Dell Latitude ST Tablet

The new 10 inch Windows tablet from Dell is aimed at the business sector, much as the laptop range it takes its name from. Does the user experience match the high price tag?

What we like best

The concept of the Dell Latitude ST is a tricky one – tablets usually run on either Android or iOS, neither of which are widely used in companies.

By making the ST run on Windows 7, Dell have tried to create is a tablet that can be integrated into a firm’s existing IT set-up more easily than previously possible.

The ST’s rounded, rubber-protected edges and serious dark colour tones also mark it out as a tool for professionals rather than an expensive gimmick.

It’s robust rather than sleek – but we see that as a good thing. Its front is protected by Gorilla Glass, the rubber coating provides extra shock absorption and it offers next to no yield at the back and around the screen bezel. There’s also a Kensington lock for protection against theft.

The screen is another strong point. At 1280 x 800 pixels, the Latitude ST has a higher resolution than the iPad 2 and is both bright and sharp in all indoor settings, with excellent viewing angles (outdoors is a different story – here the reflections sadly outweigh the brightness).

For a tablet of this size, there are a lot of externals and ports. It boasts two cameras (1.3MP on the front, 5MP on the fear), an audio jack, one USB 2.0 and one HDMI port and an SD card reader.

Power consumption is very low, resulting in an impressive battery life of around five hours under light-to-medium use.

Users have the choice between 32, 64 or 128 GB of SSD memory.

What we like least

A tablet whose target audience consists of high-flying business people needs to be svelte and lithe for practical as well as aesthetic reasons, but the Latitude ST is a bit too clunky in that regard.

In its most minimal configuration, it still weighs 816g, (compared to the 652g of the Apple iPad) and at 16mm it’s rather thick, too.

For a business tablet, the ST has a surprisingly poor wi-fi connection. You won’t want to stray too much from your router, otherwise you will lose its signal very quickly.

Using multi-touch on a Windows device will take some getting used to as it is limited in scope and nowhere near as smooth as with, say, iOS tablets or smartphones – although it will get easier with practise.

The Intel Atom Z670 processor isn’t the strongest core out there, and as a result performance is at best average. Multimedia editing and gaming are out, and running multiple applications will slow the ST down considerably.