Direct2Dell

@ spzhang

I have forwarded your questions on to some of our contacts to get answers for you.   One response I did get is that Windows XP Tablet edition is a variation of Windows XP Pro Service Pack 2.  So whatever support XP Pro SP2 has for the Chinese language XP Tablet should as well.

I'm also told we do support both traditional and simplified Chinese for drivers.

I hope this helps.

Anybody can tell me if this Latitude XT supports Chinese languange (reading and printing) like XP professional on a normal PC? Is XP professional still an option or "down grade" at the moment?  Anywhere I can have a look at the actual machine in the UK before spending that amount of money?

Or alternatively can I buy one in Hong Kong? if so, any information about the dealers there.

Arthur

Besides the normal OS differences, what tablet-unique features are lost or compromised for users preferring the Windows XT Tablet Edition 2005 versus the Vista options? 

Would this vLOG demonstration essentially be the same, or not?

The way I want this thing configured it would cost 5 grand.  All that for a machine with one speaker?  My Precision M65 is up to about 3k with the mobile broadband card added.  I'm glad to see that dell has introduced tablets, they will have to wait for one to be priced $499 USD at wally world before I could ever afford it. 

can hear the crickets chirping.

 Haven't heard any responses from Dell for a while on the pricing. They can't possibly think from the public and Critcal (magazine) response that they have priced the XT within even $500-750 of the expected price point. The Ntrig screen at most added $200-300 in consumer perception of added value. If something isn't done I see a short life for Ntrig in this country. Hopefully for them, Israel has a booming market for overpriced, underpowered tablet PCs

 Amazingly, I think the consensus is that Dell has released a product with less ROI than Vista has. And with even major magazines giving Vista the "biggest dissapointment of the year honors", where does this leave the XT?

 I'd really like to hear from someone in marketing, even if it's just to say they are meeting the sales #s they expected. If so, I'll just move on and purchase elsewhere.

To Devwild's comment I agree.

If Dell could have come into the tablet market at a less ridiculous price, and had partnered with a company (or just bought them) like Agilix, the producers of Gobinder and Backpack student organization software, they could just about sew up the Student market.

Agilix was so intertwined into the student tablet/laptop use market that they actually had a port into the Blackboard software that many universities used that auto-downloaded new assignments/material for the courses that the student had listed in their Gobinder software. This is the killer app that would have been useful, if not revolutionary for students, but now seems to be dying, as I think the dev work to make it work and maintain it on Vista must have killed their buzz.

Our company waited to see the unit and price before we can make a decision to buy about 50 of these unit.  After seeing the price, even from our Dell rep.  we now decided to go with either Toshiba or Lenovo. 

I think Dell has kill themselves with the pricing.

Complete waste by Dell and too slow to the market.  I've been using a Motion Computing LE1600 Tablet (Slate) for years to take advantage of tablet technology. The LE1600 has been replaced by the LE1700 which offers touch and stylus screens.  I am not upgrading to LE1700 as still no firewire and limited to only 60Gb hard drive as they use a hard-to-obtain Toshiba 1.8" hard drive.

Weight and slimform factor are crucial and you CANNOT use a swivel screen for the purposes of lectures, meetings etc - it is impractical.

This Dell model has a purpose but I cannot see Dell sales taking off based on performance and price as a result.

Craig it should be up on the website on Tues according to my Dell rep, he actually was able to qoute me on one with specs that were available which I posted a little further up this blog.

Steve: I partly agree with you on the multi-touch responsibilities. The majority of the responsibility goes to the software developers, and Microsoft is already working on this supposedly. However:

* The best successes in computer technology arrive when hardware and software companies partner closely on these projects. Intel in particular has long known this, and has done a great job of bringing companies together to do some really cool things (The Motion C5, the first result of the mobile clinical assistant project is a recent example, if Motion can get it shipped). When there isn't such cooperation, they tend to flop (The UMPC is a recent example by my measure - after the initial drive by microsoft/intel, both parties, plus the OEMs, acted independently and lost momentum, so we still lack both well designed hardware, and touch/performance optimized software)

* If Dell wishes to enter the tablet market at this time, they should release options that make sense or they will not get out of the gate. If the capacitive panel costs so much that it puts the product out of reach to both business and personal customers, then they should provide the option of a (well supported) Wacom based panel at a more palatable price (yes, it would still be on the expensive side because it's a thin convertible). Besides, we aren't going to see any significant multi-touch support until Window 7 is released. That's potentially years of sales lost, as well as the feedback necessary to provide a better quality product when the time is right.

