Shane McGlaun30 October 2009, 4:00 PM
If you're an allied forces soldier in the middle of a sandy desert in Afghanistan, Iraq or merely a tourism operator in the Red Centre, boy, does Dell have a notebook for you.
Dell has unveiled its smallest 12.1-inch rugged convertible tablet PC with multi-touch technology today called the Latitude XT2 XFR. The convertible tablet was designed and built to meet the needs of field workers, police, and military users. One look at the 38.1mm thick machine and you can tell it's no
Adamo XPS.
What the XT2 XFR lacks in sex appeal it makes up for in robust design and features.
Dell claims that the notebook was built to meet MIL-810G specifications for operating in harsh environments. The notebook has compression sealed and rugged IO doors, LCD, and keyboard with IP54 ingress protection and resistance to moisture and dust. The machine weighs 2.45 kg when equipped with a 4-cell battery and SSD.
The 12.1-inch touchscreen is multi-touch capable and an optional resistive screen is available as well. Options for the tablet include Intel Core 2 Duo processors with up to 5GB of RAM. Battery options include 4-cell, 6-cell, and 9-cell batteries. The machine uses a special cooling system allowing it to operate safely in temperature ranges of -12 degrees celcius to 60 degrees (remember these are external temperatures -- the notebook itself will run much hotter than that internally). The notebook will start at about $3,900.