Dell Venue Tablets, XPS Laptops for Toughest Critics: Millennials

By Michelle Maisto

Sam Burd, vice president of Dell’s Personal Computer Group, said Dell’s goal is to “deliver the best experience you can get with any product out there, bar none.” He then proved that wasn’t just talk, introducing thin and light tablets (starting at $149.99) and attractive laptops with displays that set new industry standards.

Burd said that Dell, in designing its new XPS laptops, kept in mind its most “challenging” user category—Millennials. Two-thirds of Millennials use the same device at work as at home, he said. “The way they use technology is really changing our products and services.”

The XPS 11 is the “world’s thinnest, lightest and most compact two-in-one Ultrabook available today,” per Dell. It starts at 2.5 pounds, has a Quad HD display (2560×1440), said to have the highest resolution on any 11.6-inch display, and features a 360-degree hinge, making it simple to use as a PC, a tablet or “tent style” for watching videos.

The new XPS 13 runs fourth-generation Intel Core processors, Intel HD 4400 graphics and has a 13.3-inch display but a footprint closer to that of 11-inch laptops. It starts at 2.95 pounds and measures 12.4 by 8.1 inches and is between 0.2 and 0.7 inches thin.

The new XPS 13 is also available with a touch display, to complement its Microsoft Windows 8.1 operating system, and has a battery life of 10.5 hours.

The new XPS 15 is the first 15.6-inch laptop in the world with a Quad HD+ touch display, says Dell. Its resolution (3200 x 1800) is five times that of an HD display and has half a million more pixels than the Apple MacBook’s Retina display. It also has double the storage of its nearest competitor, said Burd, adding, “This product really delivers.”

The new XPS 15 is the most powerful XPS to date. It’s available with up to a fourth-generation Intel Core i7, 16GB of memory and a 1TB hard drive with a 32GB solid-state drive with Intel Rapid Start Technology. It’s made of machined aluminum, has a carbon fiber composite base, measures 14.6 by 10 by 0.7 (at its thickest) and has a starting weight of 4.4 pounds.

Neil Hand, vice president of tablet and performance PCs at Dell, introduced a new line of Venue tablets. “By 2017, a billion people are going to be using tablets,” said Hand. “Where that puts Dell is pretty important to us.” Two of the Venue tablets run Android (and can be used with a stylus), and two run Windows 8.1.

The Venue 7 and Venue 8 run Android 4.2.2 (Jellybean), and are priced at $149.99 and $179.99, respectively. The Venue 7 has a 7-inch HD In-Plane Switching (IPS) display, runs a 1.6GHZ Intel Atom processer and has a 16GB hard drive. The 8-inch Venue 8 runs an Intel Atom 2.0GHz processor and comes in 16GB and 32GB options. Both come in red or black.

The Venue 7 and Venue 8 also have front-and-back cameras and feature micro-SD card readers, USB 2.0 ports and optional micro-SIM slots

The Venue 11 Pro is a true two-in-one. It can behave as a large tablet, with a starting weight of 1.6 pounds and a 10.8-inch full-HD IPS display (1920×1080). But click it into the Dell Tablet Mobile Keyboard, and you have a true Ultrabook with more than 17 hours of battery life.

The Venue 11 Pro is a true two-in-one. It can behave as a large tablet, with a starting weight of 1.6 pounds and a 10.8-inch full-HD IPS display (1920×1080). But click it into the Dell Tablet Mobile Keyboard, and you have a true Ultrabook with more than 17 hours of battery life.

The Venue 11 Pro can be paired with Intel processors, ranging from a quad-core Atom to a Core i5. Hard-drive options run from 32GB to a 256GB solid-state drive, up to 8GB of memory is available, and graphics options run up to an Intel GT2. The same ports as on the others are here, and so is near-field communication (NFC), WiFi and 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE).

The Venue 11 Pro can also be fitted to a new Dell Desktop Dock, or used with still another keyboard that offers a fingerprint reader. Dell says the Venue 11 Pro offers the “greatest flexiblity” of anything on the market today. It starts at $499.99.

Dell says it redesigned its stylus to feel more like a proper pen in the hand. The SoftTouch finish on the Tablet Mobile Keyboard is impossible to see and not run one’s finger over.