Dell offers fresh perspective on convertible netbook/tablet

Matthew DeCarlo

Posts: 5,271   +104

Dell has unveiled a new 10-inch convertible netbook with an unusual swivel mechanism. Rather than mounting the entire display with a horizontally rotating hinge, the screen flips vertically inside the bezel. Once the panel is facing the opposite direction, the netbook can be closed, and presto, you have a tablet with a hardware keyboard stashed under the hood for those more productive moments. "There are times that you have to do work. Tablets are great for entertainment, but they aren't exactly conducive to productivity," said Dell.


Granted, it's not a groundbreaking discovery, but it's always nice to see a fresh take on an old concept. Besides the flip screen, little was mentioned about specs. The "Inspiron Duo" packs a dual-core Intel Atom N550 processor, runs Windows 7 Home Premium and presumably includes various applications to utilize the touchscreen. Dell's also quiet on pricing. However, the company is supposedly aiming to launch the machine sometime later this year, so everything should be revealed soon enough.

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Now there is something I might consider... Up till now, I've avoided other convertible notebooks due to the weaknesses in that central rotation hinge - every one of our employees who have gotten that style went from "wow, this is great!" to "man, this screen bounces!" in a matter of months...

I'd seriously look at this type of convertible, with a decent netbook spec and battery life, rather than some of the new slates coming along. Sometimes that keyboard just comes in handy.
 
I have to admit this is very interesting but what are the chances of this having a 1366×768 resolution?
 
Its a cool concept, but i'm worried about the reliability of such a machine. Still, i'd consider buying this kind of convertible as it is really interesting.

I'd love to see reliability tests and pricing as well as full specs for this
 
@phillai

With a 10 inch screen, its not likely to see a very high resolution. All the netbooks I know of with 9 and 10 inch screens have 1024x600 resolution. Many have the ability to go into a sort of "window" mode with higher resolutions though, where you pan around the bigger image by moving your mouse off screen.

My netbook can display up to 1920x1080 on itself or any other monitor. Just on it's own screen you will only ever see a 1024x600 window of that higher resolution and you have to pan around for the full view.

You never know though. it could happen.
 
It's an interesting concept, but I question if this will really be a more stable hinging system. I've worked with 2 clamshell tablets in the past and thus far haven't had an issue with the hinges. Granted both were HPs and I've heard bad things about the clamshell hinges from some other manufacturers, but personally my experience has been good. It will be interesting to see the rest of the specs on this machine and to hear some independent reviews on how this hinge system works.
 
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