If I remember correctly from discussion with Dell last October, there is already more development down the pipe after the XT, so perhaps there will be more options shortly and all this is for nothing. Perhaps the XT is just meant to show Dell can release a product that has some leading technology and design, rather than just following the pack (though I don't fully see the logic in doing this as a Latitude, a line meant for reliability).
 

Sorry your video was not impressive at all

here is a Ubuntu with Compiz, it looks and feels way more intuitive then what you just showed off.

 <object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YkyKIyNvZTM&rel=1"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YkyKIyNvZTM&rel=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object>
 

I hope dell is going to offer ubuntu support like they are on other laptops.
 

sounds stupid maybe but whats that;

"Combo Auto/Air (90W test only)" regard latitude xt spec

 
what "test only" mean??
 

2500$ is too expensive...I'm a student, saved about 1500$ for this and wait fot many months, When I saw the price ,I was so disappointed.

I really need a tablet pc, I know XT is great, but I wish dell can release a lower XT(maybe without multi-touch), and a better price.

I, too, was very disappointed in the video.  I can't imagine whom it was written for; it introduced a buzzword, "freestyle computing", without defining it or even justifying its existence.  The technologies mentioned seemed to be provided by Vista; what did N-Trig bring besides integrating a capacitive touch screen?

I am a power user; I work on large oceanographic data sets, using Matlab.  Computational power is primary for me; how does this computer relate to my needs?  I would love a tablet to help me take notes in meetings, and  to record the audio or video if necessary--does the Latitude XT make that easier? I wish I could work without a keyboard away from my office; does this operating system make it any easier?  Is the CPU strong enough to tackle speech and handwriting recognition, so I can get away from qwerty?  I use two screens all the time in my office.  Can I use two or even four with this system?  I often fly coach class; can this tablet enable me to watch a movie in the tight seats they give me?  can opearating it in closed mode allow me to work on a spreadsheet when the seat in front is pushed back?  Is the weak graphic system going to limit me?  I understand that extension monitors can be attached to modern laptops using the USB port, but that their update speeds are limited by CPU power.  Does this computer have enough capability  for two auxiliary screens and a secondary one?

Those are the questions I want to answer.  Where is the video for them?

Sorry, I meant to put this in my previous comment.

@Anyone from Dell

Is there a possibility the XT will be customizable for the student market? Specifically, will I be able to get MS Office Home and Student Edition, or will I have to say no Office and buy it elsewhere? (Less important, but still of concern, will I be forced to get it with the "3 years next business day onsite warranty"?)

Personally I think this product will be amazing for students, like, REALLY amazing, so hopefully that will be taken into consideration. 

Either way, thanks for taking your time to do this right,

Steve 

@Bill

Actually that press release says Energy Star compliant versions will be available in January 2008.

@ Just about everyone else

I must confess I was hoping for something cheaper, but I don't know why everyone's so surprised at this price. For one, this is NEW technology, which means that it will naturally cost more until a bunch have been sold and it can be produced on a larger scale.

Plus, I understand it's Dell's standard procedure to have a higher release price when they're initially ramping up production. After all, the first ten XT's made will cost significantly more than the 1001st through 1010th. So if you can wait a month or two (I know, it's excruciating isn't it) it will probably be much more competitively priced. (At least that's what I'm hoping for)

All in all, I think the ultimate deciding factor for me will be how the Canadian price looks (Anyone in the know from Dell care to comment?). Dell appears to have figured out that the Canadian dollar is currently higher than the American one. Not so much for the oft-touted Lenovo ($2,089.05CAD==$1,518.00USD ??)

Finally, as far as the multi-touch comments go, a lot of valid points have been made, but I don't see why people blame Dell. Dell is, primarily, a hardware company. They have now provided a hardware that is multi-touch capable. It's up to the software people (who now have a hardware to test on) to come up with make it useful. And it's really up to the imagination to decide what constitutes useful. (I personally picture the ability to use a paintbrush and actually have each bristle uniquely identified, thereby allowing you to recreate the appearance of a real painting accurately.)

Anyways, that's my 2 cents.

