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Yesterday the Dell Inspiron Duo went up for order at the Microsoft Store. Today it’s available directly from Dell.com — although the preliminary ship date isn’t until mid-December.
The Inspiron Duo is a convertible tablet style netbook. You can use it like a normal 10 inch clamshell netbook, or you can flip the screen back and close the lid so you can hold the computer like a tablet.
The computer has a 1.5GHz Intel Atom N550 dual core CPU, a 10 inch, 1366 x 768 pixel multitouch display, 2GB of RAM, a 320GB, 7200RPM hard drive, and runs Windows 7 Home Premium. It has 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth 3.0, and a 1.3MP webcam.
On the downside, the Duo comes standard with a 29Whr 4-cell battery. I’d be surprised if you can squeeze more than 3-4 hours of run time out of the machine, but we won’t know for sure until we start to see some real-world reviews. I’m hoping to get my hands on a demo unit, but Dell says those won’t be available until December.
Dell also offers an optional Inspiron Duo Audio Station for an extra $100. You can dock the computer in the station when it’s in tablet mode to use the integrated speakers, media card reader, Ethernet adapter, and 2 extra USB ports.
Yeah well I need a full windows system so I can flash cell phones, and run Delorme when I’m off roading. Everyone has different needs.
the bezel is it’s best (most prominent) feature.
Love the form factor, hate the guts. A Tegra 2 solution running Ubuntu Netbook edition or Android would be lighter, easier to use, and a lot more power efficient.