Dell Inspiron Duo is a Delight

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://blog.laptopmag.com/dell-inspiron-duo-hands-on-solid-build-limited-software' target='_blank'>http://blog.laptopmag.com/dell-insp...imited-software</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"The Dell Inspiron Duo, the company&rsquo;s first convertible netbook won&rsquo;t ship until mid-December, but we had a chance to spend some quality time with a preproduction unit today. After a few hours of fooling with the 10.1-inch, $550 slate&rsquo;s unique swivel screen and Dell&rsquo;s custom UI layer for Windows 7, we&rsquo;re encouraged and eager to see what the final build holds."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/lpt/auto/1291044848.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>I find it amusing that with all the rage that slate tablets are, there is plenty of talk about docks for them which include keyboards.&nbsp; Docks, which in some ways, defeat the purpose and benefits of what slates offer over their convertible brethren.&nbsp; Deep within the recesses of my mind, a memory whispers that the flip style screen has been done long before in the form of the Vadem Clio, and it would not surprise me that even older designs have existed.&nbsp; What is nice is to see that Dell has added an extra interface for use with the Duo when in slate mode.&nbsp; I do not know if it is enough to cover up the underpinnings that is Windows 7, but it shows that manufacturers are recognizing that touch and keyboard/mouse interfaces are separate entities.&nbsp; Now if they would only offer slightly more graphical horsepower, this thing would be a surefire hit.</p>

[Sven Johannsen]

I do not know if it is enough to cover up the underpinnings that is Windows 7, I really don't understand why everyone says that about touch and Windows 7. The icons on the desktop and the task bar are certainly big enough to touch, They are a darn sight bigger than those on any smartphone I have. If you pop up Windows Media Center, that is a very touch friendly interface. The Tablet PC input panel can be sized to as big as the screen allows, making it as effective as the iPad's on screen keyboard.

OK, so you run might run into issues if you launch a bog standard Windows app, but you don't even have that option with the iPad, or the android tablets. You are pretty much relegated to big versions of phone apps. Yea you got the iWorks stuff on the iPad, but it is as crippled as Office Mobile is on Windows Phones. You can use MS Office products on a Windows Tablet by just using the input panel and you get all the benefits. If OEMs would figure out that people know how to use pens, and include that hardware capability, a Windows 7 tablet is leaps and bounds better than an iPad. If software houses would give some thought to touch interface, the apps could support touch on Windows 7, lord knows the OS does.

IMHO, the stuff you want to do via touch on Windows 7 works just fine. The other stuff is just as hard, or impossible to do on the other platforms.

[Macguy59]

How do those things defeat the purpose ? I guess if you lug the extra stuff around all the time but I think most keep them at home or the office. There's very little I do with a desktop or laptop that I can't do with the iPad (or for that matter the Galaxy Tab I had for a week)

[Sven Johannsen]

How do those things defeat the purpose ? I guess if you lug the extra stuff around all the time but I think most keep them at home or the office. There's very little I do with a desktop or laptop that I can't do with the iPad (or for that matter the Galaxy Tab I had for a week)
Lug what around? If you mean the input panel, that is an onscreen capability much like the iPad's on screen keyboard, except you can resize it and undock it and change formats and handwrite on it. Other than that, it is the same. If you have a win 7 machine, type 'input panel' into the windows search box. Only extra thing I noted was a stylus, no more lugging than a pen. I just think the OS as a whole is just as usable as iOS is on an iPad, more so since I have more file management capabilities. The apps are what set the iPad apart as a touch device, but since there is a dearth of windows 7 slates, there is no incentive to write, touch friendly windows seven stuff. It's not, IMHO, an OS deficiency.

[Macguy59]

Lug what around? If you mean the input panel, that is an onscreen capability much like the iPad's on screen keyboard, except you can resize it and undock it and change formats and handwrite on it. Other than that it is the same. Of you have a win 7 machine, type 'input panel' into the windows search box. Only extra thing I noted was a stylus, no more lugging than a pen.

I was responding to the thread starter.

[Sven Johannsen]

Oh, sorry. I agree. Docks are for home.