A Laptop That Opens Flat Like a Tablet – Dell Latitude 13

Tremors 02Updated 3/26/14
The Dell Latitude 13 Education Series is scheduled for launch tomorrow, 6 March 2014, at 9am EST. It starts at $539 USD. Non-touch models are available in red and blue. Touch and non-touch models are available in black.

The Dell Latitude 13 Education Series opens 180 degrees, offers an optional touchscreen, and is durable enough to withstand bumps, drops and spills.
The Dell Latitude 13 Education Series opens 180 degrees, offers an optional touchscreen, and is durable enough to withstand bumps, drops and spills.

 The Latitude 13:

  • has a large 13.3-inch display, powerful processors, and a full-size keyboard
  • is durable enough to withstand bumps, drops and spills
  • is subject to military-standard testing
  • boasts an exclusive fully-sealed keyboard and touchpad for the industry’s best spill protection
  • has superb scratch resistance with Corning® Gorilla® Glass NBT™ on touchscreens
  • opens 180 degrees to reduce hinge stress when carried by students in unconventional ways

This is a partial but impressive list of features. Its toughness stands out, but the feature that catches my eye and imagination is the last, the 180-degree screen hinge, which allows you to open and carry it flat, almost like a tablet.

The possibilities for flat laptops (flaptops?) are intriguing. A tablet with a light keyboard that swings down and allows for input with one hand while being held with the other would bridge the laptop-tablet gap. Weight would be a factor, but the Surface Pro 2 proves that a full-blown Windows computer can be squeezed into a tablet, and its optional magnetic keyboard covers demonstrate that keyboards can be very light. The Latitude 13 is an open invitation to designers to explore the potential for flaptops.

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