Notebook with a functional ‘window’

Your next notebook could have a second display that’s built right in. Asustek, a company better known for motherboards, is showing off a notebook that has a small screen on the outside, for ease of operation without having to open up the machine.

Not that we’re against saving time, but this seems a little unnecessary. Still, it’s nice to know which MP3 is playing at the moment or how many email messages you would see if you flipped the notebook open and checked.

You can operate certain functions without opening the notebook, of course. What would be the point otherwise? But that second display window is very tiny. Seems to me you’ll actually spend more time checking the little window and then opening up the notebook than you would if you just opened it up.