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Review of Dell Inspiron Tablet/Laptop Hybrid
Barence writes "It's rare that Dell breaks new ground in terms of design, but the new Dell Inspiron Duo changes all that, according to PC Pro. First revealed at IDF earlier this year, the Dell netbook has a screen that swivels in its own lid, turning the Windows 7 device into a tablet. 'The Duo's relatively modest premium over a high-end netbook buys you the touchscreen and slick conversion to the tablet format, as well as full Windows 7 and a decent hard drive. If you were thinking about buying either a netbook or a tablet, the Duo does both, though it doesn't do the tablet bit as well as an iPad,' PC Pro's reviewer, Jack Schofield, concludes."
To all those thinking this doesn't sound new, and that we've had swivel laptop/tablets for a decade or more, you have to realise, this swivels on a different plane. A DIFFERENT PLANE.
Tablets are better for showing photos/artwork... well most kinds of presenting really. Consumption rather than production.
Don't tell the TSA!
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
They are optimal for anything that doesn't require heavy typing or heavy use of system resources.
Really, they lost me at "full Windows 7". As an OS, the interface is complete crap for use on a tablet. So this is a small netbook that converts into a barely usable tablet. No thanks.
This release will probably hurt both iPad and MacBook sales drastically. Better operating system and the ability to function as both a laptop and a tablet will appeal to a large group people.
Maybe all I want is a book and movie player, so I can catchup on old entertainment in my hotel room? Or surf the net? Or stream the radio at work?
My main beef is the magazine calling this "innovative".
The laptop which converts to a tablet is nothing new.
"I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
The tablet fad will end with small convertible laptops (or "netvertibles" as they're called now).
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
Worse than the iPad? So we can expect a terrible keyboard, terrible text selection, rotation issues, and buggy input controls? Where do I sign up?
Go green: turn off your refrigerator.
Tablets are better for showing photos/artwork... well most kinds of presenting really. Consumption rather than production.
Yep, I'll be doing a presentation shortly, and for this I'll use my iPad.
I'll just hook my projector up to-- oh, guess I'll be using my laptop after all.
Turns out: "better" is your opinion, and your idea of "presenting" is incredibly narrow.
Amateur. I do all of my presentations by having everyone crowd around my iPad. It gives the whole thing a more intimate feel, especially when I have 50 people jostling each other trying to see the screen.
You want me to use an archaic device like a projector? Copping a feel on the hot intern in Accounting is damn near impossible if you're not crammed around a tiny device straining to see what's going on. Think, man!
You need to do more research. The connector is a measly $29. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/A
Yep, I'll be doing a presentation shortly, and for this I'll use my iPad.
I'll just hook my projector up to-- oh, guess I'll be using my laptop after all.
Turns out: "better" is your opinion, and your idea of "presenting" is incredibly narrow.
Turns out: you're wrong. It's one thing to have an opinion, it's another to be clueless.
What you need:
http://store.apple.com/uk/product/MC552ZM/A
How it works in practice:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GysMfb4_79A
Yep, I'll be doing a presentation shortly, and for this I'll use my iPad.
I'll just hook my projector up to-- oh, guess I'll be using my laptop after all.
Actually, the iPad works great for presentations:
Keynote + Dock Connector to VGA Adapter
I know a bunch of people who use the iPad for presentations and they love how well it works.
Sapere aude!
No, he was talking about artwork and photos. The conversation would be more like:
Here's my portfolio.
-turns on the tablet and passes it around-
A flat surface is a lot easier for more than one person to look at and pass around than a laptop screen is, and the colors are a lot better represented on an tablet versus a projected image. Not all presentations need a projector - just the boring ones.
Yeah, no shit that's my opinion, who else's would it be?
And you can hook up an iPad to a projector, just as you can an iPod or iPhone. I'm sure other tablets are around with the same capabilities.
I'm dead serious about that. If it will run something I can install KDE onto, I'm sold.
Anybody want my mod points?
Measly, eh?
In soviet Russia, God creates you!
I know that all the "people in the know" say we all only want a 10inch and bigger tablet, but not me. Part of my daily work has me dealing with the iPad and other tablets. I can say that i just dont enjoy the larger formfactor of the iPad. Sure, it is better for web browsing, I will certainly admit that, but I just hate to carry it around.
