So it's a Latitude ST with Win 8 and a button on the front? And an inferior screen aspect ratio IMO.

So far I'm not impressed, although at the right price I might be interested but knowing Dell's typical Latitude pricing I'm not holding my breath.

i dont understand why dell even bother sometimes

nor me biscuit. However somebody has got to try and shake up the market, if only to stop the iPad running away with things…

If this is all Windows 8 tablets are going to be (2Gb RAM and low res screen) how do they expect to make any in roads in to the market. This is going to have to be significantly cheaper than an ipad or its pretty much dead as less face you'd be daft to pay more! (And yes I hate apple as well but you've already got android tablets already cheaper than the ipad for that segment)

iPad won't run all your legacy x86 windows apps, this will. For business that's going to be a priority.

Plus: docking station :D So you stick it in your bag when you go to meetings and you've got a nice, touch-friendly, mobile OS front end plus full (Metro-enhanced) Office for note-taking, outlook etc., and when you get back to your desk you stick it in its dock and you've got a standard desktop experience with enough power for most office tasks. And whilst this device is Atom (so basically a touchscreen netbook) I'm sure there will be ULV versions available (at massively higher cost, mind!) that will provide a much more desktop-like performance.

Not that I'm saying this a great product mind: it lacks a couple of key features IMNSHO, most notably a digitiser for reliable and accurate hand-writing reproduction. But I can definitely see a use for it (ref: my recent comments about using a playbook quite heavily at work at the minute: this would do the same job as my playbook and my laptop put together…).

scaryjim
iPad won't run all your legacy x86 windows apps, this will. For business that's going to be a priority.

I'm sorry but I just don't agree - I've seen so many business adopting ipads now I think that argument is getting less and less. Also I'm not really sure that this device is targeting that segment - after all if you want a tablet to run windows x86 you'd probably want something with a lot better specs. This compares pretty well to my 7 old laptop! Windows 8 should have two tablet targets - x86 - high end for power users and ARM - cheap and cheerful to attack iOS. I just don't see the point in this sort of low powered x86 machine.

Be interested to see how this pans out

At this price segment this sevice should be trumping Ipad3 in everything. I just hope that when it comes to consumer products they up the ante. It could do with 4GB minimum, proper mobile gfx like Tegra3 or better. I do like the SSD storage. The resolution just seems poor nowadays. My Galaxy Note is as good as this and that was from 2011.

More details of the CPU used:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-57387087-64/this-is-intels-chip-aimed-at-windows-8-tablets-from-hp-others/

It looks like an SGX544 is being used for the IGP.

Sigh I'm really disappointed, really could have tried with the resolution to match or a least come close to the ipad 3 but instead utterly failed… Why not try and break the mold for a change… Won't be surprised next if Acer and Asus come out with a similar idea to this..

Why does it need to match the iPad 3 resolution - is this E-PEEN being extended to tablets now?? Its like with Asus Eee Transformer Prime which has a fantastic 1920X1080 display and now people saying,the iPad3 is better since it has MOAR pixels.

How about displays with a decent pixel density,decent colour,brightness,contrast and viewing angles combined with low power consumption?? The current high resolution displays consume too much power(it is one of the reasons why he iPad 3 needs such a large battery). If anything 1920X1080 is enough - we need companies to concentrate on reducing power consumption further as the screen is the component which consumes the most power ATM and also make displays easier to read outside.

CAT-THE-FIFTH
Why does it need to match the iPad 3 resolution - is this E-PEEN being extended to tablets now?? Its like with Asus Eee Transformer Prime which has a fantastic 1920X1080 display and now people saying,the iPad3 is better since it has MOAR pixels.

How about displays with a decent pixel density,decent colour,brightness,contrast and viewing angles combined with low power consumption?? The current high resolution displays consume too much power(it is one of the reasons why he iPad 3 needs such a large battery). If anything 1920X1080 is enough - we need companies to concentrate on reducing power consumption further as the screen is the component which consumes the most power ATM and also make displays easier to read outside.

