X61T vs. Dell XT Tablet: Reaction

[iamdmc]

I think everyone here knows the specs on an X61T as well as the price, so is it still worth its wait compared to the new Dell XT Tablet?


Here's a quick comparison

Dell Price: $2500 and up
Lenovo Price: Around $1500 and up (minus coupons, ie. 25% off at ecoupons.com)

CPU: Core2Duo LV7500 (X61T) vs. Core2Duo or Solo ULV7xxx (XT)
Screen: 12.1" SXGA+ (X61T) vs. 12.1" WXGA [optional LED backlight] (XT). Both are touch screens, but Dell's is "Capacitive"
Hard Drive: Up to 200GB 7200RPM 2.5" (X61T) vs. Up to 120GB 5400RPM [likely 1.8"] drive or 64GB SSD (XT)
RAM: Up to 4GB DDR2-667MHz (X61T) vs. Up to 3GB DDR2 (XT)
Graphics: Intel X3100 Integrated Graphics (X61T) vs. ATi Radeon X1250 Integrated Graphics (XT)
Docking slice: Yes on both
Battery Life: Up to 10.5 hours with 8 hour 8-cell battery, and media dock battery vs. Up to 9 hours with the 5 hour regular battery and a [very thick] base battery covering the whole base [battery fire risk?]
Connectivity: Bluetooth, Wifi, Optional EDVO on both. XT has optional HSDPA.
Expansion slots: Cardbus slot (X61T) vs. Expresscard slot (XT)
Extra bells and whistles: Both have a biometric fingerprint reader. Both have a Trackpoint (although only the X61T is the real deal). Dell XT has the trackpad as well. Only the X61T has the security chip.
Customer Support: Lenovo vs. Dell. Enough said.
Weight/thickness: 4.2lbs/1.3" vs. 3.57lbs/around 1"
Materials: Mg/Al composite (X61T) vs. Mg/something (XT)

X61T
http://shop.lenovo.com/SEUILibrary/cont ... ry.details?
current-catalog-id=12F0696583E04D86B9B79B0FEC01C087&current-category-id=329576204C9E42289967E79E0E7C9A2D

Dell XT Tablet
http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr ... bundlestab
http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/dell ... cial-sexy/


A few glaring drawbacks of the XT pop out.
Price ($2500!!!)
CPU (ULV is nowhere near as powerful as LV, and usually has half the L2 cache)
Hard Drive - although SSD is a really great option (not cost-wise), chances are you'll be stuck with an HDD for now, and at a maximum of 120GB on a 1.8" 5400RPM max drive, you're not exactly getting a supercomputer.
Support and track record - Let's face it, Dell sucks in this department.
Heating assembly: If you take a look at the XT pictures, you'll notice that the heating assembly is in the middle of the left side of the laptop. Does Dell want to keep the title of "most over-heatable"?

So can the X61T still compete? I think so. I think Dell has tried to copycat the Thinkpad like an abnoxious kid half-brother - and it's been doing so for years - but like a kid brother, they never get it right. I'll give Dell one thing, though... they have good presentation (check out the Dell site to see what I mean)

What do you think?

[milstein]

The magnesium and blue LED on Dell's latest Latitude XT Tablet is really appealing!
Also, Dell's XT Tablet has loads of features:
- Magnesium chassis
- Capacitive multi-touch capable touchscreen
- SSD
- a trackpoint (and a touchpad too!)
- pen eraser tip
- screen with no leakage (as in the picture)

http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/official/del ... 332366.php

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/dell ... cial-sexy/

http://www.engadget.com/2007/12/11/dell ... -hands-on/

Thinkpad's tablets are falling behind!

But 2500 seems to high. If Thinkpad X61 & Dell's XT Latitude are at the same price, then I'll choose Dell's XT

[pianowizard]

But 2500 seems to high.

Dell will have frequent sales, just like Lenovo.

[iamdmc]

I agree that the blue is appealing, but I'm fixed on the Thinkpad = red idea. It's etched into my mind that red trackpoint=quality. Blue trackpoint=constant problems, overheating, bad to no customer service, unreliable, etc.