For me, I want something about the size of the playbook from RIM. It will still fit in my suit coat pocket or nicely in a hand bag if you are a lady. It's perfect size for reading a book or even a manual. Now, pair that up with say Wi-Fi direct and Bluetooth 4.0 with advanced secure simple pairing for fast document sharing with other tablets and I think you have a good product.
It should also be able to accept stylus input. This is a MUST for me and I think most in the business word.
Imagine how much nicer it would be to sit in that meeting when you can lean back in the chair holding your hand size tablet and making notes as you would on paper.
For me though, the whole problem is the lack of easy sharing of information. I should be able to "flick" my document towards yours and that should be enough. Maybe enter in a 4 digit code, but not more. Until Documents can easily be passed from machine to machine, it will still be a no go. Let's see. It's still interesting times.
Is there a distro of Linux that is designed specifically for multi-touch tablet interfacing?
One of the greatest points of the iOS devices is that their apps are designed for multi-touch input from the ground up. It would be great to see this idea put onto Linux... multi-touch interfaces built on the same libraries as the keyboard/mouse interfacing apps.
I guess the underlying questions are are there any GUIs that are being developed for linux with multi-touch for the primary input? And are there any libraries that developers can use to port their interfaces to be primarily multi-touch?
Since you can boot Android on iOS devices, and there are alternative hardwares like this, it seems like something that would quickly gain a large following. Without something like that I fear that the open alternatives to iOS will drag on and on in half-baked form, never successfully challenging the consistent experience you get on iOS.
But....does it run Linux?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
It's like someone decided to knock off the convertible tablets which have been around for ages now, but had Bloody Stupid Johnson do the hinge design!
History, know it. Other than another data point on the size-weight-features continuum, this device brings nothing new to the table.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tablet_personal_computer#Timeline_of_tablet_PC_history
$29 is peanuts when you are talking about the corporate world and large presentations. They spend more than that just in printing out the handouts for the presentation, not to mention travel, hotel, meals, and other expenses. Corporate presentations can easily run into the thousands or even tens of thousands of dollars for large companies.
A one-time cost of $29 for a connector that will be used dozens of times a year? Yeah, it's chump change.
Sapere aude!
Still, sometimes when we try and straddle a fence, we end up falling and hopefully not crushing our genitals against the fence...
Trying to be two less than stellar devices might make one really shitty one. It's Windows; fail.
This is the NSA, we're gonna geet U h@x0r5! Also, what is a h@x0r5?
If you were thinking about buying either a netbook or a tablet
Then you are an idiot, because tablets are suboptimal for all kinds of use except as book/movie players.
I'd say that netbooks/notebooks/laptops are suboptimal for all kinds of use that don't have you sitting at a desk/table/chair-type setup.
I am not a crackpot.
Measly, eh?
For an Apple accessory, yes.
I am not a crackpot.
It's a hybrid. When the battery runs down, its gas engine kicks in.
It puts the lotion on it's skin, or else it gets the hose again.
You need to do more research. The connector is a measly $29. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/A
That device is also requires app support, numerous reviews on that page say it doesn't mirror output and doesn't work for a number of apps. Your presentation might not go that well after all, unless of course you only use Keynote and Videos for your presentations; or jailbreak the phone to enable mirroring...
I love this struggle to become smaller, lighter, more powerful, and we argue over whether or not it will meet everyone's needs. There is no one product that will do it for everyone....yes, even the iPad.
What about those glasses that can project the monitor image onto the lens while you walk down a busy street and get run over. Would be cool someday to see a touch version of those glasses with people walking while poking themselves in the eyes.
Others hate the iPad for use outdoors while they sit at the beach reading a book (ok, that's a commercial). Still others think they are cooler than everyone else when they whip out their iPad and start flipping aimlessly through web pages that are all bookmarked.
Seriously, there are some people where this type of computer will be perfect and others that see no value in it. To each his/her own.
jsut athnoer menagiensls ltitle psrhae for you to dcoede. Why do we wtsae our tmie dnoig tihs?
I can see this as a potential win if you really need a keyboard for some things, but would want the tablet factor for others. This might have been on my wish list last year before I purchased an acer mini-laptop (11.6" Timeline), save for the weak processor.
