Dell XPS 18 Hands-on: World’s Most Portable All-in-One Starts at $899
Mar 13, 2013 08:00 AM EDT by Don’t call it a tablet! Sony tried it with its Tap 20 and ASUS is attempting it with the Transformer AiO, but Dell belives it has the ideal portable all-in-one with the XPS 18. You’re not going to use this Windows 8 PC to play “Angry Birds Star Wars” on the train in the morning, but the sub-5 pound XPS 18 is certainly mobile enough for surfing the Web on the couch while watching TV.
The XPS 18 has an 18.4-inch IPS display with a resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. Its 178-degree viewing angles means that it can be laid flat on a table, so that several individuals — a family of four, perhaps — can gather round. To that end, Dell is also including several games, such as air hockey and a music app, that can be played by several people at once.
At 4.9 pounds, the XPS 18 isn’t exactly a lightweight, but it is less than half the weight of the 20-inch Sony VAIO Tap 20, another all-in-one that was portable in name only. Indeed, it looks like the XPS 18′s main competition will be the ASUS Transformer AiO, another 18-inch all-in-one that runs Android as well as Windows 8. The XPS 18 measures 18.3 x 11.2 x 0.7 inches, and has two USB 3.0 ports and a headphone jack.
More: Top Windows 8 Laptop-Tablet Hybrids
The bottom of the XPS 18 has two little flip-out feet that let you rest the tablet portable all-in-one either upright or at a low angle. We like this approach far better than the large, metal stand on the Tap 20.
The XPS 18 will be available on April 16 and will start at $899. For that price, you’ll get an Intel Pentium dual-core 2117U processor, 4GB of RAM and a 320GB, 5,400-rpm hard drive, so don’t expect blazing performance. Dell says the system will be configurable with up to a Core i7 ULV processor, 8GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The XPS 18 will also come with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse; the docking stand will be sold separately.
Stay tuned for our full review of the XPS 18, which to us looks like a very interesting Windows 8 hybrid.
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