I have hands on experience with a multi-touch capable device the iPod Touch. So I know what a flowing and fluid multi-touch experience should be.

So I was very disappointed watch the these videos of how multi-touch has been implemented on the Dell Latitude XT.

The best way for you to judge is to watch the videos.

First up we have one from Dell about installing it and using it.

Next up we have hands on review from Gottabemobile

Finally another video review here (sorry no video embed).

Link: http://blog.laptopmag.com/exclusive-hands-on-with-dells-xt-tablet-now-with-multi-touch

What I get up from watching these:

1) Using multi-touch while the laptop is in the traditional clam shell configuration is really counter intuitive. This only makes sense to me in Tablet mode.

2) Multi-touch sensitivity and accuracy of response seems to be an issue.

3) The lack of CPU power on the Latitude XT is a problem (watch the lag on opening photo gallery or clicking and manipulating images, not fluid).

4) Only having 3 gestures sounds very limiting.

The Laptop screens of the future are going to get very smudged up with all this pointing going on.

On a more positive note this is a good free upgrade for an existing XT owner and Dell should be commended for trying.

However its fairly obvious that Dell’s implementation of multi-touch is very 1.0 and pretty clunky.

Update: Toms Hardware have had a slight change of heart on the old “they use more power”.

See Here: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-hard-drive,1968.html

Solid State Drives are basically flash like memory instead of a hard disk thrashing away.

With no moving parts they do generally give better performance and are silent.

However there are several nails in SSD’s coffin.

1) Cost: If I were to put an SSD into my Dell XPS M1530 it would come at a significant cost premium (see main picture).

2) The long thought power savings offered by the “no moving parts” SSD technology just don’t exist in the real world.

The Guys over at Toms Hardware did some power consumption tests using a Dell Latitude D630 and found using SSD could cost you up to an hour of battery life compared to a 7200 rpm traditional Hard Disk.

Link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/ssd-hdd-battery,1955.html

I get this one a lot.

Dell call that thing in the middle of the keyboard a “pointing stick”.

Look for the touch pad Icon in your taskbar.

It looks like this:-

Right Click and go to properties (see main pic above).

You can enable/disable the device from here.

If you don’t see the   icon on your taskbar.

Browse to C:\Program Files\Apoint

Run the Program Apoint.

You should see the option to disable the pointing stick

If you do not have a folder called C:\Program Files\Apoint

Visit www.support.dell.com and lookup your system.

Then drill down into:-

Install it then go into the icon and disable it.

Long Zheng a tech blogger has got a hands on review of the Dell Latitude XT.

This is Dell’s first foray into the Tablet PC.

For my money the XT is a little too thick but a welcome entry into the Dell Latitude family.

Review Link: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20080118/dell-latitude-xt-tablet-pc-review/

For those interested in the Latitude XT might also like to check out this 6m video.

Other Links:

Dell Blog About it: http://direct2dell.com/one2one/archive/2007/12/10/37905.aspx

Dell have their own tech video concentrating on the touch capabilities of the XT. The video runs 9m long.