Money Matters, Simplified.
Do We Finally Have an iPad Killer?
Mon, 11/22/2010 - 12:27 by Rick Aristotle ...
Look out, Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL)! Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) -- yes, that Dell -- is about to make a big splash in tablets. I'm not talking about the Streak, a tweener that's too big to be a smartphone, yet too small to be a serviceable tablet. Dell's real head turner may be its Inspiron Duo, which will reportedly begin shipping early next month -- just in time for the telltale holiday shopping season.
© 2010 UCLICK L.L.C.
The Inspiron Duo is yet another tweener, but this time Dell is bridging the gap between netbook and tablet. It is essentially a netbook with a 10.1-inch touchscreen, running Microsoft's (Nasdaq: MSFT) Windows Home 7. However, the screen itself can be flipped over, so when the laptop is closed it becomes a chunky tablet running Dell's own tablet platform.
Priced as low as $549 for the base model, this could be a serious contender if shoppers learn to live with its shortcomings.
- It weighs twice as much as a tablet.
- It doesn't fire up as quickly as a tablet.
- As a netbook at heart, its battery life is also a far cry from standalone tablets.
On the other hand, going with a hard drive over flash memory gives it substantially more storage capacity than even the priciest Apple iPad. The Inspiron Duo also has a slightly larger screen than the iPad, potent ammo after Steve Jobs ridiculed the smaller screen sizesof the Streak, Hewlett-Packard's (NYSE: HPQ) Zeen, and Research In Motion's (Nasdaq:RIMM) PlayBook.
The chunky form factor isn't going to help, but isn't this what folks straddling the fence in deciding to buy a laptop or a tablet need? This may not be the best of both worlds, but it's definitely a taste of both worlds.
After years of being unfashionably late or out of touch, Dell may finally have a game changer on its hands.
Let's see whether it can flip this opportunity into success the way users will be able to flip the Inspiron Duo itself.
© 2010 UCLICK L.L.C.
