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Dell's Latitude XT tablet PC launching December 11th

by Parm Mann on 7 December 2007, 12:23

Tags: Latitude XT, Dell (NASDAQ:DELL)

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Tablet PCs aren't dead yet

I'm a self confessed fan of tablet PCs, I think they're just cool. Who wouldn't like to swivel the screen on their laptop and then carry it around as though reading a newspaper?

Unfortunately for the tablet PC, it has so far struggled to make an impact on the portable market. Now however, PC manufacturer Dell has stepped forward and confirmed the unveiling of its very own tablet PC, the Latitude XT, at an event being held on December 11th.

With a 12.1" screen giving a resolution of 1280x800, the Latitude XT will retail with a base specification featuring a 1.2GHz U7600 ultra-low-voltage Intel Core 2 Duo processor, an ATI Radeon Xpress 1250 graphics with 256MB of memory, 1GB of RAM and all the wireless connectivity options you could need.

Dell Latitude XT

The Dell Latitude XT will be bundled with Windows Vista or Windows XP. Dell however will be hopeful that Windows Vista's built in tablet features help the tablet PC market grow in coming years.

If you're overly excited by this release, the full 245 page manual for the Latitude XT is viewable on Dell's official support website.

HEXUS Forums :: 6 Comments

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Posted by dave87 - Fri 07 Dec 2007 14:28
Thankfully one with a decent processor - all the ones I've used have had Celery at their heart and therefore the battery life and performance has been next to 0.
Posted by vinnyT - Fri 07 Dec 2007 14:29
I had heard, ages ago, that tablet functions are a part of vista's armoury, though can't remember if it's been used before.

This may be because the tablet design is used mainly in specific niches, healthcare (though I didn't notice and nurses running round the ward with one the last time I was in) come to mind.
Posted by this_is_gav - Fri 07 Dec 2007 20:59
The problem for Microsoft is I feel Linux is infinitely more suited to tablet PCs than Windows is - not so much for structure or layout, but as VinnyT said, tablets are very much a niche product - their uses for most of us (save for the funky nature of them) are extremely limited - I'm struggling to think of any at all to be honest. Linux is just so much more flexible than Windows ever has been or ever will be, and better leads itself to being used in the cases where a tablet is of benefit.

We've got some tablets at work (laptop/tablet hybrid types, as the Dell will be) and they've never been used for anything other than laptops. I had a proper tablet PC myself for work (I needed something portable and didn't have a laptop at the time, so nabbed this unused thingy), and I just couldn't see what the point was. PDAs are more portable and ultra-portables offer everything a tablet could to most and have less of a footprint. It's been a good 4 or 5 years since tablets came along in their masses and I'm still wondering why.
Posted by Funkstar - Fri 07 Dec 2007 21:11
dave87
Thankfully one with a decent processor - all the ones I've used have had Celery at their heart and therefore the battery life and performance has been next to 0.
Have a look at the Asus R1F tables. I have one, look in the system specs to the left :)

I think i can squeeze about 3 hours out of it when i turn things down or off. Not really bothered about huge battery life on it though. It is portable, funky (it is a tablet after all) and a pretty good performer.
Posted by dave87 - Fri 07 Dec 2007 21:15
Looking good, quite a powerful processor to boot.

The time I used them with any consistency was in an educational environment - principally bought for teachers but the surplus ones we ordered (some of the older teachers couldn't get their head around the tablet idea) went to the IT staff. Quite useful when troubleshooting in multiple locations, but serve no real advantage over a normal laptop (what I would have chosen in preference).

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