The beginning of the second quarter is upon us next month and in addition to Samsung's latest smartphone, Dell and ASUS will be rolling out their latest devices in the Windows 8 all-in-one (AiO) category. With Dell just announcing the XPS 18 at SXSW last week, let's take a closer look at how the desktop/tablet hybrid fares against the ASUS Transformer.
The all-in-one category is being redefined, as the manufacturers are inclined to make everything incorporate a tablet. The AiOs are their own species, as they are neither desktop nor tablet — with 18.4-inch screens, they're simply too large to be portable. Apparently, Dell and ASUS feel otherwise.
The primary difference between the XPS 18 and the Transformer is that the Dell computer has native Windows 8 as both desktop and tablet while the Transformer runs Windows 8 in desktop mode only.
The Transformer runs Android 4.1 Jelly Bean on the tablet and Windows 8 on the desktop, which can be accessed through the tablet remotely. It has a full HD 1920 x 1080 multi-touch display. The tablet has an NVIDIA Tegra 3 Quad-core processor while the desktop, depending on the model, will come equipped with Intel Core i3, i5 or i7 processor. The tablet will have 2GB DDR3 memory while the desktop will be between 4GB and 8GB, depending on customer preference.
The Transformer weighs 6.5 kg (2.4 kg tablet and 4.1 kg desktop) and comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse. The XPS 18 is under five pounds.
Both AiOs have 18-inch touchscreen displays. The XPS 18's base model will include an Intel ULV Pentium processor 2117U, 4GB of RAM, a 320GB hard drive, 8:1 media card reader and Intel HD integrated graphics.
On the high-end side, the XPS 18 AiO can be equipped with an Intel Core i7 (with Intel HD 4000 graphics), 500GB hard drive and optional SSD and 8GB of memory. Battery life is at five hours, according to Dell's estimates.
Both of these all-in-ones are very similar to each other in most specs. The XPS 18 does have the weight advantage and a full Windows 8 integration, which makes it more attractive in our eyes.
The XPS 18 will start at $899 when it reaches stores in April, although a mid-range model will be closer in price to the Transformer, which has a retail price of $1,299.