SSD is a nice option, but they'll probably have a premium of 100% like they do on their D430, which is just a bit insane.

I agree that Thinkpad has been falling behind. Lenovo should pump a new X-series out there with the newest features as options (including LED backlight, SSD, Expresscard, MiniPCI 16GB Memory from Sandisk, DDR3, integrated graphics, WSXGA+, etc.) We'll have to wait until January to see.

[pianowizard]

I agree that Thinkpad has been falling behind. Lenovo should pump a new X-series out there with the newest features as options

I am hopeful that Lenovo will start catching up fairly soon. The reason Dell suddenly started making all these impressive laptops (e.g. this tablet, the XPS M1330, the Latitude D6 series) is that they realized they were falling behind. Thinkpads used to be the third best selling brand, and now it's #4. I think Lenovo will try hard to climb back up.

[Xtal]

The 1.8" hard disk on the Dell XT pretty much rules it out for me. 1.8" drives are at least twice as slow as 2.5" drives.

Not to mention the slower CPU..

and they could only bring the weight down to 3.5 lbs even with these compromises?

Forgive me for not being impressed..

[milstein]

The 1.8" hard disk on the Dell XT pretty much rules it out for me. 1.8" drives are at least twice as slow as 2.5" drives.
Not to mention the slower CPU...

You have your point! 1.8" can be a nightmare, but how about SSD?
I think Dell has put quite some effort in the features and details of this TX Tablet, Lenovo should be warned!
Not to mention Apple probably will have its ultraportable (tablet) computer announced in January

[al3x]

Since my Portege M200 died of overheating (2nd time around)
I've almost zeroed in on X61t and even squeezed some cash out of my current employer when this "bezel problem" came out. Can't really afford mechanically unreliable laptop...
Dell XT is clearly out of my price range, not to mention (possibly?) cheap plastic case (alloy chassis doesn't really cut it in case of tablet) - won't stand to my pattern of use at all.
Along with discrete video - while it might be faster then integrated and wouldn't bite a chunk of system RAM it wouldn't help increasing battery life either...
Toshiba announced M700 today.
While I wouldn't trust Toshiba again, it looks much closer feature/price-wise to X61 then Dell XT...

Also, from my experience, battery, completely hidden inside the case is not the wisest design decision - decreases battery life significantly (higher temp - faster drain).

Why, oh why Lenovo didn't design better X61 screen

[iamdmc]

Yeah, I haven't really bumped into a "Great" tablet PC. I'd probably go for an X60T or X61T if I had to buy a tablet. That said, they are still disappointing in that they do have that bezel separation problem and the screen seems to REALLY drain the life out of the battery.

I hope you come to a decision that suits you, but let me make a suggestion. If you don't "need" a tablet for work, buy a regular laptop. They're a lot more reliable.

GL

[al3x]

...
I hope you come to a decision that suits you, but let me make a suggestion. If you don't "need" a tablet for work, buy a regular laptop. They're a lot more reliable.

The thing is that I would've happily settled for X61 laptop, except 2 things that are primary requirements:
- I need SXGA+ - XGA screen resolution doesn't have enough real estate for me any more.
Personally, I think that introduction of 12" SXGA LCD on tablet (instead of a laptop) first was pretty serious marketing mistake.
- Outdoor screen coating - unfortunately tablets only (with the exception of few bulky and expensive ruggerized MIL grade laptops).

"Nothing ever easy"(C) T. Goodkind "First rule of a wizard"...

[iamdmc]

Yeah, I would have preferred a high-res option or HD widescreen option on the X-series. I know it's not "meant" for it, but the option would be nice. Media-enabled laptop shouldn't mean glossy, heavy, bad battery life, etc.

CTO should be a lot more "built to order"

I see any laptop as a potential media computer as well as a business computer. It doesn't have to be just one or the other.

[milstein]

Design and touch features are quite decent, but hardware spec is pretty ... incompetent

http://www.dell.com/content/products/pr ... bundlestab

It can still be quite usable if it is not running MS Vista, e.g. XP or Linux or OSX

[pibach]

... and the screen seems to REALLY drain the life out of the battery.

Not the screen. Must be another reason.

I investigated it in this post:
http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=53757