Dell’s XPS 18 Portable All-in-One PC (Gablet) begins preorders with 18.4” display and 8hr battery

Dell’s XPS 18 Portable All-in-One Desktop is now up for pre-order. It’s a desktop/giant tablet (I’m calling it a gablet unless you have something better).  This is a full Windows 8 desktop PC running Core i3 or i5 chips, with varying memory, but in all cases sporting a tremendous 18.4” 1080 IPS display and weighing around 5 pounds. Add to that you can just slide it off the powered stand and you have a giant tablet with an 8 hour battery life (see below where I verify this with a Dell rep since it sounds way too high) and it can stand on its own. I’m quite intrigued. It gives you a huge screen to use anywhere. I can do some work while sitting outside; let the kids watch a video during dinner; show off photos on something bigger than a 10” screen. Add a little bit of Slingbox love and you have something here.

You can check it out here. Prices range from $900-$1350 depending on configuration (only the most expensive has the powered stand included, which otherwise is $100). It even comes with an offer to get an XPS 10 RT or Latitude 10 tablet for just $300. Shipments start at the end of the month.

Who’s in?