Weight
Prior to using the device, I heard several colleages in IT comment that the XT was a heavy device. "It's a tank!" they commented. I don't really find it to be that heavy. In fact the XT with its 45Wh base battery it feels no heavier than the Motion Computing M1600 with its 2600 mAh plate battery that I've carried for the past 6 months. Yes thicker, but not noticeably heavier.
Convertible Hinge
I heard the critics really slam the XT's screen swivel hinge when the pre-production models were shared at the NDA dog-n-pony shows. Initially I found the hinge and swivel to be rigid and durable. After 6-10 swivel open and close motions a day, the lid is indeed getting a bit loose and floppy.
Pen / Touch Hybrid
I have seriously been struggling to form a working relationship with this new Pen+Touch screen. I'd like to divide this into three topics:
- Pen Input: I find that the screen doesn't respond with the same hard glass feel that I am accustomed to in Tablets. The added layer for touch might introduce a bit of soft response that really slows down my printed handwriting. There is just enough play (wiggle) in the pen tip that with the increased drag of the touch screen actually makes my penmanship quite sloppy. In the past with prior tablet use, I have printed or emailed OneNote pages to colleagues. With the Dell Latitude XT, my penmanship is unacceptable for circulation.
- n-Trig dual-mode pen/touch screen was less than a positive experience for me. Initially the Tablet was built with Windows Vista and the Dell provided drivers. I had much difficulty switching between pen and touch modes. I reviewed all n-Trig control panel options that govern the dual mode behavior; however was unable to trust this to a usable level. Against Dell's recommendation, I had the drive re-formatted and built from ground up with Windows XP and Dell drivers. Now I am able to switch between pen and touch with almost perfect results.
- With both Windows Vista and XP, I have experienced on many occasions a phenomena where the mouse pointed jumps into an erratic loop, clicking, moving, dragging all over the corner regions of the screen. Its almost an "I've had tooo much coffee" moment that the pointer goes through. This behavior is reminiscent of the first generation Tablet PCs by Fujitsu.
Battery
My schedule varies throughout the week, some days heavy with meetings, others with long durations troubleshooting problems on the work floor. The longest I recall pushing the battery life on the Latitude XT was 7 hours with both the onboard plus the 45Wh base battery. it certainly fit my workflow needs.
Outcome
While I appreciate the speed and variety of accessories that Dell provides for this device, I have decided to pass this Latitude XT on to another connected executive to try out. I'll be looking forward to trying the next Latitude revision.