I'm torn, as the specks make it look pretty weak for running full Win7, and experience tells me that the touch interface with Windows is going to be a real bear. Still, the dock and ease of having a keyboard for "work" or slate for couch surfing might be nice.
I guess it will come down to the software, which is where it will ultimately fail. What makes the iPad/Android Tablets so useful is the finger-centric UI. It's what I hated about the older windows phones (which were built for a stylus and very difficult to manipulate with a fat finger).
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
The problem is that a iDevice connector is not like a computer connector. If you hook up a laptop to an external monitor, then (barring screen resolution differences, and sometimes it has BETTER resolution), the behaviour should be the same between the device's screen and external screen. It's just a monitor, and the laptop doesn't care if you're running Powerpoint or Unreal Tournament, it'll display whatever is on your desktop.
On an iDevice, an app has to support the external screen. A lot don't, and it's been an issue for awhile. I remember getting an A/V cable for my iPod and being quite disappointed when very few apps supported it. A staff member where I work tried an external display cable for the iPad, and ran into similar issues with varying compatibility between apps, although it supposedly works better if you jailbreak the phone and install some 3rd-party addons...
True, but not every application supports projector output. The iPad doesn't simply duplicate the display; this features is enabled on a per app basis. So if you were hoping to display certain content from an app, you may be out of luck. However, apps like Keynote and Penultimate (recently) support this.
Wait wait wait...let me understand something here.
They're a rich punk for suggesting a $29 connector?
Living With a Nerd
$29 for what amounts to a dongle?
Order of magnitude price inflation --> rich punk. Or corporate shill, if you prefer. Or sucker who paid $29 for a $2 dongle.
Oh, and even with the dongle, the ability of the iPad to act as a presentation device is pretty damn limited due to some poor implementation and feature choices. It works to a very limited degree in very limited cases spoon-fed to you by Apple, and god help you if you needed to do something else. It doesn't play nice with others.
You need to do more research. The connector is a measly $29. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC552ZM/A
The connector you're referring to works ONLY for keynote a small number of applications. From one of the highlighted reviews: [quote]I teach high school and thought the vga iPad dock connector would allow me to project everything I see while using the iPad, but alas there are severe limitations to which applications will show on the classroom LCD projector. I wish I had known this before purchasing the connector. The Apple Store description says the connector will display slideshows and movies, but I didn't realize that was it...[/quote] Further research (i.e. reading more reviews) indicates that it DOES NOT just redirect video output that normally gets sent to the iPad's screen. So it's actually a ripoff for $29 since it only works for a small number of applications (for now). So unless you ONLY plan to do presentations through keynote, show pictures, or movies, this isn't the device for you. If I want to include a demo of, say, Mathematica in my presentation, or maybe make use of a web page as a quick aside during my talk, tough luck.
One of the problems I often have with electronics whose parts swivel (in particular LCDs) is that over time, the electrical components that have to be wired through the point of swiveling often wears out too fast. I wonder how durable such a machine would be -- hopefully they are as sturdy as an IBM (not Lenovo) Thinkpad.
While true, there are some things you leave out. First, notice the presenter view on the iPad. It displays slide number and.... well that's it. I'm used to the power point presenter view, which displays the slide, your slide deck, notes, a timer, and drawing tools. For the iPad you have to constantly turn around to see the screen. Also you can't annotate the screen. These are seriously limitations to presentations.
Further, as I mentioned, VGA output is enabled on a per app basis. For example, you can't plug the iPad into a TV and watch shows using the ABC player, while this functionality is standard on any netbook with a web browser. For presentations, this means you can't open a web page to show your audience, a common enough task, as safari doesn't support VGA out.
So, while you assume the parent was referencing an inability to connect his iPad to a projector, he was actually alluding to the anemic presentation functionality it offers.
As a lecturer, I have a presentation every other day. I find my iPad is awful for them, as you can't annotate the slides. Further, developing presentations in iPad Keynote is an exercise in patience, while exporting from Power Point to keynote is a crapshoot, especially if you have complex animations. I resort to my trusty Dell Latitude XT for presentations. Even if it is heavier, it offers much more functionality.
