Dell XPS 18 Portable All-In-One Desktop Review

Dell has chosen to combine two trending computing design styles into a single system and call it the XPS 18 Portable All-In-One Desktop. It has all the power of a an entry level desktop and some of the portability of a tablet, though let's be clear that Dell isn't pitching you'll want to tote this across town on a train or in other ways that you might use an iPad or Nexus 7. It's portable in the sense that you can snatch up the 18.4-inch Full HD display and lug it from your home office to the living room, plop it on the table, and switch gears from Google Docs to gaming with the kids. Or take it bed for some late night surfing before drifting off to sleep.

You can dock the display on your desk with the included stand or carry it around. At around 5 pounds, it's heavier than a traditional tablet, though it's also much bigger and obviously more powerful. Mixing these two form factors is an interesting concept, but does it work in a design this large? Let's have a look...


Dave Altavilla

Dave Altavilla

With nearly two decades of experience as a semiconductor sales engineer, Dave Altavilla founded HotHardware.com over 25 years ago with perspective as an industry insider and a passion for the wonders of system-level development and performance that culminate into the next generation, cutting-edge devices of tomorrow. Cultivated with the sweat-equity of time spent in the engineering backrooms and offices of Chief Architects of Wall Street bellwethers like Motorola, Cisco and EMC, Dave's insight into the design and manufacturing of leading-edge technologies, brings a laser-sharp understanding of what it takes to deliver a best-of-class product to market. Dave handles final editorial responsibilities of HotHardware's content, along with the site's creative vision and business development efforts. In addition to feature product launch articles at HotHardware for major OEM releases, Dave is also a published author in various technology-based print publications and has been a featured guest on various webcasts and Tech radio shows. In his spare time Dave likes to spend time on the ocean and coaching youth Baseball.  - Contact: davea(at)hothardware(dot)com and follow him on Twitter if you like. He also has an About.me page here.