In his recent review of the Lenovo ThinkPad W700, Cisco Cheng noted that this high-end portable workstation for photographers and artists would soon be available with an optional secondary display to complement its 17-inch, 1,920 by 1,200 screen. The idea is to relegate lower-end tasks like reading e-mail, word processing, and Web surfing to the smaller screen, leaving the full 17 inches of the primary screen free for photo or art editing.

The dual-screen version, the W700ds, has arrived in our labs, and I took it out for a spin. It works as intended, and many professionals in its target audience may find it worth it to plunk down the 400+ bucks for this novel option.

The secondary screen is netbook sized (10.6 inches) with a 1,280 by 768 resolution, which is fine for its intended tasks. The screen resides within the workstation's lid, sliding out to the right of the main screen in portrait mode when needed. It's very easy to move your active window to the secondary screen; just press Fn + spacebar. To get your cursor onto the secondary screen, just set your finger on the touchpad and move it to the right; when the cursor reaches the edge of your primary screen, it'll jump to the secondary.

The screen's portrait orientation can be awkward; a Word document I worked on was cramped, with its righthand edge invisible unless I scrolled. I'd like to see the secondary screen as a landscape--or even better, a screen that could be rotated from portrait to landscape as needed, but that's a minor concern. Once you're in it, the secondary screen works like any open window, and you can return to the primary screen simply by swiping the touchpad to the left.

On Lenovo's site, the W700ds is currently selling at $4,749 (sale price), while the standard W700 professional model, otherwise identically equipped, goes for $4,329. (There's also a prosumer version with more modest components, priced at $3,499.) Should you get the dual-screen version? It depends on how important it is to keep the full 17 inches of your primary screen open for a single task at all times.

As an amateur photographer, I can put up with the occasional distraction of minimizing Photoshop to respond to e-mails, and I often work with two computers, anyway. At a $400+ premium over the standard W700, the two-screen configuration is pricey--but so is the workstation as a whole.

The target audience for the W700's professional version--particularly those who spend a lot of time on the road or intend it as their only computer--should consider springing for the dual-screen version. With it, they can create art or edit photos to their heart's content without ever having their work obscured by an e-mail or Word window.

Post by Tony Hoffman