Okay, different type of screen swivel but Fujitsu Siemens have had one for ages:
http://gizmodo.com/150000/fujitsu-siemens-lifebook-tablet
Yes, wait a year for some vapourware product that will be 10x better. You could do that for everything you buy. Hell, I'm waiting for a flying car or a jetpack, but I'll have a car while I wait.
Or get something now which does what you want. Something proven and with software. After all, what use is a computer without software?
The iPad wouldn't have been a success if Apple had used a different OS to the iPhone. Keeping it similar meant loads of apps and a relatively easy recompile and tweaks to make an existing app take advantage of the iPad's extra facilities.
But that thing looks sexier than the iPad. First company to make a full sized laptop version has me sold. Bonus points if the hardware is Linux friendly.
Boredom is bliss.
As a programmer, something like this would be perfect for working on the go. However, the specs really don't seem like they will fulfill the needs I have (I do alot of work with OpenGL).
Boredom is bliss.
"It’s smoother and quicker than the only similar system I’ve tried, a Vadem Clio smart netbook from 1999." Still have one of them. But it wasn't a netbook by any stretch. It was a slammin CE tablet.
30 bucks for a freakin connector?! A couple of wires and metal!? So two of these costs the same as a game that took millions of dollars to produce and thousands of man-hours of code. Measly, for sure
-- dnl
I have a convertible tablet pc and it is wonderful for replacing chalkboards. I have a wireless projector that I connect to and I run onenote. I can write on my tablet as I would on a board, only it is infinitely better that writing on a board. I have a full selection of colors and tools always ready. I can copy and paste. I can search through old notes as if they were typed. If the students are confused about something I wrote we can go back and check it (and see if I made a mistake - instead of getting into a ego battle about who's right).
/rant
If you have ever tried to work out algebra/calculus/geometry problems on a computer vs paper - you know paper is better. Not so with a tablet. It brings all the advantages of paper and none of it's drawbacks. It is great for a large section of the public. Windows 7 even has a tool that you can write down math formulas and it will interpret them as math to insert somewhere. That's miles better for many than learning latex or some markup or whatever.
I only use my tablet for working out physics and math problems. I use onenote. There is finally a computer which replaces paper. It is this. IMO - get a convertible tablet. Get one with dual digitizers. Make sure the active digitizer is pressure sensitive. Turn on pressure sensitive ink in onenote and select an ink thick enough to notice. And watch the number of problems you work out on paper go to zero and enjoy having the text of your handwritten notes searchable as if it were text. Enjoy the color. Enjoy the productivity. Enjoy it.
One last thing: Sometimes I wonder; "Is that someone's signature? Or do they type that at the end of each post?"
I can walk around the room while I write on the board....I am free from being shackled!!!
One last thing: Sometimes I wonder; "Is that someone's signature? Or do they type that at the end of each post?"
So your cup is half empty heh!?
-- dnl
Every few days I go to a presentation that some hot shot decides to run off their iPad using that dongle. They almost always end up apologizing for attempting it when the refresh rate is poor, the color is off and there are update issues when you rotate the devices. Even iPad wielding (and loving) senior management have pretty much ceased using it as a presentation device if there is anything else available to use. Having said that, for a 2 or 3 person show around a desk, it still punches above its weight.
I just can't be bothered.
You can just use the laptop to hide your junk while going through the new scanners. Let be real, that's all that anything Dell produces is good for.
I could get an Apple netbook for that much.
Apple doesn't build a netbook. For that matter for that price, it doesn't matter who built it, it isn't a netbook.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
If $29 stops you the $500 iPad price certainly isn't in your budget. Nonissue.
Bet you haven't purchased any USB2 or HDMI cables lately huh?
Well, I would consider the macbook air to be in the netbook range. Instead of using a slow Atom processor, it just uses a slow *and* outdated ULV core2duo.
Alright... They may not be that slow, but they aren't as good as the core i19 in my desktop with 4 petabytes of RAM and a 1.21 gigawatt power supply!
"To prevent this day from getting any worse, I'll just read ERROR as GOOD THING" 1GJU8xLuDKDxEs4KLf8fAGyptoDsqvEsBT
you are the imbecile if you can't think of other uses.
The Cloud - because you don't care if your apps and data are up in the air.
