Some of the most popular laptops in the world were devices that made us feel different from other products in the field. The world of laptops has only evolved in recent years with the introduction of products that use folding screens or laptops equipped with dual screens and convertible products; But some of the most attractive features offered in these products have failed along the way.
From Compaq and IBM laptops in the 1990s to some Lenovo and Asus models in recent years, laptop makers have come up with weird and sometimes amazing innovations in these products. Of course, many of these laptops were not very successful; But to mention them, because of their strange features, will not be without merit.
Most of these attempts to bring laptops to work in the future were overly ambitious or impractical; But some of these models created value and came up with clever solutions to their time-constrained hardware constraints. Without further ado, stay tuned to Zomit for a look at some of the weirdest laptops ever introduced in the world.
IBM ThinkPad 701 Laptop – IBM ThinkPad 701
Before Apple used the proprietary keyboard name for its products, this type of keyboard was used on the IBM ThinkPad 701. It was a small laptop with a sliding keyboard. As you lift it, the keyboard pops out at a diagonal angle, then comes down the right half, giving the user other rows of keys. The mechanical movements of this keyboard were very satisfying and a bit unbelievable.
Using sliding keyboards is not very common in today’s laptops. Our laptops are now very thin, and in addition we are used to moving our fingers on stiff and shallow keys. Certainly on laptops it will be more enjoyable to use keyboards that have deeper movement. The ThinkPad 701 was an innovative product that stopped production in late 1995 after enjoying a period of short success.
HP OmniBook 800CT – HP OmniBook 800CT
If you are planning to build a miniature laptop and you do not have enough space to place the touchpad, how do you solve this problem? One solution is to force users to buy a mouse, or you can use the HP method to do so, and actually use a pop-up mouse. The mouse was housed in a small compartment on the right side of the HP OmniBook 800CT laptop; Strange mouse that detaches from the chassis of the device by pressing a small and beautiful button.
The use of wireless options was not very common in the 1990s; Therefore, the small HP mouse in this laptop was hung on the main body of the device with a thin rubber wire. This new method practically solved the problems that plagued most small laptops of the time, and HP used its pop-up mouse in several other laptop models. Regarding the touchpad integration, we should mention the Compaq LTE Elite 486; An old laptop with a hub on the right side of the screen.
Via NanoBook – Via NanoBook
Modular technology has an interesting history that is not bad to review. Do a little research on products like the LG G5 smartphone and the Google & Blocks Ara project; But the idea of replacing some other products has given us attractive devices like the Nanobook. At first glance, this product is very similar to the Asus Eee; A small laptop that many tech enthusiasts refer to as a great product.
However, by opening this laptop, you will see one of the strangest integrations that can be done on a laptop; It means integrating a laptop with a phone. It should be noted that this product was introduced in 2007 and at that time smartphones were not as slim as today’s models. The phone integrated with this laptop was actually a VoIP cordless phone that was designed to keep you from carrying a separate phone during the day. This VoIP phone was built with a seven-inch or nanobook display.
You might say to yourself that the weekly inch display puts this product in the tablet category; But we assure you it was a real laptop nanobook. The phone had a replaceable module on which the user could place a GPU, 3D / CDMA adapter or world clock. In the picture above, you can see a laptop or nanobook with a VoIP phone module.
The Nanobook was released almost simultaneously with the first generation of Apple iPhone and Windows XP operating system, and therefore the success days of this product did not last long. However, this device came a few years later in the form of a very similar device called the Elonex Websurfer.
3D Laptops
Remember 3D TVs? The products that promised to really bring the avatar to your home? Of course, it can be said that these types of televisions are almost extinct today. You may be interested to know that 3D laptops were also on the market for a short time. Dell and Alienware are among the companies that used stereoscopic 3D technology as one of the capabilities of the XPS 17 and Ailenware m17 R3 laptops. Of course, other companies such as Origin, HP, Sony, MSI and Asus also used this technology in their products.
Most 3D laptops used Nvidia’s 3D Vision platform; An interesting technology that even some critics considered to be better than the technology found in 3D TVs. However, this technology did not solve the problem of ridiculous glasses, and worse, most of these laptops needed a kit, which was often sold separately and for more than $ 100.
3D technology was very limited at the time and only worked with certain games and Blu-ray Discs. However, not all users hated the 3D effect. Certainly, the use of this technology would reduce the frame rate of computer games.
In addition, the 3D technology made the user’s eye tired of playing games for a long time. Of course, the bold adopters of this fledgling technology generally liked the three-dimensional aspect of it. Finally, large, expensive glasses and limited support were among the major reasons why 3D laptops suffered the same fate as 3D TVs.
Lenovo ThinkPad W700 DS – Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds
Nowadays, if you do not have enough ordinary laptop screens and you need a second screen, the best option for you is to connect the device to an external display. The Lenovo ThinkPad W700ds was introduced in the late 2000s; A product that uses a 10.7-inch sliding secondary display. Thus, long before Project Valerie Razer laptops or notebooks equipped with two Asus displays, Lenovo produced a laptop with a 17-inch main screen, which allowed users to use the secondary sliding display of this product.
