14 DAY TRIAL // Customers looking to buy a new tablet now have a new option available to them, the Dell Inspiron Duo, a hybrid between a netbook and a Tablet PC which is already available for pre-ordering from the Microsoft Store for $549. Microsoft’s Ben Rudolph got a chance to play around with the new Dell Inspiron Duo running Windows 7 and featuring a dual-core Atom N550 processor, a 1366 x 768 display, 2GB of RAM and a 320GB, and users can see some of the pictures he snapped in this article.
The duality of this device comes through its two basic modes, Touch and Type. Customers can either choose to use it as a netbook and take advantage of the keyboard, or as a slate, in which case they only have to rotate the screen inside the bezel.
“Performance using normal everyday applications like Word, PowerPoint and Excel was good, although data-heavy applications like Outlook (loaded with my full multi-gig profile) did take somewhat longer to load,” Rudolph said.
“That’s not unexpected though; the duo has a usually-for-netbooks Atom processor after all, so that little bit of delay wasn’t a deal breaker for me.
“I found the duo comfortable to work on – the tight 1366 x 768 resolution, even on the 10” viewable screen area, was easy to read, and 12” body offers up a keyboard that was big enough to type on without my fingers cramping.”
While in Type mode, the Duo will feature the now all-too familiar Windows 7 UI. However, once in Touch mode, the interface itself flips.
“Dell Stage” is a much more touch-friendly GUI which enables the device to be used in content consumption scenarios, mainly for entertainment, this is why the UI is focused on streamlining access to music, movies, photos, games, the browser and the Blio reader.
“The Dell Inspiron duo is an interesting device, one of the first that changes the debate from “touch vs. type” to “touch AND type”,” Rudolph said.
“I love that partners like Dell are taking hardware in new directions and I think that this is the first of many Windows devices that will look to give customers the best of both worlds – the traditional functionality of a laptop to create content, and a finger-friendly multi-touch interface to consume content.”
Below users will be able to see Rudolph interviewing Michael Tatelman, Dell Consumer Sales & Marketing Vice President and General Manager at the grand opening of the Bellevue Square Microsoft Store.