Steve 

Please Dell Wake UP!
Design - terrible
Price - fancy-price
Weight :-((

No webcam, no light for keyboard, VGA out :-))) (why u don't use HDMI or DVI? I don't buy old tech! Today Dell = no inovation.

Mark

Nothing special here!

All this demo is mostly what is already in Vista business.

I have a Fujitsu T2010 which has a wacom tablet built into its screen. It does everything DELL are claiming except for using your finger, the 2010 uses a proximity pen like a normal wacom and the 2010 costs less too!

My battery life with the standard pack is 6hrs and friends with the extended are getting 12hrs!!

 Oh yes, BlueTooth, 2Gb RAM , 1 GB flash ReadyBoost and the media bay are standard not optional extras as they are with the LXT

For that matter the whole LXT looks like a slightly re-engineered T2010 .
 

Try again DELL, nothing new here.

Well my Dell Rep let my config one to the specs that I would want to price it out and it came out to be a little under $3300:

Core 2 Duo 1.2, 2GB RAM, Bluetooth, 802.11 a/g/n, LED Screen, 1.8" 120 GB 5400rpm, 4 cell (don 6 cell is not avail with LED I believe), 65w charger, Vista Business 32Bit, d bay with CDRW/DVD, 3year gold tech support, 3year next day parts and on site service, 3year completecare accidental service.  He said they should be available to config this upcoming Tues and have a 20 day lead time for shipping out.

Disappointed by the price point would have hoped that DELL was going to undercut the existing tablet market.  The rate at which laptop prices are dropping makes this hard to consider as a buy for myself...

Love the concept of the tablet and features, it needs lower pricing...

I just bought my, let's see, fourth pen or tablet computer. My first was a Compaq Concerto running Windows for Pen Computing, my second an Epson EHT-4C, my third a Toshiba Portege.  Shopping around, I oscillated between a Fujitsu and another Toshiba.  I would probably have bought a Thinkpad, except the model I wanted was not available when I made my decision.

I would have been interested in a Dell tablet.

But: WXGA (1280x800) display is simply not enough pixels. I used SXGA+, 1400x1050, as my first filter in eliminating tablets I did not want to buy.

I'm probably not Dell's target market. I hope that Dell sells lots of these small screen tablets, because if they become popular it may lead to the large pixel count tablets I like becoming more available.

Sorry, but the machine is grossly overpriced (isn't $1,000 more

per unit MORE than the comparable Lenovo "grossly overpriced"?).

Businesses will be even more relentless in their opposition to the pricing

than individuals.  
 

Lionel, can you confirm within these comments or in separate blog post what Engadget said today about the XT's future multi-touch capabilities? (link below):

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/12/dell-latitude-xt-tablet-will-have-multi-touch-just-not-for-a-wh/ 

They claim to listen. And yet, they do not understand the economics.
In current economy slump and Feds just dropped .25% interest rate, we all know, and so should Dell, that people will be hesitant to purchase over-priced products.  Simple economic is that any business faced with budget cut and yet has the need to maintain and replace existing equipments, will be forced to price shop.

Here’s a quick comparison

HP tx1000z

AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core TL-60 2.0GHz

Windows Vista Ultimate 64-Bit

12.1” HD BrightView With Touch-Screen

2 Gig DDR2 SDRAM

NVidia 6150 Video card

Fingerprint Reader/Webcam/Microphone

802.11 a/b/g/n with Bluetooth

160Gb HD

8x DVD +/-R/RW Double Layer

6 Cell Li Ion Batteries

HP Notebook QuickDock

MS Works 8.0

3-Year Extended & HP Accidental Damage Protection w/ pick up and return

Starting Price    : $1,877.97

EPP Price         : $1,770.29

Instant Rebate  :   $ 305.00

Final Price        : $1,465.29

Compared to Dell’s 2499.00, even at starting price, one have to admit that $1,877.97 price seems much more reasonable to spend. 

And to be fair, we have no idea what is included in Dell’s 2499.00.  So I should reserve any comment on it. However, I would think that it should include the items equivalent to HP.  Even if it did, price difference of over 600.00 just doesn’t seem to justifiable.

If price difference mainly due to so-called multi-touch screen, then I would opt to go with normal touch-screen technology.

I’m sure there are better pricing with other Tablets on the market.  I just used HP as an example to demonstrate how Dell is off on their pricing skill. They are indeed in the dark on current economy trend.

