The first time we saw the Dell Inspiron Duo, we were blown away by the way it used a cool hinge to convert itself from a shiny tablet to a slimline netbook.
In a new video preview of the device, Dell has announced that the Duo is on its way. The clip demonstrates the Duo firstly as a tablet, sitting in a JBL speaker dock. It flips, and then the magic happens. The tablet is able to split open, revealing a keyboard underneath. The screen swivels within the frame, and you've got a completely different device on your hands. Watch the YouTube vid below to see the transformation in action.
At this stage, the Inspiron Duo looks very, very cool. But we do have our reservations. First of all, it's running on the Windows 7 OS, which wasn't really designed for touchscreen tablets. We recently saw Windows 7 demoed on the HP Slate, and weren't entirely impressed with how it looked and performed.
It's also worth remembering that tablet-laptop hybrids have been done before, and made little impact. The Dell Inspiron Duo may convert in a unique way, but if the touchscreen isn't easy to use, it will be consigned to the dustbin with every other short-lived show-stopper .
If it works well, Dell will be onto a sure-fire winner, combining the fun of an iPad-type tablet with the utility of a lightweight netbook. The video says it's coming soon, so hopefully we'll see it before Christmas.
Dell is probably best known for its laptops and PCs, but in the past year devices like the Dell Streak and Dell Venue Pro have shown it has its eyes on a different prize. We'll be there to see how it measures up.
Image credit: Engadget
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rbrian 5 November, 2010 14:34
It looks like in tablet mode it's running something other than Windows 7. I've seen other netbooks with a lightweight instant-on Linux-based OS in addition to Windows. It could just be the best of both worlds.
anonymous 5 November, 2010 23:41
It could run 2 OS's surely, it would be so annoying having to change OS when you swivel the screen. It could be a full screen program with easy to use touch screen controls. Either way this could be great IF the specs match up the hype... If its as slow as some net-books and not as smooth and quick as the iPad or Samsung galaxy tab then its pointless.
ravcasleygera 10 November, 2010 12:07
2 entirely separate OSs would be crazy. My guess is it's some sort of touch-friendly simplified overlay with lots of annoying Dell software. What's really needed is for MSFT to pull their fingers out and come out with something similar for Windows 8 - then this sort of product will finally make sense.
Anonymous 24 November, 2010 17:00
I like multi-touch tablets very much. This looks special. Here is a text editor for multi-touch, StNotepad Touch with multi-touch gestures for all text editing actions like cut, copy, paste, delete, space, backspace, enter, tab, undo, redo and more. Let me know any special software for multi-touch