14 DAY TRIAL // Dell's multi-touch Latitude XT Tablet PC was launched almost seven months ago, yet it seems that the company still hasn't managed to fix the teething issues that the machine has. The N-Trig digitizer, which is used on the Dell's multi-touch screen, has issues that include errors that prevent the digitizer software from being found, making the tablet useless in auto and dual modes. The problem goes away after a few reboots, but it is a rather frustrating and counter-productive occurrence.
The fact that the tablet still has issues has been unveiled in a report published online on Monday. Beside the mentioned problems, it seems that the multi-touch screen comes with yet another flaw, with the digitizer accidentally clicking items while the pen is just hovering over the tablet when exiting standby mode.
Apparently, the problems are not connected exclusively to the digitizer, since the wireless card also seems to cease functioning at random, and it can be put back on track with a reboot. The author of the report says that he worked with Dell's technical support on resolving the issues, but all efforts were unsuccessful, and the problems still persist.
According to the author of the report, the Latitude XT is not ready for mass market. “Even though the Latitude XT has the only multi-touch Tablet PC on the market, I’ve finally realized that this digitizer and its drivers are not ready for prime time,” it is stated in the report.
Microsoft has similar technology used on its Surface computers, expected to reach the public sometime during the following months, but which are already used in certain retail stores. The difference between Dell's multi touch and Microsoft's Surface is that the latter relies on human touch rather than on a stylus. Apple is also using the multi-touch technology on some of its products, including handheld devices and trackpads.