Video: Hands-On With NEC’s Dual-Screen Android Tablet

Today at CES we finally got a chance to see NEC’s dual-display Android tablet, the Cloud Communicator LT-W. This device sports two 7-inch touchscreens that work together to provide a rich tablet experience. Though we only got to spend a few minutes playing with it, we came away impressed with the device. Now if only we can convince the company to bring it to the U.S…

The LT-W’s displays are 7 inches with an 800 x 600 resolution and a resistive touch display. Some out there may groan at this. However, it looks like NEC didn’t saddle the device with low-end resistive screens. The tablet responded to taps from both a stylus and fingers easily. And when we practiced in the drawing app, there was very little lag between our pen strokes and the color showing up on screen.

Unlike a few of the other dual-screen concepts and products we’ve seen, the LT-W is slim and fairly light. Closed, the LT-W measures 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches and overall it weighs just 1.17 pounds. It’s not runway-ready, but the simple lines and interesting cuts make for a good-looking tablet as well.

We played with a few of the pre-loaded apps and we only detected sluggishness when opening, not when using them. We especially liked the eReading app, which had a nice page turn animation and allows users to read two pages at once, just like a book.

Currently, the tablet is running Android 2.1 and is only available in japan. However, the NEC reps we spoke to today say that they’re “thinking about” bringing it to the US. In Japan, it costs around $500, directly converting from the Yen. However, if it does come here, the price will likely be lower.

Specs:

• CPU: ARM Cortex A8
• Wireless: b/g Wi-Fi; Bluetooth 2.1
• Camera: 3MP
• Ports: SDHC full card slot; microUSB port; full USB port
• GPS
• Accelerometer
• Mono speaker on the front

Check out our hands-on with the LT-W below, as well as our gallery.