Touch comes to Dell, Toshiba Tablet PCs

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 11 December 2007 16:21

Opinion and Analysis

Besides touch and stylus control, the Latitude TX also offers dual mousing technologies, featuring a ‘trackpoint’ in the middle of the keyboard along wide a glide pad in front of the keyboard as with most notebook PCs. Dell also offer the Latitude TX with a range of built-in 3G or EVDO wireless broadband options in addition to Wi-Fi.

Thanks to a lightweight design weighing 3.57lbs (1.61kg) or 4lb (1.81kg) with a second battery, no inbuilt optical drive and other weight saving features such as the 12.1-inch widescreen at WXGA 1280x800 resolution that uses LED technology helping screens to be slimmer and lighter, and a 1.8-inch 4200RPM hard drive that is slower but lighter than 2.5-inch models, Dell’s Latitude TX is designed for long life computing on-the-go, letting users get on with their work instead of worrying about finding the closest power socket.

Dell (and presumably Toshiba's) dual touch screens only operate in 'single touch' mode, unlike the iPhone, although Dell's video (to appear on the 11th of Dec 2007 at the Direct2Dell Blog hints at future multi-touch capabilties, according to a local Dell representative I've spoken to.

Dell's spokesperson has also informed me that the Latitude TX is aimed more for corporate users, rather than consumers (although is available to anyone), meaning a full magnesium alloy frame and casing for extra durability, as opposed to ABS plastic used by some competitors, focuses on portability and battery life, has a "three year next business day on-site warranty" (presumably as standard) instead of return-to-base and a stable 12-18 month lifecycle platform.

The weight savings and longer battery life comes at a cost, starting at US $2499, something that is a bit unusual for Dell who normally lead with more attractive pricing, although one can only expect prices will fall in 2008 as the demand for Dell’s tablet picks up.

That said, Toshiba’s Portege M700 starts at US $1499 with more powerful hardware, albeit in a heavier configuration, making consumers choose between power and battery life in addition to whatever additional accessories will also be purchased, such as additional batteries or other features.

Toshiba’s Portege M700 offers regular voltage only Core 2 Duo chips from 2.0Ghz to 2.6Ghz in speed, and the choice of a 7200RPM hard drive (amongst 5400RPM options) to truly transform your Tablet PC into a speed demon normally only associated with non-Tablet PC notebooks.

In addition, the Toshiba also uses a 12.1-inch widescreen WXGA display, although Toshiba say their screen is optimised for both indoor and outdoor viewing, with 30% more outdoor viewability, something certainly handy for true road warriors who do find themselves computing anywhere.

Toshiba also offer the option of built-in 3G or EVDO wireless broadband, while the 12.1-inch screen has a 1.3 megapixel webcam built-in for easy videoconferencing using Skype or other software.

Toshiba’s M700 integrates a CD/DVD burner, making it heavier than Dell’s tablet, and starts at 4.4lbs (1.995 kg), going up depending on the additional features selected at purchase.

Toshiba say the M700 is available to order and buy now in the US, although no Australia specific announcements have yet been made. Dell say that they are taking orders now and will deliver by the end of the year in the US and likely early in the new year for Australia, with both Dell and Toshiba offering XP Tablet 2005 or Vista according to customer desires.

The Australian price of the Dell Latitude TX starts at AUD $3500 (inc GST and delivery) and will feature the option of integrated broadband through either Vodafone or Telstra BigPond.

So, with Toshiba’s latest version in a long line of Tablet PCs now sporting touch and full power as standard, alongside Dell’s first Tablet PC created to emphasise mobility and battery life, Tablet PCs show that, just as with other technologies, they are evolving and improving too, finally attracting the attention of Dell whose decision will help fuel Tablet PC adoption that much more.

Bill Gates may not have seen the Tablet PC become an instant hit, but his insistence of the importance of touch technologies in addition to keyboard and mouse input systems was certainly spot on, with Vista offering the best Tablet PC experience yet.

We are, of course, yet to see what Apple launches at January’s Macworld 2008, with an iTablet of some kind strongly rumoured to finally go on sale, following up on undeniable success of the iPhone, but whether Apple launches an iTablet or not, the touch revolution is an unstoppable force that will, over the next few years, become standard across most computers, making human interaction with machines ever more natural and intuitive.

Props to Dell for finally taking the Tablet PC plunge with dual touch technology, and to Toshiba who have put regular notebook power into a Tablet PC sporting dual touch technology as well.

Clearly, as I’ve said before, the future will certainly be very touching!