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Dell patents detachable dual-display laptop design

One of the displays can be oriented towards the audience, while the other display faces the user. (Source: USPTO)
One of the displays can be oriented towards the audience, while the other display faces the user. (Source: USPTO)
Gamers always like to get the most immersive experiences out of their laptops, but, for the moment, this requires additional monitors that do not come with the laptop itself. Dell wants to change this with the latest multiple display laptop design that relies on a magnetic hinge system. The patent shows a dual-display setup, but it looks like triple-display laptops are also a possibility.

All the respectable gaming laptops released in the past few years include at least 3 video outputs to allow users to connect three monitors for surround display setups. However, the surround display setups still require separate monitors, so this might not be a cost-efficient solution, but what if the laptop itself included more than one display? Dell’s latest patent details exactly this possibility, and we could actually see this design in commercial products very soon.

Dell’s patent is titled “Information Handling System With Multiple Detachable Displays.” It was first filed in June 2017 and published on January 3 2019 by USPTO. How exactly does this design work? Dell explains that “a portable information handling system may attach to and support multiple detachable displays in a variety of configurations. A base of a portable information handling system may include a means for attaching to and supporting multiple displays, such as a channel for magnetically attaching to one or more bars of one or more displays. A user may operate the information handling system in a presentation configuration with one display facing towards the user and another display facing towards an audience. If both displays are facing toward a user, the system can provide a user with an extended display area with more space to view and manipulate information. The second display may be detached from a top side and attached to a bottom side of a laptop for storage during transport.”

This design mostly describes a dual-display setup, but it would be interesting if Dell could implement a surround setup with three displays for its Alienware gaming laptops. It looks like such laptops will not be too slim, but gamers are already used to hefty systems that integrate desktop-grade hardware.

Dell's patent stipulates that multiple displays could be attached to the laptop body via a magnetic hinge system, and the second display could act as the bottom cover. (Source: USPTO)
Dell's patent stipulates that multiple displays could be attached to the laptop body via a magnetic hinge system, and the second display could act as the bottom cover. (Source: USPTO)

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Bogdan Solca, 2019-01- 4 (Update: 2019-01- 4)