Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
Summary: Dell recently announced that it would launch a 10-inch tablet to compliment its 5- and 7-inch slates. However, it looks like we'll have to wait a bit.
Dell recently announced that it would launch a 10-inch tablet to compliment its 5- and 7-inch slates. However, it looks like we'll have to wait a bit.
According to Forbes, the Windows 7-based tablet won't be launched until "September at the earliest," but a "Windows 8 tablet" could be on the way early next year too.
Depending on just how early the Windows 8 machine is shipped next year, that could be a small window for two tablet releases. Forbes points out that this unnamed Windows 7 tablet (which may or may not fall within the Streak family) could be intended for a holiday release.
A September debut would make sense if that were the case, but if this is truly a business-minded tablet (especially compared to the Streak tablets), then a big holiday blowout wouldn't really make any sense. It's more likely that Dell just needs more time to work on this tablet, which is fine if it turns out to be a stellar competitor for the HP Slate and similar gadgets. If it is a professional tablet, then it doesn't have to go up against the slew of consumer tablets being launched this spring, such as Apple's iPad 2, the LG G-Slate, and the HTC Evo View 4G.
[NOTE: The device pictured above is Dell's latest tablet, the Streak 7, not the 10-inch slate mentioned in this post.]
Kick off your day with ZDNet's daily email newsletter. It's the freshest tech news and opinion, served hot. Get it.
Talkback
As they say in 'Nawlins...
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
Is there actually a viable Windows 7 tablet out yet?
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
Are you channeling "Ron Burgundy"?
why anyone would want to channel that idiot i'm not sure, but at least he's not here to polute these blogs with his idiotic posts!
Windows Tablet
Not that I have seen or heard. Though I for one would wait on a true "Windows" tablet until they start shipping with Windows 8. That is if I were interested in something more than a consumer device.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
"Note quite the form factor..."
Sure. Agreed. I just wanted to remind that the usefulness of the tablet is not just about thickness and weight. I see the first crop of Oak Trail tablets are coming out this month. Motions's CL900 is an example of a useful Windows 7 tablet (ruggedized, light, thin), but it won't be as smooth / slick as Apple. You are right that Windows 8 / next Intel gen will be needed to match that fluid feel of the iPad.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
I've been using a Windows 7 Lenovo tablet since last year, (and a WinXP one since 2007). It is my main development machine, drawing, multi-touch, stylus, music, voice recognition, etc... Yes, it's not Apple "cool"; 5 times the thickness and twice the weight, but it is also 5 times the power and 100 times the productivity.
indeed
True the convertible laptop to tablet device has been around for some time... That's not quite the form factor I was referring to.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
I'm using my HP Slate 500 right now. It's pretty slick and does everything I need it to. It's the right device for me.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
Message has been deleted.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
<i>Yep, office computers that have no keyboards and lie flat in the hand are what the world has been waiting for. I know this because Steve Jobs told me so. </i>
There, corrected that for you.
Message has been deleted.
Message has been deleted.
Message has been deleted.
Make up your mind, Dell
I can only imagine the internal office politics going on trying to get support for each product, whether it be marketing $$$, executive face time, personnel, etc.
RE: Dell's 10-inch Windows 7 tablet won't debut until fall
Given that a Win7 slate and an android slate or ipad have different capabilities and compete for different markets it's not such a terrible idea.
vaporware
Dell's 10" Tablet w/ Win 8