One piece of advice I give clients and try to live by myself is: never buy a piece of technology that has an expected ROI of greater than 18 months. I also recommend my SMB clients buy/lease technology that has been on the market for at least six to eight months, so it is proven (SP1) and has had a chance to depreciate in cost.
Why would someone want to purchase a Dell XP, when they can get a proven Toshiba or HP unit for $800-$1,000 less? Most of my clients would be far better off spending that money on mobile productivity applications, two years of mobile broadband service, training, etc.
Most of the people who require longer battery life are also people who need/want a ruggedized form factor, like that found in the Panasonic CF-08. Interestingly enough, the CF-08 has a reported 14 hour battery life!
Dell's experience with the XPS 1710 gaming laptop may have clouded its judgment on this new offering. Unlike the gaming crowd, who are willing to pay a premium for the fastest and coolest rig available, most businesses that I work with, are looking for solutions that minimize their Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) and provide tangible value. The Dell Tablet XP misses this mark.
I've thinking about buying a tablet PC, to replace the Dell Latitude C640 with 1G of RAM and XP Pro, that I purchased off-lease and has served me well for the last two years. I've enjoyed my Dell and have been eagerly awaiting their entry into the Tablet PC market.
Now that I've seen Dell's Tablet XP, I think I'm going to give up on Dell for my next machine. Sorry Dell, but..
What I Really Want Is A Vostro 1500T with 2G (4GRAM for < $1,500
