Dell?s Convertible Duo Tablet Flips its Lid

Dell?s latest innovation is this clever, transforming tablet/netbook: the Inspiron Duo. Instead of a complicated hinge, the screen flips on an axis inside its own bezel, swapping from regular clamshell laptop to keyboard-hiding touch-screen.
At heart, it?s a netbook, with a ten-inch screen and an Atom N550 CPU running Windows 7 Premium. And there, in that last point, is the problem. Windows 7 makes a great netbook OS, but it also makes a terrible tablet OS. Yes, it technically has built-in support for touch-screens but unless you have a finger the size and shape of a mouse pointer you?ll get frustrated, fast.
On the other hand, if you?re just watching movies or reading the internet then even Windows can?t ruin the tablet form-factor for you. There?s no word from Dell on price or availability, but the fact that it?s called the Inspiron Duo and that it already has a nice product shot makes me think it should be ready to buy pretty soon.
Dell?s Atom-powered Inspiron Duo: 10-inch netbook [Engadget]
See Also:
Dell's Streak Tablet Is Priced Like a Phone
Dell's Tablet Aims to Stick It to Apple's iPad
Hands On: Dell 'Streak' Tablet Feels Like Supersized Phone ?
Dell Tablet To Debut on AT&T
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