There's the gold rush to the consumer tablet market, and then there's the elusive "business tablet," the mother lode that every computer manufacturer is hoping is out there, somewhere.
And maybe it is. Many have forgotten that tablets got their start in the business world as devices that aircraft builders, warehouse supervisors, and factory foremen could carry around so they wouldn't have to run back to the office every five minutes to see where that missing part was, or whether Stevie was supposed to be working the graveyard shift that day. Tablets never found a whole lot of success in this era, but for a small segment of users, they were invaluable.
In recent years, industry has started to rethink the business tablet. Could a $500 iPad – a children's toy in the minds of the back office – actually do the job of a $2,000 Windows tablet? The momentum has been headed that way, as in-house app development has been redirected toward iOS. But with Windows 8, vendors are trying again to excavate that precious vein once again.
Dell's Latitude 10 is a 10.1-inch tablet that's built for business. A tough slate, this 1.6-pound slab of glass, metal, and plastic packs a 1.8GHz Atom, 2GB of RAM, and a 64GB SSD – essentially the standard configuration for the current generation of Windows 8 slates hitting the market. While performance is on par with other Atom-based systems available now (which is to say, there's not much of it), Dell has done an amazing job with the screen. It is sharp, crisp, and exceptionally bright – the brightest LCD of any Windows 8 device I've tested to date, and one of the brightest screens I've ever encountered on any mobile device.
On-board ports include a full-size USB connector, SD card reader, mini-HDMI port, and a micro-USB port used for charging the tablet. If you need more, a dock is also available. This connects to an additional docking port on the bottom of the Latitude 10 and adds four more USB 2.0 ports, Ethernet, and a full-size HDMI jack to the mix. The dock is sturdy and unobtrusive, and once you get the hang of how to successfully get the tablet to mesh with the dock connector, the operation works seamlessly. The Wacom Active Stylus is also supported, but I didn't receive one to evaluate.
Need more? Dell offers copious options to soothe the corporate mind. An "enhanced security" option adds TPM, smart card reader, and a physical lockdown mechanism. Two WWAN options, one supporting 3G and one 4G/LTE, are also available, and peripherals like an external DVD burner and wireless keyboard and mouse are also on offer. I tested both the keyboard and mouse and found them perfectly capable – though the full-size keyboard is a bit jarring in its enormity when sitting next to the diminutive tablet.
The slim, two-cell battery included offers just over 6.5 hours of running time, which is far from impressive for a tablet. Of course, there's an upgrade for that, too. The Latitude 10 offers a rare replaceable battery, so you can sub in a four-cell model if you need all-day life. This battery adds 7 hours, 0.3 pounds, and 4mm of bulk sticking out the back of the device. Replacing the battery, which requires pulling on a switch and digging out the battery unit with a fingernail, isn't the easiest operation to complete, but I expect this is something most users will do rarely, if ever.
The price may be a sticky subject. While it starts at $650, when you load up all the bells and whistles (dock, keyboard, mouse, case, and extra battery) the Latitude 10 hits $935. That's getting rich for what amounts to the heaviest and thickest Windows 8 slate I've reviewed to date. Although the screen is a dazzler, it's the corporate features that are probably the bigger draw here. Casual users may choose something a little more portable.
Overall, the Latitude 10 is a capable tablet that will serve well its target market. That is, of course, if you can pry the iPads out of their cold, dead fingers.
WIRED Awesome screen – for a tablet or anything else. Feels tough and sturdy. Solid docking station design and utility.
TIRED Not exactly svelte. Couldn't the wireless dongle for mouse and keyboard have been integrated into the dock? Weak battery life with the stock battery.
