Gizmodo has been sent a slide and some information about a possible new netbook from Dell that would be geared towards the education market. It’s being called the Dell Latitude 2100 or the Latitude 2100 ‘Welch’. The 10-inch Intel Atom-powered netbook/ultraportable does look different, both in styling and in battery, from the existing 10-inch Dell Inspiron Mini 10.
It could be a similar situation to HP’s, where they have a consumer-oriented netbook, the HP Mini 1000, along with the HP Mini 2140 which is geared towards professional/business buyers, as well as the education market. This would mirror Dell’s existing lineups, where they have Inspirons for consumers and Latitudes for business users.
From the slide Gizmodo has posted, the colors are School Bus Orange, Blue Ribbon, Red Apple, and ? Black (Classroom Black or Chalkboard Black?) which certainly lends credence to these being designed for the education market.
Specifications:
– Intel Atom 1.6GHz
– Under $600
– Up to 2GB RAM
– Optional Solid State Drive (SSD)
– Under 3 pounds
– 3 USB 2.0 ports
– Secure Digital (SD) or MultiMedia Card (MMC) slot
– 802.11a/g/n + Gigabit Ethernet
– Bluetooth 2.0
– 3-cell or 6-cell battery option
The most interesting aspect, besides the fact that it looks like Dell would be launching a new netbook line, is the mention of a touchscreen option. That would shake up the market, since Gigabyte and Asustech seem to be the only ones currently interested in a touchscreen netbook outside of Asia.
A launch date of around May 2009 with a price of under $600 USD is being claimed by Gizmodo’s source.
Read: Gizmodo