Dell Reveals Crazy Big 18-inch Windows 8 Tablet/AIO
Is it a super-huge tablet, a super-slim AIO PC, or a cool hybrid?
Ok, so maybe it's not a tablet but rather a super-thin AIO PC called the Dell XPS 18. Slated to launch here in the United States on April 16 starting at USD 899.99, it will sport an 18.4-inch capacitive touch Full HD display -- nearly twice that of Apple's iPad -- but have an overall weight of 4.85 pounds. That said, should it be characterized as a super-huge tablet or as a super-light AIO? You be the judge.
"It features much of the power you would expect from an AIO while still being surprisingly portable, so you can use it in many different rooms in the house," said Dell chief blogger Lionel Menchaca. "It works well as a streaming media device in the living room, viewing recipes or cooking videos in the kitchen, or as a homework machine in the kids' room."
While the specs aren't available online, the device will be sold with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, with custom flip-out feet to convert the device from a tablet to a desktop. The "starting" model will reportedly include a dual-core Pentium ULV processor and a 320 GB HDD. Higher-end models are said to include a third-generation Intel Core i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The battery will offer around five hours of life on a single charge.
"It features an aluminum back with soft grip for traction and comfort," Menchaca said. "Overall craftsmanship and flexibility were two key focuses for our design team. You can use it in a number of ways: on an adjustable powered stand so it can be used with a wireless keyboard and mouse, on a desk or surface with flip-out feet so it can be set to a comfortable viewing angle, totally flat for collaborating or browsing, or even like a newspaper for reading."
The Dell XPS 18 will use Microsoft's touchy Windows 8, which is perfect for this tablet/AIO hybrid form factor. It will also include the Dell Wyse PocketCloud application so users can easily build and manage their own “personal cloud” for both personal use and work documents. These files can be shared to other iOS and Android devices, Menchaca added.
To get a sneak peak at Dell's upcoming XPS 18 portable AIO PC, head here.

No, people are willing to give it a chance because it's huge (no more squinting) yet still portable, and runs a real full desktop OS. The second part's the most important part. Asus' just announced AiO desktop+tablet is a fail device because it's a full OS in desktop mode but switches to Android in tablet mode (which runs on separate processors). Double the hardware, double the software, double the complications.
If Apple released an 18" iPad that runs real OSX and not gimpy iOS, people wouldn't be calling it "just another iPad variant" because it would be leagues ahead of any tablet Apple has released thus far. The reason why Apple hasn't is because they can't. Ironically, Apple wasn't "visionary" enough to make OSX touch-friendly and decided instead to go the iOS route so now they're stuck with a lame smartphone OS on their tablets. Microsoft on the other hand designed Windows 8 with touch devices in mind so now tablets, laptops, and desktops running Windows are unified by one full OS ecosystem. MS even thought ahead and made Windows RT just in case Intel doesn't completely wipe the floor with ARM sometime in the future. ARM CPUs' only benefit is their performance/watt ratio but Intel's been squeezing the nanometers ever more tightly so in a few years ARM may not even be relevant.
I think Kevin is assuming that to be twice as big, it will need to be (20 inches) twice the horizontal size of an iPad, which is not the case. It's the area of the screen that counts. It would have been much easier to compare if this and the iPad used the same aspect ratio, but they do not. I am too damn tired (there is only so much 2 cans of Red Bull can do for you as you try to skip a night of sleep to catch up on work!) and busy to try to dig into my archived knowledge of geometry/trigonometry, which I haven't used for about a decade, to figure out the areas of each screen (or to look it up even). But I suspect that this screen will be in fact more than twice as big as the iPad. Perhaps someone else can work it out and let us know
So was I wrong to assume he meant twice as big? If just thinking about that makes my head spin, I should sleep...
you mean like a mac laptop? that IS crazy, who would be so gullible. i mean i would much rather carry around the stacks of $1/10/100 bills a mac costs, they are way lighter.
apple is too busy trying to sell a 7" screen for $750
if this was made by apple they would charge you $1,800.
call me when it's blanket size. i might settle for windsheild sun blocker size.