Dell doth protest too much on XT pricing

Dell's Direct2Dell blog has made some PR wins in the past, but this isn't one of them. The company posted a long-winded explanation of the Latitude XT's supposed charms and advantages over existing tablets, but didn't do itself any favors by underplaying the vast price and power disparity with the likes of HP and Lenovo. Sure, we love the capacitive touch, and the build and size are great, but the machine is way underpowered in its $2,500 base configuration, and prices get astronomical -- nearly twice that of Lenovo's -- when you try to spec the XT up to the X61t's level. Still, we're a sucker for charts, so we guess Dell wins round one. We'll be back, and we won't leave our copy of PowerPoint at home, Micheal!

[jilie @ Dec 18th 2007 7:38PM]

aaaah?

[ahelk09 @ Dec 18th 2007 8:06PM]

Silly Dell

P.S. It is Michael not Micheal

[webon @ Dec 18th 2007 8:24PM]

The article in the wiki is right is too hard to grasp
guess I need to start italicking my no good sarcasm
sorry

[webon @ Dec 18th 2007 8:08PM]

If they are going with the multi-touch they are sooo copying the iPhone

[AlexL @ Dec 18th 2007 8:13PM]

Since when have innovation and progress through incorporating new technologies become a bad thing?

[Adam @ Dec 18th 2007 8:14PM]

Apple did not invent capacitive touch, if you didn't know.

[bertbusdriver @ Dec 18th 2007 8:17PM]

iPhone certainly did not invent multitouch...

[webon @ Dec 18th 2007 8:17PM]

er... sarcasm look it up

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarcasm

[Isaac @ Dec 18th 2007 8:19PM]

Soon people are going to start saying "ZOMG, a Windows laptop with style? They must of copied apple!"
Apple did not invent style nor did it invent a touch phone. Just becuase they were the first ones to do it really really well does not mean they were the first. And before you call Windows fan boy I own an Ipod touch.

[michael @ Dec 18th 2007 10:59PM]

Sarcasm is a highly skilled art - either you really have it, or you don't.

Truthfully, I think most people should avoid attempting sarcasm altogether. It's rather annoying to have a person throw sarcastic comments all the time.

[AlexL @ Dec 18th 2007 8:22PM]

Welcome to the internets, webon. Would you like to read our FAQ?

Q: Does the internet medium convey sarcasm well?
A: No. There are too many morons on the internets, it's very hard to detect sarcasm from stupidity.

[wickedpheonix @ Dec 18th 2007 8:28PM]

Interesting... I don't see a processor on that chart...

or RAM speed...

or price...

or battery life...

or screen resolution...

or pressure levels...

or many other things that are important to tablet users...

[webon @ Dec 18th 2007 8:29PM]

wow what a terrible spin that stupid joke took
and I thought I was a Fanboi-hater

[Good_Bytes @ Dec 18th 2007 9:52PM]

What is DLV? I can't find it on the net.

[Irfan @ Dec 19th 2007 12:51AM]

Id guess Day Light Viewing.

"The standard display for the XT is a 12.1-inch WXGA (1290 x 800) LED backlit LCD while an optional DLV panel is also available for viewing outdoors or under direct light."

and from dell:
"Optional Outdoor Viewable (400 nit) LCD
You can also configure your Latitude XT with a super-bright 400 cd/m2 LCD display. A typical notebook has a screen brightness of 185 cd/m2 to 220 cd/m2, so at 400 cd/m2, the XT offers much improved viewability outdoors and less reflections under overhead direct light indoors."

[Good_Bytes @ Dec 19th 2007 9:45AM]

Thanks!

[Michae @ Dec 18th 2007 11:47PM]

Wait, I can't post a response on their blog, anyone else having this problem? Did they shut own commenting?

Seriously, what a mess.

[Yannick Desjardins @ Dec 18th 2007 11:22PM]

That is what you get when product managers listen to any moron voting on their web sites instead of actual customers who will actually buy the thing.

[Taylor Kemp @ Dec 19th 2007 12:31AM]

you can configure an HP tx1000 to the very highest it can go (for hardware) for around 2,000$, hmm let's think about that... a fully configured hp tx1000 for 2,000$ or a base model lattitude xt for 2,500$, hmmm...???

[S @ Dec 19th 2007 7:33PM]

And your point is..................

The tx1000 SUCKS, and is in no way comparable to the xt, except that it is a "convertible tablet laptop". And just for the record, I do not believe that their price is justified, I think it's way overpriced. Just not even on the same playing field.

[Taylor Kemp @ Dec 19th 2007 10:39PM]

The only thing that sucks on the tx1000 is the touchscreen, but for 1700$ you also get other niceties such as a webcam, array microphone, lightscribe, built in Bluetooth and n-wifi (I know they are an option on the xt, but they cost extra after 2500$) Also, you can get up to 2.4 ghz, compared to 1.2 ghz top available on the XT. I am not saying that the TX is better than the XT, but it is a WAYYYYY better value.

[BrotherDon @ Dec 19th 2007 10:30PM]

Ask and ye shall receive. After complaining to my Dell rep about the hight price of the XT and emailing him a quote for a X61t (and gently threating to buy said X61t), I purchase 2 nicely configured XTs for 1,999 each. I got aproximately $1,250 off the list price, each.

[murphyslaww @ Dec 31st 2007 2:48AM]

Some prudent research into who the investors in the N-Trig company that makes the capacitive touch screens for the XT would be probably be in order. I would look for anyone on the Dell Board, SLT, or associated with Dell.

Price descrepancies like this usually can be traced to the lining of someones pockets. The country of origin of the N-trig company would also be a prudent look-see.