The macbook air costs over $500 and has a screen larger than 10 inches that means it is not a netbook. Manufacturers may redefine the term anyway they want, but the niche that the original netbooks filled was a small, cheap portable device.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
There are so many potential Dilbert strips here...
I know the guy who presented this convertible tablet originally. I've had conversations about the tablet market with him for two years. To summarise it went something like this:
Me: Dude, have you checked out the Tegra processor, and the iPhone touch screen technology? Dell could make a real splash here. You could probably get Canonicle to write a whole new touch interface for this thing for free. The killer app is an e-book reader that also does color Internet browsing. If you use a Pixel Qi display, you'll dominate. If you built it, I'll buy one for every member of my family.
Dell dude: But wouldn't you rather pay just a little more and have a device that is just as good or better, and also runs all your favourite Windows apps?
Me: If it runs Windows, it will fail horribly. We need a whole new interface to support touch interface, and Microsoft hasn't done anything innovative in about a decade.
Dell Dude: What you're talking about is something completely new. Dell doesn't create new markets. Instead, we wait for others to prove the market, and then we crush them with our manufacturing prowess.
Me: But... but... but... my last three Dell machines have sucked, and Dell's support is a bunch of Indians paid to piss me off!
I kid you not. True story. Marketing at it's best.
Celebrate failure, and then learn from it - Nolan Bushnell
Actually, Dell also has a division for real products... I haven't yet used a Dell Precision series device I didn't like. Hell, objectively they're nearly on par with Thinkpads, and all that keeps me from buying one is personal preference...
OK, someone needs to ask this, because that's exactly the kind of netbook/tablet I've been waiting for for years, except for the fact that it runs Windows. Usually Dell products handle Linux pretty well (on my Latitude E6410 I only had to fiddle the microphone). So how well does Linux run on that thing ? In particular Ubuntu Netbook edition (or whatever it's called now)...
Non-Linux Penguins ?
USB2 cables are about $5, as are HDMI cables. You can get them for less if you look hard.
The trouble is that dongles tend to get lost, break, get left behind, etc... (The other problem is that not all large presentations are corporate presentations, and most corporate presentations are internal ones that don't involve travel.)
It won't take external media (DCs, DVDs, floppies) and can only be accessed by wireless or network cable, well, it's a netbook. I don't care how much the damned thing costs.
If I put a price of $1k on an Acer Aspire, does that make it not a netbook?
And as to "cheap", the McBook Air IS cheap, compared to any other Apple computer.
Free Martian Whores!
Fine, by your definition, netbook is just a different word for UMPC. What word would you suggest for an inexpensive (less than $400), small (10 inches or less) portable computer?
I thought we had settled on netbook as that term, you say that "netbook" is a computer that won't take external media and can only be accessed by wireless or network cable. Personally, neither of those were part of my definition of netbook.
Once again, the reason that there exists a "netbook" segment of the PC market is because they were cheap. PC manufacturers have been trying to create an Ultra Portable market segment since at least the 90s, but they wanted to make it a premium price point. That failed.
The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
So, people wouldn't buy expensive netbooks, but will buy inexpensive netbooks, therefore if it's expensive it's not a netbook? OK, whatever.
Free Martian Whores!
Really? I watched that video and I would NEVER want to have to try to give a presentation on that piece of crap. Seriously, you connected a screen and have to turn around and put your back to the audience to see the slides? You've got to be kidding. Then you have to tap a ridiculously small square on the completely blank screen to go back a slide? Guess you could just use the arrow keys to do that...oh, wait...
Oh, maybe you could just plug one of the cheap and nifty Logitech presentation-oriented mice into the usb slot...oh, never mind, can't do that...
Hell, you can buy a laptop perfectly powerful enough to run Powerpoint 2003, 2007 or 2010, a logitech presentation style mouse, a vga cable and a freaking projector suitable for a small to medium sized conference room (sure, it'll need to be darkened, as the cheapie projectors aren't very bright at all) and still have enough money left over for a nice steak dinner compared to the price of a stupid iPad.
Your "in practice" video pretty much absolutely reinforces the post you are replying to about needing to use a laptop to give a presentation, since the iPad is utterly worthless for doing so, as demonstrated in that video.