Dell ends rumors, launching Latitude tablet in 2007

Jeff Clarke, Dell Business Product Group SVP/GM didn't have much to say about the new tablet Dell Latitude that's been rumored about for, well, years, but at very least Dell has finally and officially put the rumors to bed. Showing off a sexyslim Dell tablet in a video posted to Dell's blog, the edu / health / corporate-aimed unit will be"one of the lightest weight convertible tablets in the marketplace... [with] leadership tech in its pen and touch interfaces." Quick recap what is confirmed:

• Dell's doing a widescreen convertible tablet
• It looks pretty friggin thin
• It's got a touchscreen and pen input (digitizer); it also has a biometric reader.
• It's coming out "later this year".

Wish we had more info than that, but we tip our hats to Dell for helping us finally put an end all the years of agonizing and rumor-mongering about this mythic lappie of theirs.

[Via JKOTR]

[Paul @ May 18th 2007 6:42PM]

Hmm, I hope the prices are respectable. If so that just might be my next laptop.


Especially if they make a linux version!!

[RandomThoughts @ May 18th 2007 6:44PM]

Looks nice and sweet. One of the things that have been keeping the adoption of something like this within hospitals and doctors offices has been the operating system and the fast startup. Doesn't do much good if it takes a few mins. to boot up.

[Jason Golden @ May 18th 2007 7:05PM]

Any guesses on screen size? It looks 12.1" like all the others, but since Gateway's the only one making a 14" model (right?), I just wanted to pick people's brains. It would be great if it was 14", but 12.1" is more likely.

[Darwin @ May 18th 2007 7:59PM]

Good job Kevin Littlebrain. Another youseliss reezen two post hiz garbaj link, while managing two uze "its" and "two" rong.

[darkstar @ May 18th 2007 8:04PM]

wow. i cant believe it's a dell!!!!

[Nate @ May 18th 2007 8:08PM]

I would expect 12.1 inch, 14 inch tablets have always felt to large for "tablet use"

[Dean Johnson @ May 18th 2007 8:18PM]

It'll have Santa Rosa, and it's called the Latitude XT

http://www.ministryoftech.com/2007/05/18/dell-latitude-tablet-pc-revealed/

[Chuckles McGee @ May 18th 2007 8:39PM]

That's ridiculously slim for a convertible! I use a slate tablet that's .75 inches thick and the dell shown looks just a hair larger. It's probably around an inch thick. I hope the battery life is sold.

Dell is on a roll! Tablet, ultra thin glass monitor, XPS 720 H2C. Good job!

[Dustin Frazier @ May 18th 2007 8:46PM]

I used a touchscreen tablet that also had a digitized pen functionality. It was horrible. When I write, the edge of my palm rests on the screen and it kept screwing up the cursor placement. Either have a pen or a touchscreen, not both. Maybe dell has set it up so only one can work at a time.

[MarkZ @ May 18th 2007 11:05PM]

Yeah, but that's a touchscreen tablet.

Tablet PCs doesn't read based on touch - it picks up a mild electric signal from the pen, so your palm placement doesn't make a difference.

[fashion police @ May 18th 2007 9:24PM]

WOW....what was up with that shirt!!!! Oh, that tablet looks awesome.

[Wilz @ May 18th 2007 9:26PM]

OMG...I think I just had one....
(cleanup on aisle 7...)

[obiwan @ May 18th 2007 9:54PM]

bleah. tablets. worthless. give me one, or the other. i like the rotating display - 'here, look at this' is cool.

[Steve @ May 18th 2007 11:39PM]

Dude, I'm getting a Dell.

[Richard @ May 19th 2007 12:05AM]

I've got an acer travelmate c310 and it has a 14" screen. some of my classmates have toshibas(we're med students) with 12" screens, and I am happy to say that mine is better(we all agree). the great thing about the newer tablets is that you can use them as traditional laptops, and when doing that, the larger screen is especially useful. I look forward to checking out this tablet when it becomes available later this year.

[John Doe @ May 19th 2007 12:33AM]

Awww shit. Another model to memorize. I just hope its easy to take apart.

[northerngeek @ May 19th 2007 4:25AM]

Tablets are fantastic especially for those of us in the medical profession, I have a Toshiba that is solely digitizer based and it works amazingly well with my "doctor's handwriting" (i.e. chicken scratching) however I have tried a touch screen version which wasn't as good, hopefully the digitizer functionality shines through.

In Medicine at least the UI of some of the applications is all that holds back Tablets, a lot of people I know love them we just need the application developers for NHS software to give us a nicer way to work with them.

[Alex @ May 19th 2007 4:26AM]

Wow... looks amazing! Can't wait for the specs. I'm not expecting much on the performance side, but if it's reasonable, I'll be trading in my M90 for it in a heartbeat.

[jeff @ May 22nd 2007 3:22AM]

actually toshiba makes a 14" widescreen m7 tablet... specs are good but i hated mine, traded it for a thinkdpad. my lid kept opening in the bag, plus it was fat and the battery sucked.

[SilkyZ @ Jul 29th 2007 8:08PM]

I need one for college but i'll buy one later if they come out with a XPS version. (tablet gaming!!!