This isn't the first time someone has tried to replace the keyboard, and it definitely won't be the last — but this is different. Inspired by the Touch Bar on the MacBook Pro, the creator of the Anitomicals C YouTube channel built a laptop prototype that removes the keyboard from its traditional position and replaces it with a secondary screen. While there isn't much “laptop” about the final setup due to the lack of a battery, the weight, and the desktop components, the project raises several questions. Are we ready for something like this?
Criticisms of the Touch Bar on MacBook Pro have been varied. From its unnecessary presence on higher-end models to the lack of flexibility, many users rejected it outright and asked for different optimizations, such as more available ports. However, let's imagine for a moment that the keyboard disappears, and the Touch Bar expands downward to cover the entire area. Having two or more screens on a desktop isn't that unusual, but two screens on a laptop? Is that a viable configuration? There's only one way to find out, and that's by building prototypes.
Building the Prototype
The Anitomicals C YouTube channel published a video showing the construction of a “laptop” based on a Ryzen 7 1700x chip, a Zotac GTX 1080 Mini graphics card, 32 GB of RAM, and a pair of SSDs. Two Acer monitors were gutted to release their panels, and the case is made of acrylic. It also required modifying a server power supply and replacing the monitors' original power sources with a larger one, plus a splitter for both controller boards. The processor uses liquid cooling, and the video uses a PCI Express extension.
Limitations and Possibilities
The most important limitation of the prototype is that the secondary screen doesn't have touch support. That would have completely changed its potential usage, but a touchscreen panel of that size probably isn't cheap for DIY enthusiasts. At the same time, the system doesn't use batteries and weighs about ten kilograms, which reminds us of the first PC laptops and their components. The good news is that the design has plenty of room to grow. Maybe something based on a NUC or a gaming laptop...?
Source: Hackaday
