ASUS Taichi 21 dual-screen Windows 8-based notebook goes up for pre-order

ASUS have one of the most interesting Windows 8-based devices coming out this year, with their Taichi 21 dual-screen notebook. The ASUS Taichi 21 sports two 11.6-inch screens, both featuring 1920x1080-pixel IPS displays.

The first screen is where a notebook screen normally resides, in front of you, the user. The second one is on the rear of the screen, so when the lid on the notebook is closed it turns into an 11.6-inch touchscreen-capable Windows 8 tablet. It truly is a wonderful design. Both screens are IPS-based, meaning we'll see gorgeous color and viewing angles backed up by the Full HD 1080p resolution on each display.

Taichi 21's backside monitor supports 10-finger touch with an included stylus that offers 256 levels of pressure sensitivity. ASUS' Taichi 21 doesn't pack on the pounds, even though it packs dual screens where it measures in at just 0.7-inch thick, and 2.75lb with the included 6-cell battery.

There are two configurations ASUS are putting up on offer for the Taichi 21, the first of which is the Taichi21-HD51 which sports a Core i5-3317U processor clocked at 1.7GHz with 2.6GHz at Turbo peak, Intel HD 4000 integrated graphics, 128GB SSD, and 4GB of RAM which brings us to a total of $1300.

ASUS also offer an upgraded offering, the Taichi21-DH71 which sports an Intel Core i7-3517U which runs between 1.9Ghz and 3.0GHz, and increases the SSD from 128GB to 256GB. Unfortunately it still only has 4GB of RAM. This will cost $1500, just $200 more than the Core i5-sporting model.

I want one.