Dell's Latitude XT2 XFR rugged tablet gets official
By Donald Melanson 
posted Oct 27th 2009 1:11PM
posted Oct 27th 2009 1:11PM
As is often the case, the FCC spoiled the surprise on this one, but Dell's keeping its PR machine chugging along with its new Latitude XT2 XFR rugged tablet nonetheless, and it's fleshed out a few details in the precess. As expected, this one is more or less just a rugged version of the company's existing Latitude XT2, including the same 12.1-inch multitouch display, a modestly upgraded Core 2 Duo SU9600 processor, up to 5GB of RAM, your choice of a standard hard drive or SSD, a range of hot-swappable modules (soon to include GPS) and, somewhat curiously, no Windows 7 option -- just Vista or the ever popular XP downgrade. Of course it's the ruggedness that's the real selling point, and this one looks to deliver the goods on that front (for a starting price of $3,599) -- just check out the video after the break.
Damn, does it shot bullets?
How do I shot bullet?
Why does "rugged" have to mean the same thing as "freakin' ugly"?
because freaking ugly means it looks good to a company when they need a fieldtop
I'm sure it'll take to Windows 7 like a Dell takes to....well...to Windows 7.
Makes that Apple "PC Innovation Lab" ad spot such a joke. I'd love to see any Apple product take anything near that level of abuse.
When my fiancée's sister was in the hospital her dad saw an EMS worker with one of these. We got the live demonstration. He not only dropped but gave the thing a kick. It was somewhat of a surprise, just how loud the impact to the floor was. Nonetheless, it was working perfectly. His co-worker joked about how he often demoed the toughness of his tablet.
Weird, how is it that the consumer version doesn't have a webcam but this version appears to?
I bet this will be featured in the Stargate Atlantis movie :-)
Ugly? I think that's the coolest looking laptop I've ever seen. I'm wondering how to mod my crappy business-looking laptop to be that cool, hehe.
still can't stand up to a genuine vanilla no-holds-barred chuck norris roundhouse kick.
that is because nothing can.
I'll pass on this one- I'm waiting for the "transforms to assault rifle" upgrade.
I'd never get a swivel screen on a laptop that was of this type. I mean, really! Smaller hinge = bigger chance of it breaking off as I tumble down a mountain. (People tumble off of mountains with these computers, right?)
Like fugly never stopped people from buying HUMMERS either..how many people will buy these who never take their laptop anywhere more extreme than StarBucks..just to be 'cool'
it looks pretty sweet
There is the term steampunked. I think this device now coins the term batmanized. It looks like the lovechild of the tumbler and a Dell Latitude.
Why ?? Why would you want your laptop to be so damn "rugged"?? Oh wait... 2012!! Now I get it!!
Anyone notice the soundtrack in the back of the demo seems to have come from iMovie?
I can't wait until this appears in a transformers movie as a transformer
The real specs:
Independently Tested to MIL-STD-810G for
3ft Transit Drop, Rain, Blowing Dust, Vibration, Functional Shock, Humidity, Altitude and Temperature Extremes (Operating: -10ºF to 140ºF (-23ºC to 60ºC); Non-Operating: -40ºF to 158ºF (-40ºC to 70ºC))
Note that the MIL-STD-810G would refer to the testing method, which basically states it's testing in an artificial setting.
But 3 feet drop, -23 to 60ºC, that isn't that impressive, even many CRT monitors could handle that, and I'm not kidding.
The dust and rain proofness is more interesting and pleasing, dust into a laptop can be an annoying problem.