Dell Mini 5

We're going to bet that if you're in the market for an iPad, you're going to hold out for the Apple iPad; Are we wrong?

There has been a quickly approaching storm forming in the gadget industry, and the culprit of this maelstrom of buzz and media attention is the new tablet genre. It seems every computer company in the world is getting ready to roll out an internet-based tablet device this year, and one of the more hotly anticipated entries into the marketplace has been an offering from Dell. Tagged with the name Mini 5, Dell blew open the doors on its tablet at CES 2010. The 5-inch palm-size, dual camera, portable product looks to take its design cues from smartphones rather than netbooks, and will run off of the Google-based Android operating system.

If you’re a guy with decent eyes who is confident enough to sport a tablet slightly larger than the average smartphone and you love having access to tons of information, then the Dell Mini 5 is the gadget for you.

With a widescreen adept for reading graphic novels or long texts, a thin body that can easily fit in your pocket and 3G support to allow for phone calls, it's easy to see why the Dell Mini 5 is such an intriguing gadget. Supporting a multitouch screen with custom Android technology, the Dell Mini 5 has all of the specs necessary to bring pocket-size portable media to a whole new level.

The onscreen keyboard is spacious, even for a 5-inch display, and the transition from one application to another, such as movie viewing to Google Maps navigation, is smooth and quick. One of the bigger tech hooks on the Dell Mini 5 is its ability to make mobile calls. Although no official carrier networks have announced support yet, the Dell Mini 5 will probably have no shortage of companies lining up to offer their services. Using a built-in microphone, and a front facing 5-megapixel camera, the Dell Mini 5 can provide both traditional and instant video calling.

It looks like the tablet marketplace is going to be one of the most competitive around in 2010, and the big winners of that battle are going to be us, the gadget-loving consumers. Major manufacturers like Dell and Apple are not going to be able to afford releasing anything less than an A+ effort, and even this first generation Mini 5 looks packed to the brim with tech goodness. If your seemingly impossible wish for a giant iPod touch that also had Android, that also had Wi-Fi and 3G, that also had dual front- and back-loaded cameras, and that also made phone calls seemed too lofty in 2009, that is not the case now.

If there's going to be a downfall to the Dell Mini 5, it may be in its lack of design integration, and its failure to come up with an acceptable solution to bringing notebook-level tasks, such as document creation, over to a tablet-size product.

Even if Dell insists that the Mini 5 is meant more to compete with smartphones, the device is simply too big for handheld calling, and would be a burden to use without taking advantage of its Bluetooth connectivity.