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MSI offers peek at SketchBook device

Published on 21st May 2010 by Gareth Halfacree

The SketchBook - snapped by Engadget Spain - features a keyboard which turns into a graphics tablet.

MSI's up-coming single- and dual-screen tablets aren't the only things the company is looking to launch at Computex this year: the company is also looking towards designers with a product it calls the SketchBook.

Spotted by the guys over on Engadget Spain, the SketchBook is an interesting concept device which keeps the traditional clamshell layout of a normal laptop but features an interesting movable keyboard - simply twist it and it will be replaced with a pen-driven graphics tablet.

Designed to sit somewhere between devices using external digitising tablets and the high-end display-integrated tablets such as Wacom's Cintiq range, the SketchBook is designed to appeal to those artistic or design types who find they need to work out finer details while out and about - and it certainly looks like the sort of thing that wouldn't be out of place at a coffee shop, while providing a much more professional finish than the traditional back of a envelope.

Sadly, MSI is keeping tight-lipped on precise specifications and expected launch dates, choosing to keep such details quiet until its official announcement at Computex 2010. It'll be interesting to see just how functional the SketchBook is - in particular, the responsiveness and pressure sensitivity of the digitising tablet. Perhaps Wacom has something to worry about?

Could you see yourself doodling on the SketchBook, or is it nothing more than a niche device? Share your thoughts over in the forums.

11 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

kingred 21st May 2010, 10:36

WANT!

mi1ez 21st May 2010, 10:41

nice!

proxess 21st May 2010, 10:49

It does look very very nice.

eddtox 21st May 2010, 13:39

I'll be very surprised and impressed if it can hold its own against wacom's offerings, as those guys own the market atm

hyper_somniac 21st May 2010, 16:23

Be good if this can be plugged into the main computer for use as a graphics tablet and secondary display - showing the overview of an image thats zoomed in on the main display for example.
Can't trust manufacturers like MSI to make good software though - even something that can just plug in to Photoshop.

TWeaK 21st May 2010, 18:33

My fingernails are tingling... the sound/feeling of a plastic stylus scraping on a touchpad is something that just doesn't sit well with me.

Nexxo 21st May 2010, 18:34

Vapourware!

Pix, sonst glauben Wir nix.

HourBeforeDawn 21st May 2010, 22:29

ehh I would just go for wacom touch screen tablet, its more accurate and well you actually draw what you want versus getting use to off setting yourself to the screen

supermonkey 22nd May 2010, 05:41

I can't figure out what it's supposed to be! And, like, it's not even on a real OS, right? And wouldn't it just be easier to get a notebook? Ad nauseum.**

I think Nexxo is on the right track, though. Looking at the photos on the Engadget site, I notice that there aren't any pictures showing the device turned on. Just an empty box, then?

**Before I get flamed, I would like to point out that the above text is intended to be sarcastic.

Arj12 23rd May 2010, 14:36

Hopefully this is one of the many of these tablet type pcs to come!

Sloth 24th May 2010, 17:18

Hrm, cancel my order for a Macbook, I just found an even better way to sit in Starbucks and look pretentious.

I suppose some people out there have some real use for it (if it ever becomes real) but wow, the very act of using it would make me feel like a total tool.