I don't think many people would say the Retina display is disappointing to interface with! Videos for example (a big use of my HP Touchpad) look fantastic and vivid on the display and games as well just look far better. Maybe you have a fair point about 1080p being enough but why can't it become a lot more common place instead of us getting fobbed of with lower resolutions… Dell offer laptops with screen upgrades for larger resolutions, whats stopping them doing the same here? Also I'd say there is nothing wrong with ipad or iphone screen in bright sunlight and the same for the Galaxy S II and the like screens.

digit
I don't think its a case of E-PEEN its of usability … Have a look at the Retina display of an Ipad 3 then go back to your standard resolution laptop. Worlds apart! And i'm not an Apple fan just annoyed that manufacturers have just sat and not tried to level the playing field. End of the day imo its better to match your rival then release a lesser device costing the same if not more! Windows 8 as well as stated in a few articles on the engineering windows 8 blog states about the PPI and large resolution support, devices like this just don't take advantage

The Asus Eee Transformer Prime has a lower resolution 1920X1080 display(approximately 2MP),and it is no less usable than an iPad3 display(approximately 3MP) IMHO.We don't need progression beyond that for the time being. I am not against pixel density improvements,but even this needs to be tempered too as you are making critical sacrifices.

Increase pixel density,yes, but not at the expense of other attributes too.

I don't want this to be a repeat of the MP E-PEEN races with compacts,where companies were just looking at MP numbers instead of image quality. Now it has finally dawned on more and more people,more MP does not mean a better camera.

Things like daylight useability and lower power consumption are more important for a tablet than one-upmanship on the pixel scale. Even the iPad 3 had to shoehorn a much bigger battery,much more powerful GPU(which consumes more power) and has added bulk due to the bigger battery.

The battery technology is the major issue,as it is moving at a much slower pace than other developements.

Imagine what will happen,if even higher pixel density displays are released?? That is the price you pay with what is available ATM.

The transformer prime has a 720p (once you take away the function bar at the bottom) res. the one which comes out later this year has the 1080 screen and they haven't decided what name it will definitely have yet AFAIK.

I agree we dont need the massive res of the ipad on such a device but we need more than 720p. In my opinion, its just the same as on any other device with the exception of phone screens, 720p isnt good enough anymore.

digit
Dell offer laptops with screen upgrades for larger resolutions…

Disappointingly only for 15"+ machines, I had a chat with Dell a few days ago to disucuss upgrade options and they don't have anything 14“ or smaller that has a higher res than 1366x768, not even optional upgrades. Which is a shame because I'm looking for somthing to replace my three year old Latitude E6400 which has a 1440x900 screen, looks like I have to go else where but many other laptop manufactures have also caught the 1366x768 disease.

I guess I'll have to turn to Apple now, principally the 13” MBA with its 1440x900 display.

digit
I don't think many people would say the Retina display is disappointing to interface with! Videos for example (a big use of my HP Touchpad) look fantastic and vivid on the display and games as well just look far better. Maybe you have a fair point about 1080p being enough but why can't it become a lot more common place instead of us getting fobbed of with lower resolutions… Dell offer laptops with screen upgrades for larger resolutions, whats stopping them doing the same here? Also I'd say there is nothing wrong with ipad or iphone screen in bright sunlight and the same for the Galaxy S II and the like screens.

I never said it was dissapointing,did I??;) What I said,is that one-upmanship is not going to help in the short term. Like I said higher pixel density is nicer(I have a TP too),but, I want more progress on other fronts too.

I agree,that a move to higher standard resolution is a good thing,as long as they don't go overly mad on that front.

Are the current screens are as readable as E-Paper and Mirasol displays in bright sunlight readibility,or with regards to power consumption?? Are they as good as a printed magazine?? They look prettier no doubt(when compared to the E-Paper and Mirasol displays),but you proved my point about battery life - most modern phones barely can run a day of reasonably heavy usage.

Most of that is down to the screen.

The thing is people will react to numbers,ie,X>Y= better,just like with cameras. So,if companies start seeing this soon, we will have 4MP displays,then 5MP,and onwards. The issue is that progress will be slowed on other fronts. I would rather they hit no more than 2MP to 3MP for a few years and then increase daylight useability massively and improve power consumption,and also filiter the technology down to cheaper devices.

I guess this is a good indication of the specs required for Windows 8 on a tablet/mobile. Doesn't look good for the current line of Nokia handsets running windows 7.5

We have not seen the requirements for the ARM version though.

Wonder if they wil actually advertise this time around. No one even knew Dell made tablets or phones. I have a dell streak 5 and i love. People see it an have no idea what it is! Was out wayyy before the Note but they all stil think the Note was the first 5" phone. A good product with terrible sale effort and slow product support. Have to rely on modders.