Folding Laptops Are Secretly Perfect For D&D

I’ve been reviewing laptops for years here at Jugo Mobile, and some of them share a unique feature that’s still pretty rare in laptop PCs: they fold.

Foldable laptops aren’t yet as popular or widespread as the best foldable phones, but I’ve slowly seen them grow from wacky proof-of-concept devices into a clearly defined product category. A few years ago, the only foldable PCs you could find were prototypes being demonstrated at CES, but now you can go online and buy foldable laptops from major vendors like Asus, Lenovo, HP, and more.

We’ve reviewed quite a few of them here at Jugo Mobile, from the beautiful Asus Zenbook 17 OLED to the triple threat attempt that is the HP Specter Fold. And while they get better every year, augmenting the already impressive foldable OLED displays with better components that come close to offering a full PC experience in a foldable model, I have a hard time recommending them over most laptops.

There’s a hidden strength to these fancy folding PCs that you should know about if you’re on the fence about buying one: they’re really good for tabletop RPGs!”

This is because foldable laptops are still generally too expensive and have too many design disadvantages to make them worth purchasing as a daily driver for most people. They’re sleek and more capable than you think, but unless you really need a heavy Windows 11 tablet that also doubles as a laptop and folds in half, you can find one that better meets your needs for the same price or less. among the best laptops and the best 2-in-1 laptops on the market.

But after using a few at home and on the go, I started to feel like there’s a hidden strength to these stylish folding PCs that you should know about if you’re on the fence about buying one: They’re really nice for tabletop RPGs!

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED review unit on a table standing like a book — You can fit a foldable laptop like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED and use it with the Bluetooth keyboard, so it doubles as a (very expensive) DM display. (Image credit: future)

I’m referring, of course, to games like Dungeons & Dragons, group activities in which you and your friends take turns rolling dice and describing what happens to the worlds and characters you imagine. These games usually ask you to know a few rules and plan a few things in advance, and if you’re the Dungeon Master, you know you can spend hours planning before a game session.

Nowadays, much of that planning, prep work, and gaming can be done on a laptop, and I’ve found that foldable laptops are especially well-suited for this type of work. I often use a laptop or tablet to help me research details and take notes while planning a D&D session, for example, and I’ve found that a foldable like the Asus Zenbook 17 OLED is actually a little more useful for this job than a traditional folding. or even a 2-in-1 laptop.

This is partly because a folding laptop can be picked up and held like a book, so when you’re flipping through digital copies of your various reference books, it feels very natural to pick up the laptop, fold it in half as if it were a book and a crib. in your lap. Now, these laptops generally weigh between 4 and 5 pounds and are made of metal, so they are not very comfortable to hold in front of your eyes for long periods of time. But if you can hold one on your chest or stomach while sitting on the couch, I’ve found that foldable laptops are surprisingly comfortable reading devices.

Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED review unit on desktop with keyboard in front, showing multitasking on both screens — It’s nice to have the inherent dual-screen functionality of a foldable laptop when you’re getting ready for a session. (Image credit: future)

And when you’re campaigning on the go, I like how foldable laptops give you the utility of a dual-screen PC setup in one device. Since they’re designed as a single foldable screen that (usually) comes with a separate Bluetooth keyboard, you can stand the laptop upright so that each half of the screen is a separate workspace in Windows 11 (many foldable screens come with stands specifically designed to support the laptop in this “dual screen” configuration and, if you don’t have one, you can always use a book or other accessory), then work on two screens in one device.

I often find myself using folding documents this way, as I like to have a reference document or video while preparing for D&D, and it’s the kind of convenient functionality that most laptops can’t easily replicate.

Only foldable laptops or weird dual-screen hybrids like the Asus ZenBook Duo 14 can offer this value, and while I don’t think most people will care enough to make it worth most people’s (still too high) price of the folding ones, it is a unique option. value that I only realized thanks to the time I spent these last few years using and reviewing these devices.

So while I still feel like foldable PCs are primarily the domain of executives and rich people who don’t pay much for cool-looking, underpowered foldable laptops, I have to say that they also offer unique functionality that I can’t find anywhere else. place. I just wish they were a little more capable and less expensive.