Dell’s Latitude Tablet is Quite Rugged

If you’re willing to sacrifice portability and stylishness for military-grade toughness, Dell’s Latitude XT2 XFR tablet could do the trick. This swivel-top touch screen PC makes Acer’s newly-launched Aspire 1420p look downright wimpy, and if Apple ever came out with a single-body tablet of its own, this thing could probably crush it, literally. Bearing military and I54 standards, the Latitude XT2 XFR withstands 3-foot drops and operates in a range of -10 degrees to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. When the computer’s turned off, you can safely tote it around in conditions of -40 degrees to 158 degrees Fahrenheit. It’ll also keep chugging through rain, splashing water, blowing dust, vibrations, functional shock and high humidity.

As for performance, the Latitude XT2 XFR is in line with the ultraportable PCs that are coming onto the market now, having a bit more power than a netbook, but less than a high-powered laptop. It has a 12.1-inch screen runs on a low-voltage 1.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. RAM starts at 1 GB, and hard drives are 160 GB (though you can get a 64 GB solid state drive instead). For graphics, there’s Intel’s GMA4500MHD, so don’t expect much in the way of gaming. And I’m a little disappointed to see Windows Vista and wireless b/g, but no wireless n. The real shocker? Price: $3,700 for the basic model. Hey, bringing a laptop to the arctic or the rim of a volcano is a luxury, you know. [Dell via Engadget]