracks without having to open the laptop screen. Its really focused on reducing the power the lcd would take up. I think a 2 line display instead of a QVGA screen would be better suited for most but i'm curious as to why we haven't seen many. We're looking at some concepts at the moment and although we wouldn't charge $100 extra its interesting as to how valuable one would consider to be. I think the real question would be if there was a well priced notebook with sideshow would that be a turn off?

 

That seems cool. It also reminds me of a presentation style screen. I.E. You can be working on something, and display Something to your students, or colleuges or something on the external side of the lid.

Also, if you could to tasks such as watching movies, checking quick documents and other things without booting up windows, that would be a great plus plus plus. That would save battery life, and make small tasks alot quicker.

If there's a nice notebook, with slideshow, i'd think of it as a great addon. Especially if 3rd party software or such can produce infinante possibilities, just like customizable lcd displays on modern laptops. Imagine playing battleship on a notebook? Cool...i'd say. Even like hangman, or something with each player on their own side of the screen.

It's the little ideas that count.

 

totally agree with you there. its obviously not being used to its potential on laptops yet.