Pertelian X2040

System information where you want it, with tools to deliver the information how you want it.

Because the world can never have enough LCD displays, ForeSight Systems has had the, err, foresight to gift us with the Pertelian.

A twenty column, four-row display, the Pertelian connects through USB and can hook into the handily provided stand or attach anywhere via the included Velcro strip.

The screen supports scrolling, the roll-over separated by a pre-defined character, and the speed of the scroll is adjustable, although thanks to the response of the screen it can be hard to follow the text at high speeds.

There are a number of customisable hotkeys used to control the screen, although unfortunately the software does not recognise the Windows key as a valid shift, only as a final character in the hotkey. We couldn’t help but feel some physical buttons on the unit would be a lot nicer to use than a bunch of hotkeys, especially when said keys could affect your gaming experience. This would also make the menus and option trees on the Pertelian quantifiably easier to navigate.

The usual assortment of features are supported through a plug-in style interface (and you can write your own if you’re familiar with .NET 2.0) - email, weather, RSS, Winamp/iTunes/WMP control, volume control, system stats, Teamspeak support, stocks, and as an interesting add-on you can keep notes and not only read instant messages, but write back with the appropriate combination of hotkeys - providing the IM you’re using isn’t MSN or Trillian, as only AIM, ICQ, Yahoo and GAIM are featured.

The Pertelian is definitely in its infancy (with seemingly no user-written plug-ins yet available), but development is moving along at a rapid pace, feature sets are expanding quickly and the future looks promising. Throw in a better screen and navigation buttons and you have a winner.