News Bits: Dell Tablet PC Coming, Crumpler Bag Sale, USB Refrigerator

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Dell Tablet PC Rumors for real

Image courtesy GottaBeMobile

Dell's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Dell's Business Product Group, Jeff Clarke, has confirmed that Dell will be entering the Tablet PC market later this year with a Latitude Tablet PC. It will have a 12.1-inch widescreen display and will be extraordinairly light. Clarke says the tablet is &quot;designed for the education, health care and the corporate marketplace.&quot;

A video of the Latitude tablet PC was posted in the Direct 2 Dell blog - see the video here.

Read More (TabletPCReview.com)

Additional Information

Dell going retail?

Dell has always built on its direct-sales model, selling products directly to customers. However, Dell has had poor sales figures in the last year or so especially when compared to rival HP.

Retail is not something new for Dell - they have kiosks in shopping malls throughout the country, which bring in a decent amount of business according to the company. This week Dell sent out a memo that hinted there would be changes and that Dell wants to reach a wider audience. The memo indicated that Dell would be pushing agressively into the retail channel. According to CEO Michael Dell, &quot;The direct model was a revolution. It's not a religion.&quot;

Read More (DailyTech.com)

Crumpler Beer for Bags event

Crumpler is a company known for their notebook, camera, and general use bags. This year, they are continuing their annual &quot;beer for bags&quot; event. It was started in Australia 5 years ago in 2002; this year it is being held in New York City and Toronto. The event is a straight trade-in: beer for bags.

Of course, there is the question of what to do with all the accumulated beer - drink it! Last year, over a thousand cases of beer were received and it was a much celebrated event of drinking.

Carefully note that underage people cannot participate in this event and those planning to attend are encouraged to not drive and take the subway or a bus.

Get more information in the forums

Additional Information on Crumpler's website

Special thanks to forum Super Moderator coriolis for submitting this bit.

Another geek gadget - the USB mini fridge

Image courtesy Engadget

Isn't it annoying when you have to get up from your computer chair and walk to the refrigerator to get a cold drink? Now you don't have to - with the USB Mini Fridge from Brando, you can cool canned beverages with your computer's USB port. It takes five minutes for the fridge to bring the temperature down 47 degrees fahrenheit and it holds one can. Brando is selling it for $33 here.

Read More (Engadget.com)

 

The Dell tablet doesn't look too bad

As for the beer promo, further to my post in the other thread, couldn't you buy the bags anyway and save the money for beer for yourself, rather than give beer to the Crumpler staff?

As for the mini-fridge, Coca Cola Zero is tasteless. We need sugar!

As for retail, I imagine it would open up opportunities for people who want to "try before they buy" or spontaneous buyers... but I don't know

 

I wonder how many more people will fry their laptops because they used that USB fridge. I bet you could sue them and make some money.
Tim

 

There is a big chance that that fridge is one big non sense. They once tested an USB coffee/thee heater. You just put your glass on it and it should keep it warm. The results: without heater: 40 degrees Celsius... with heater: 41 degrees.

Do the math

 

If that mini-fridge held a plastic water bottle I'd be sold on it. I rarely drink canned beverages.

I like the Dell Latitude tablet PC, but it's not going to sway me from Fujitsu.

 

Wow... To bad that mini fridge is for can's. I don't buy those since it's 5 cents per can here. Maybe the next model will hold two liters?

 

Agree with Chaz there. We had several Fujitsu tablets, and they truelly rock. Especially the latest T4215 was great, you could turn it both ways, which is unique.

 

USB-mini fridge. xD that's awesome. It need a lock though.

 

Yeah same here. I wish it would take a normal glass...maybe it can?

 

Good move on Dell's part moving to retail. Though my next laptop will likely not be a Dell, it still would be nice to see them on store shelves to test out new models. Especially if they put their Linux machines out in retail.

 

Canned water? I'm almost certain they make those

Tablets are nice but everytime I pick one up it seems like the screen is going to break off. Also does anyone know any games that can be used on a tablet (I mean actually using the touch screen function)?

 

I think I will really like one of those fridges [if it holds water glasses, that is].
Sometimes it gets so hot in here that you feel you will evaporate in the next few hours.

 

The Dells tablet looks light but :

HP is coming up with a LED screen tablet , Budget tablet are closing on the 1000$ price tag , I'm pretty sure CPU & GPU power will not be its forte , then what edge will it have ?


Dell going "retail" means abandoning the direct sales as they wouldn't be able to offer better prices then the stores . See Toshiba direct as an example .

In addition it might mean we wouldn't be able to customize anymore or would have to pay a premium to do so .

To me it was a major advantage and I think its a big mistake , one in a raw of many lately ( rasing prices , lossing spec edge , neglecting style ) that will result in another market share drop .

 

Do the Fujitsu tablets have active LCDs?

 

The USB fridge is a neat idea, but a bit small. I think I'll wait for the dorm size model.

 

Heh...USB fridge. If they made it larger, you could stick some components in there

The Latitude tablet looks very nice, and as usual, it's bound to be great value for money.

 

Wah, 5 cents is amazingly cheap!?

 

All of the current ones do with the exception of the P1610 (10.6" widescreen ultraportable). I am planning to get the T4220.

 

Even over the X60t/X61t ??? Is this because of the integrated optical drive? Touchpad?

 

I ruled out the X60/X61 because while I have a lot of respect for ThinkPads in general, they're not my type of notebook. I like a more 'elegant' design which I believe the T4220 has, and also something that looks appealing. ThinkPads are too business-focused for my preferences.

Other main pros for the T4220 in my case are the integrated optical drive as you guessed, that is very important to me, and the full Core 2 Duo processors, not the low-voltage ones in the X-series. I really don't care about the touchpad one way or another.

 

Yep, tablets with Windows XP come with a game (Minesweeper-esque) called Inkball. You use the stylus to guide a ball into a hole. It's basic, but pretty fun.