TOUCH AND GO (WINDOWS 7)

Raise your hand if you are a keyboard junkie — I know I am. Whether it’s working on a document, putting together spreadsheets, playing computer games or checking email, few things beat the keyboard-mouse combo.

Companies such as Microsoft have tried — and failed spectacularly — to get users to interact with their computers in newer ways. First Microsoft put Windows XP on Tablet PCs in 2001. The screen folded back flat against the keyboard — and you had a giant backlit slate on which you could scribble with a stylus. Of course, no one from Microsoft pointed out how nerdy you looked writing notes on a glowing screen. Then the software company built voice recognition capabilities in Windows Vista. Theoretically, you could bark a command at your computer — but that’s strictly theoretical.

When Apple pulled the rug from under everyone’s feet by releasing a phone with a touch screen that was slick, user-friendly, and for once, did not require users to tap at minuscule icons with a stylus, everyone else scrambled to get their act together. Today, most companies — from laptop to camera makers — offer functionalities on their screens that feel like ripoffs of what’s on the Apple iPhone.

Laptop maker Acer is the latest player to jump aboard the touch bandwagon by releasing India’s first multi-touch notebook, named the Acer Aspire 5738PzG —doesn’t that just roll off the tongue, nice and smooth? It runs Windows 7, Microsoft’s newest operating system. Here’s how it stacks up.

Budget Build

It is a budget laptop with the touch screen gimmick thrown in. In fact, the touch screen seems like a last-minute addition on a new laptop they were about to roll out. Its cheap and plastic-looking build leaves a lot to be desired. Weighing about 2.8 kg, it’s not exactly light.

With an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.1 GHz processor, a 2 GB RAM and a 512 MB Radeon HD graphics processor purring under the hood, this Acer machine comes with more than enough power to satisfy a large number of users. It comes loaded with Windows 7 Home Premium. A 320 GB hard disk provides plenty of space to store photos and videos.

The glossy, 15.6-inch, high-definition screen capable of a resolution of 1366 -by-768 pixels makes watching movies a
delight. It’s sharp and the colours look gorgeous. Most laptop speakers are infamous for being lousy and this one does nothing to improve that image.

There is a full-sized keyboard with a numeric keypad on the right for the hardcore number-cruncher and typing on it feels good.

Nothing on this laptop, however, gets my goat more than that 2-inch piece of smooth space below the keyboard that passes off as a ‘multi-gesture touchpad’. The idea is simple — just like the multi-touch screen, you can flick your fingers across the touchpad and quickly move between browser pages and manipulate files by pinching and pulling with two fingers.

It all sounds good except that when you actually try it, you find that the touchpad itself is so small that it has just enough space to place your fingers — not move around with them.

Also, the annoying left and right-click buttons take a big effort to press. To make it worse, Acer decided to put the fingerprint sensor right in the middle of the two click buttons — it’s fun to see all work grind to a halt when your finger accidentally brushes against the sensor and launches the fingerprint software on the screen.

Easy browse

Windows 7 lends itself superbly to the touch experience. It’s much faster to scroll through long documents and webpages by simply flicking a finger than using a regular mouse.

The laptop comes bundled with the Microsoft Touch Pack for Windows 7, a series of programs designed exclusively to take advantage of touch screens.

Watch in amazement as running your fingers on a virtual pond on your screen sets off ripples in the ‘water’. Virtual fish scuttle away the moment you try to ‘touch’ them.

Make a collage of your favourite photos by dragging them across the screen with your fingers and resizing them on the fly.

When the novelty wears off, sit back with a cup of coffee, invite the neighbourhood kids over, and indulge in some high-
definition, new age fingerpainting.