This was just the beginning. The laptop mentioned all the tools that existed at the time; Including internal color calibrator and its separate tablet or touch digitizer. In fact, the tablet supported the Wacom internal stylus, making it an attractive choice for designers. The features of this product, along with its second display, made it a great solution for professional users. One of the downsides of the W700ds ThinkPad was its high weight and 2.1-inch thickness, which made it not easy to carry.
Asus Taichi
At first glance, many people feel that the display on the back is in the wrong place. The strangest Asus convertible laptop was introduced with an interesting and unique feature. Instead of turning the laptop into a tablet, Asus simply added an extra panel on the outer edge of the tai chi. In this way, in addition to maintaining the traditional folding mode of the laptop, you can enter the tablet mode after closing it. This laptop was not the beauty of Lenovo’s yoga series; But it worked well.
The most important drawback of the Asus Taichi was its battery life. This product was introduced when modern software drivers had not yet been released for touchpads. After the introduction of Taichi, Asus abandoned the design of laptops equipped with two screens until a few years later; But after a long time, with the introduction of the ZenBook Pro Duo, he returned the method of using the second display to his products with new ideas.
Asus Rog GX700 – Asus ROG GX700
It’s hard not to like Asus’ weird ideas. The Taiwanese company launched the ROG GX700 laptop a few years ago; A product that was made entirely for gaming and can be considered a monster in every sense of the word. This laptop uses a liquid cooling system; A feature that is not even available on some desktop systems.
All PC gamers are well aware that the biggest killer of laptops is the lack of heat dissipation. In addition to thinner fans, the use of smart heatsink placement and improved airflow are common tactics for lowering the temperature of laptops; But Asus abandoned these methods and used the strange dock instead. The dock uses a liquid cooling system and is connected to the back of the laptop via a four-pin connection.
The cooling system of this laptop used a custom design to pump the coolant and return it to the system; Where the laptop heats up through 92mm radiators. Performance of the GX700 improved by about 20%, and the heat generated by the laptop’s CPU and GPU was reduced by up to 30%.
So far, all the specifications of this product look great; But you should note that the weight of this device was 1.9 kg, which increased to more than 4.5 kg with the connection of the dock. In this case, using a regular laptop with an external graphics processor may be a better option. Hoping to add more value to the laptop, Asus introduced another version a year later with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 dual graphics card; But that did not make the GX700 worth buying for many users.
Acer Iconia 6120 – Acer Iconia 6120
Where IBM produced a laptop with a mechanical touch and click keyboard, Acer took the opposite direction of IBM by replacing the 14-inch display with a virtual keyboard and touch screen. These strange settings had their own advantages. For example, you can easily switch from typing to handwriting and quickly add phrases like Https or .Com to the URL of your target website.
In addition, you can open your favorite programs or websites directly and quickly by pressing the shortcut keys. Of course, the Iconica 6120 Ester laptop is not a good idea at all; Because it had obvious problems, such as glare from the screen, delayed input, poor performance, and a small touch screen with no support for gestures.
Dell XPS 12 – Dell XPS 12
Convertible laptops or two in one of the years gained a lot of attention among users; But these products continue to evolve. An example is the Microsoft Surface laptop, whose display detaches from the hinge and can be rotated. Dell also introduced the XPS 12 laptop in this market, which is an ambitious product.
Dell’s solution to the two-in-one problem was to attach the display to the main frame of the device horizontally so that when it closes, the panel can be rotated around and used outwards. According to an expert on the Gizmodo website who worked with the XPS 12, the laptop’s rotating screen works well, allowing the user to easily switch between tablet and laptop modes.
In addition, in tablet mode, ie when you are not using the keyboard, this section is protected by a rotating display system. With the introduction of the XPS 13, Dell was one of the first companies to reduce the screen margin of its laptops; Of course, the margins of this product are very high compared to today’s standards for two-in-one products.
Asus ROG Mothership GZ700 – Asus ROG Mothership GZ700
Asus has a lot of potential to make ambitious and weird products. At first glance, the MotherShip laptop might make you wonder who will buy it. This product is not a laptop; Because it can not be used on the foot and, in fact, does not fit easily on your feet. In addition, the product is not a versatile PC; Because it is technically feasible. A motherboard is a product that can be placed between a fixed desktop and a powerful workstation.
However, let’s talk more about ROG Mothership. Defining this product is not an easy task; But the best way is to consider this product as a versatile wireless computer. All components of this device are located on its large 17-inch screen; While the keyboard of this product is also designed with the gamers community in mind. The motherboard is essentially a giant tablet that can be mounted vertically on a backrest.
Rug MotherShip is a large and very expensive product (about $ 6,000); But there is no denying that Asus, good or bad, has replicated the desktop and laptop in new products by pushing the device, pushing the boundaries of the laptop. This device was introduced a few years ago and its fate is still unknown.
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