Dell prepares Tablet PC

Dell has unveiled details of its first Tablet PC that is due for availability early next year. The Latitude XT has an impressively low weight at below 3.6lb but comments on the Direct2Dell blog suggest it has been overpriced.

The product will cost from $2,499 (£1,299) with a 1GHz Intel Core Solo CPU, 1GB RAM, 40GB hard drive and 12in screen. However, that price is too high for respondents who noted lower Lenovo and Toshiba Tablet pricing.

“This is on the heels of Toshiba, who announced today a tablet that is not only has better base and fully-loaded specs, has pen and touch capabilities as well, but also is a full grand cheaper,” wrote one. “It's slightly larger, and of course doesn't have multi-touch, but is that extra cubic inch of volume and half pound of weight worth a thousand dollars to me, Dell?”

Dell offers Flash-based storage as an alternative to a hard drive, and the release could set the tone for a year where solid-state memory replaces spinning disks in lightweight mobile systems that are resistant to being dropped and bumped.

Apple is rumoured to be planning the release of a thin-and-light subnotebook with Flash early next year. Speculation concerning a Mac ultraportable has been around for months but a recent CNBC report added more detail, suggesting that the product will weigh about half as much as a MacBook and will swap out a hard drive for Flash-based storage. An announcement could come at MacWorld Expo, the traditional curtain-raiser for Apple plans, that starts on 14 January.

Samsung and Sony already offer Flash-based UMPCs and last week Toshiba said it will begin offering 128GB Flash storage parts.