Definitely more expensive than what I had expected, but finally I have decided to purchase one.

Lionel (or anybody else who might know this):

 What is the difference in battery life between the LED screen and the dual-bulb one? (assuming working with the 6 cell battery). I am trying to decide between the two.

 Thanks

I will get one asap!!

This is great, finally I can get rid of my notebook.

//Mike

There are 15 year olds posting YouTube videos that give a better demonstration than Rick Seger and this Dell engineer.

 Geeeeez.... I absolutely love the device, think the initial price is damaging to your stock price.  I wish you could hire some people who have an understanding of how to sell a device.  Put the thing in some college kids hands and let them show us how this thing can fly.

 I actually want it less after watching that video.  Seger needs to step back and understand that people watching aren't impresed with his flick over and over going through Windows in aero scroll.  Who on earth would use it for that?  Thats disgusting, really.

 Dinosaurs have to get their 15 minutes of fame too, but it's bad, ya hear?  Real bad.

This video is far too much of an infomercial and far too little fact. It actually discourages me from wanting a XT (aside from the already mentioned price issue).

Most everything promoted in this video is promoted as a strength of n-triq technology, but none of it is something developed or created by n-triq aside from the integration of an active digitizer and capacitive sensor in one, which most of us are well aware of.

The claims about other pen panel's inferiorities are false, stretched, or inferred in an inappropriate way. Wacom panels can have 512+ levels of pressure sensitivity, tilt sensitivity, a dedicated erase pointer in addition to the two button, and are every bit as accurate. The vast majority of tablets in this class do not have resistive screens, they have active digitizers, so the screen transparency is a non-issue.

"Freestyle computing" as presented here, is nothing more than actively leveraging existing technologies. These aren't new technologies or features, and they still require power user knowledge to leverage fully. Buzzwords won't help when there are still fundamental problems with the software. Right clicking with your finger is still right clicking, likewise with trying to target small controls and toolbars that need to be touch optimized.

Badmouthing Wacom technology is not helping my thoughts about N-Triq. This is not really a third generation N-Triq product, as they have never had presence in the market before now - this is a first generation product which is unproven and eventually lead to the cancellation of the Motion LE1700WT due to integration problems. The Wacom active digitizer has proven its place in the market and the quality of it's product. You need to do the same before you can badmouth the next guy, and show me why your product is better - from this product release and video this has not been done:

* Integration and reliability? The XT release has been delayed many months, and during the same time Motion had numerous problems with the same product and eventually gave up. This is not proof of anything, but it makes me wonder.

* Affordability? Um, nope, in fact it seems probable that this is costing Dell far more than the alternatives.

* Efficiency of use? The use of a finger for navigation through vista in this demonstration is significantly slower and more clumsy than what I have been used to with a strictly active digitizer for years. That's not to say it couldn't be used very effectively, I'm just saying this is a poor demonstration.

* Where's the multi-touch capability that will truly change the way we use the modern tablet? The simple fact is that the software doesn't exist aside from cheesy buggy demos. Dell is a powerhouse that has influenced positive changed in major software and operating systems in the past, and it's time to do so again. Do the R&D, convince Microsoft to make some useful interface changes, then get back to me. Until then, I'd rather pay less and have a Wacom which is better supported by Photoshop and other software which is important to me as a professional, and as a graphic artist. If you are going to sell this as a business product, it has to be cost effective and get the job done.

That said, this is a cool step in tablet design (size, specs, features are great, and I fully understand the proc and hd choices at this size) and I hope it improves and the price comes down, because frankly, I can't wait! :)

Thanks. 

ok, i have to say i'm impressed after seeing the vid, $1000 impressed? i dunno, but kudos to Dell & Ntrig. It really makes vista look good, i definitely think this is coming closer to microsoft's vision of tablet pc's.

In answer to Ryan's question.. I believe that there will be an XP version available.

Per Dells Specs on the system it appears so. --

here is the link: http://www.dell.com/tablet?s=gen&cs=

-b

The capacitive touch they implemented is bad and sensitive to electrical noises.... try to plug the AC adaptor to electricity without grounding and you will see that the "touch" will stop function. The resistive is much reliable than this specific capacitive. Toshiba and Lenovo offered proven and better solutions at lower prices.