Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook

Dell has released its own Windows 8 centric laptop, the Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook.  Lenovo used the traditional Tablet PC for factor for its ThinkPad Edge 230su and Sony used the less familiar but not innovative slider design for its Sony Vaio Duo. Dell, well they did something different using a new type of swivel mount. 

All three laptops allow for the use of the device as both a laptop and tablet. Dell's solution is the most novel. Dell also calls their device an Ultrabook.

The Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook weighs in at 3.3 pounds which meets Intel standards for an Ultrabook, but its 0.95 inches in thickness does not. That is a minor point. It's price of Php65,990 is not. That is some serious money.

But the Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook specifications seem to be enough to justify the hefty price. The laptops 12.5-inch display is a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, the Intel Core i5-3317U processor is powerful enough and the 4 GB of RAM is sufficient. Also is comes with a SSD drive, a 128 GB unit being equipped on the 65K unit. For this much money, I would have like double the RAM and storage. Battery life in real world tests is a tad over 5 hours.

After looking at three new offerings designed around Windows 8,  all are expensive. The Dell XPS 12 Convertible Touch Ultrabook actually compares pretty well price wise comparing favorable with thins like a 13-inch MacBook Air (Php57,990), with the 8K difference being justified by the Full HD display. 

If you want a new touch oriented Windows 8 laptop, this is the best of the three I have seen so far.