The Dell Latitude ST is a 10 inch Windows tablet aimed at the business, education and health care markets. The tablet first broke cover this weekend, thanks to a video posted on Dell’s Malaysian website, but today Dell formally introduced the Latitude ST to the world.
Dell hasn’t unveiled all the specs in the US yet, but an Italian website has published a spec sheet. I suspect that configurations will vary by region, but since this is an enterprise device, Dell will probably offer clients the ability to order custom configurations… for a price.
The tablet will reportedly be available with a 1.5 GHz Intel Atom Z670 single core processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 10.1 inch, 1280 x 800 pixel LED display with Gorilla Glass.
It will use a solid state disk with up to 128GB of storage available. The Latitude ST will have a 4 cell, 30Whr battery, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0 as well as optional 3G and GPS capabilities.
The Dell Latitude ST will be available with Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate. There’s also an optional docking station which allows you to position the tablet for use as a laptop.
The tablet measures 10.6″ x 7.3″ x 0.6″ and weighs about 1.8 pounds. That makes it a little heavier than the original Apple iPad or most Android tablets — but the difference is that you can use the Latitude ST to run Windows apps or link into a corporate network based on Windows technology.
There’s still no word on how much the tablet will cost, when it will be available, or if Dell will sell the Latitude ST directly to consumers as well as to larger business customers.
Update: Italian sites Notebook Italia and il Tablet PC Italico have posted some hands-on photos and impressions of the tablet.
I’m a big Microsoft developer and have been using Microsoft Tablets since the days of the Compaq. I agree with you guys, but I think a lot of the comments are based on Windows legacy(XP-W7) tablet UI, and traditional Microsoft Mantra.
I think the break through here is Metro and Windows 8. I have a friend who installed the BETA, Windows 8 on his HP Slate and it was sick sick fast.
So the real question is what will the synergy be, with Windows 8 and and all the Oak Trail Tablets current and just released be?
I’m actually excited about the Dell Tablet. because it’s an example of a mid-ter tablet that might possibly look attractive to the average user.
if you think about it, as it already beats the iPad2 in my book for productivity, now give it the ability to upgrade to Windows 8 Metro and you have a pretty nice tablet.
I think it is a bit late for Dell to enter the market.I think I will wait for a tablet using Windos 8 or will continue with an IOS or Android product 🙂 That should be better.Â
So basically Dell have launched a nearly identical fujitsu q550 nearly a whole year after fujitsu launched theirs? This is disappointing. Another 10″ ntrig atom waste of space. What are Dell thinking here?
Yup. Â Nothng is better than a real tablet PC, but any Intel hardware with licensed, closed-source driver GPUs and any active digitizer from Ntrig undermine many of the advantages of a real tablet PC. Â This rightfully belongs on the toilet paper shelf next to everything from Apple and anything running Android.
You seem to think there is really a choice?
What else can run Windows, can still be priced below $1000, can run up to 8 hours on a charge, and is more easily portable?
The Samsung Series 7 Tablet starts at $1099, claims only up to 7 hours but that’s likely only with low power usage, and isn’t as portable or as durable.
While other better solutions from companies like Motion Computing, are far more ideal but typically cost thousands and in this economy not all companies can afford them.
Besides, not everyone needs high performance for everyday business activities.