Dell Inspiron Duo: Flip your lid over these hands-on photos

Dell's new Inspiron Duo is a nifty netbook with a clever swivelling display that turns it into a touchscreen tablet. We were lucky enough to have some hands-on time with the Duo, and we've got the photos to prove it.

Luke Westaway

Luke Westaway is a senior editor at CNET and writer/ presenter of Adventures in Tech, a thrilling gadget show produced in our London office. Luke's focus is on keeping you in the loop with a mix of video, features, expert opinion and analysis.

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Luke Westaway

Nov. 23, 2010 3:51 a.m. PT

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Dell's new Inspiron Duo is a nifty netbook with a clever swivelling device that turns the whole shebang into a touchscreen tablet. We were lucky enough to have some hands-on time with the dynamic Duo, and we've even got the photos to prove it. Click through the pictures above to see the Duo in all its flippin' wonder, then read our full in-depth preview for the breakdown.

The Duo isn't the first laptop we've seen that transforms into a touchscreen tablet, but it does bring an innovative new design to the table. On either side of the display there are two hinges, which allow the Duo's 10-inch display to spin within the netbook's bezel.

Spinning the display around and then closing the lid completes the Duo's transformation from netbook to tablet. The Duo runs Windows 7 with the standard Windows 7 touch interface -- tap the screen once to click, and hold for a moment to right click. It's fairly intuitive.

Some people bemoan the fact that the touchscreen revolution is alienating consumers who prefer physical keyboards, so the Duo promises to offer the best of both worlds. We still have our concerns, though -- the Duo doesn't have a great port selection, and battery life will likely be nowhere near as impressive as that offered by the iPad, for example.

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Here's the Duo in tablet mode...

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...and in netbook mode with the lid flipped around. Check out that tasty logo.

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Hopefully the Duo will still perform as a decent standard netbook.

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Oops, we've caught the Duo changing.

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On the outside, the Duo looks like an ordinary netbook, albeit a slightly chunky one.

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The trackpad looks large and comfortable, but we'll need more time with it to be sure.

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JBL make this audio dock for the Duo. We were told that both the Duo and the dock would be available to buy as a bundle.

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Enjoying some Iron Man 2.

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Port selection is a little lacking, presumably to keep the Duo looking slick when in tablet mode. There's a power port, headphone socket and two USB ports.