touch screen PCs

[PapaAzucar]

Hi all,
With all the craze about smartphones and tablets, one overlooked device is the touch screen PC like HP TouchSmart or Sony Viao L-series. If you are not familiar with the touch screen PCs, they are an integration of the PC and touch monitor, and are essentially big thick 20"-24" fast tablets (i5 or i7 chips) with more connecting ports. I understand that the ergonomics of the vertical touch screen is not comfortable for the extended use.

But I plan on laying the touch screen PC flat on the surface along with the keyboard at the same level, and connecting another monitor to the PC for the vertical display at the head level, essentially using the touch screen PC like a mouse substitute (although I can still have a mouse). This type of setup is essentially the pre-cursor to the Microsoft Surface.


There are currently really good deals in the USA like the 23" Dell Inspiron One for 600US (or about 18,000NT), or a 20" Compaq touch screen PC for 500US, which are about the same prices as the high-end Android tablets or iPad. While I was in Taiwan a few months ago, I did see MSI selling the 20" touch screen PC for about 16,000NT, and 24" for about 24,000NT, but I did not see the Taiwan HP or Dell retailers selling touch screen PCs.

So my question for everyone is,

Are there good selections for touch screen PCs currently being sold in Taiwan (like at the Nova market or the Guanghua market)?

If the selections are not good, then I might buy a touch screen PC in the US to take back to Taiwan.

Also, I like to hear if others in Taiwan are thinking about getting a touch screen PC, or have thought about how to best utilize the touch screen PC setup (e.g. like laying it flat on the surface, etc.)?

Thanks in advance to all those who respond to this post.

[golf]

I favor bigger touch screen notebooks over those small and slow touch pads. If anyone knows good touch screen notebooks/laptops with 14~15" screen please advise too; thanks.

[HossHuge]

Once the X-box Kinect comes out for pc you won't need touch screen. Besides who sits that close to a monitor?

[PapaAzucar]

I favor bigger touch screen notebooks over those small and slow touch pads. If anyone knows good touch screen notebooks/laptops with 14~15" screen please advise too; thanks.

I've never seen a 14-15" touch screen notebook. But there are 11-12" Windows tablets (with touch screen) that can be connected to a keyboard and become a notebook/laptop like the Asus EP121
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Slate_EP121/
Or the Samsung Series 7 Slate
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/samsung-series-7-slate-pc-review/
The disadvantage to these Windows tablets (convert to laptop) is the battery drain and also that the Windows7 was not really designed for the touch interface. Most makers and consumers are waiting for Windows8, which is promising better power usage and interface. Your other choices are the ultrabooks which do not have touch screen interface (unless someone recently made one). Or there is the Apple iPad and MacBook dichotomy with content integration via iCloud.

Once the X-box Kinect comes out for pc you won't need touch screen. Besides who sits that close to a monitor?

Yes, just like in the Tom Cruise movie the "Minority Report", the "finger tracking" interface may be the next evolution after the touch screen or surface interface.

This "finger tracking" or "air touch" interface may be a few years away from the customary computing setup. In the meantime, I am looking to buy a touch screen desktop solution within the coming months when I re-locate to Taipei. And I'm trying to understand what techs are available in Taiwan versus in the US, so I know what to buy in the US to bring to Taiwan. If anyone have any more insight to this, I appreciate your response. Thanks in advance.

[HossHuge]

This "finger tracking" or "air touch" interface may be a few years away from the customary computing setup.

The Kinect for PC will be out this year according to MS.

Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/155617/Kinec ... esses.html

Check this out>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

[golf]

I favor bigger touch screen notebooks over those small and slow touch pads. If anyone knows good touch screen notebooks/laptops with 14~15" screen please advise too; thanks.

I've never seen a 14-15" touch screen notebook. But there are 11-12" Windows tablets (with touch screen) that can be connected to a keyboard and become a notebook/laptop like the Asus EP121
http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Slate_EP121/
Or the Samsung Series 7 Slate
http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/16/samsung-series-7-slate-pc-review/

Thanks a lot!

[PapaAzucar]

The Kinect for PC will be out this year according to MS.

Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/155617/Kinec ... esses.html

Check this out>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Feb 1, 2012, release date of Kinect for Windows is right around the corner and does NOT include Taiwan.
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/kinectforwindows/archive/2012/01/09/kinect-for-windows-commercial-program-announced.aspx
For 249US, it may be worth having someone you know buy a unit for you in the released countries and send it to Taiwan?
I suspect the Kinect hardware is the same as it is for the Xbox, but the accompanying Windows software is really the crux of this technology.
I would not think Taiwan customs have restrictions importing technology like this (unlike importing printers)?

Or maybe just try the SDK downloads?
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/kinectforwindows/

[PapaAzucar]

I finally saw a Kinect for Windows from a friend who got it in Australia, and it sucks!
There were no running apps to get started like basic Windows interface commands.
You have to program every gesture like mouse pointer or right mouse click.
And Kinect gives no debugging messages!!!
We wasted about 4 hours just looking thru the forums to realize that the Kinect community haven't even agreed on interface standards like what is a mouse click. There were like 10 different implementations of a right mouse click.
And now Microsoft is releasing Kinect for Windows 1.5 in June?
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/whats-coming-in-microsofts-kinect-for-windows-15/12283

Based on the chaos, I see that Microsoft is really screwing the developers that are trying to make business apps with Kinect, offering little support (like no Windows standard for gestures) and charging developers 249US for the Kinect for Windows, while the Kinect for Xbox is 139US. It will take a while for Kinect for Windows to mature in development and in business adoption.

[headhonchoII]

I have a Gateway touch screen PC, I don't like to touch it because it gets smudges .

[PapaAzucar]

I have a Gateway touch screen PC, I don't like to touch it because it gets smudges .

Where in Taiwan did you get that? Thanks.

I only saw MSI touch screen PCs at the Nova Market.
The HP and Dell stores in Guanghwa market didn't have them the last that I checked.