Dell Patents the Weirdest Laptop You Have Ever Seen

The war to add more of everything in electronics just got a new weapon. Dell has patented a new 2-in-1 hybrid computer-tablet device that unfolds to reveal not one but two detachable displays.

Because, of course, two displays are better than one.

Spotted by Gizmochina in a Dell subreddit post, the new patent  approved on January 3 U.S. Patent and Trademark Office describes an “Information Handling System with Multiple Detachable Displays." Here is how it works:

The body of the computer — containing the keyboard — is sandwiched between the two displays so you can tote it around like a regular laptop.

Want to use it as a laptop? Open the top display and start typing away. Want to use it as a tablet? Just detach and flip the bottom display. A presentation device you say? Detach the bottom display and make it face your audience while you use the top display. But wait, you want an extended desktop? Just detach the two screens and put them side to side, joined magnetically to the computer body.

Of course, a patent is not a real product. But I bet many people will want such a frankendevice just for its utility alone. I can see it having a definitive use with business users of all kinds for work and meetings — and people like engineers, movie editors, traders, or anyone who need as much screen real estate as possible on the go.

Image credits: Dell/USPTO/Gizmochina