The Dell BookStage eReader application is simply a relabeled Blio eReader and bookstore that allows you to choose from thousands or free and paid titles. You can also close Stage entirely by tapping the big X in the upper right corner of the screen. So if you want to launch Microsoft Office, for example, you'll need to go outside the Stage UI, which isn't difficult to do since the Windows taskbar and start menu remain at the bottom of the screen at all times. Those buttons are the only game in town there is no way to add your own shortcuts. The buttons are labeled Books, Games, Internet, Music, Paint, Photo, and Video. The Stage UI consists of seven large, finger-friendly buttons you can use to load the associated apps. Too bad the latter method only worked on an earlier, pre-production model we tested and not on the final unit. You first launch the stage software, either by clicking on its shortcut icon in the taskbar or, in theory, just by flipping the screen around. Unfortunately, with its small selection of scaled-down, slow-loading touch apps and inability to keep us away from Windows makes it a huge disappointment. The Inspiron Duo ships with Dell Stage, a custom UI layer that rides on top of Windows 7. Worst of all is Windows' virtual keyboard, which either floats above your content, potentially obstructing your view of what you're typing, or docks to the top/bottom of the screen and also covers content. Navigating through the tiny icons and folders in the Windows 7 Start Menu with just your index finger can be an exercise in frustration. Dragging windows around or resizing them with just one's finger is a huge hassle, as is hitting the X to close a window or the box to maximize/minimize it. That said, Windows 7's user interface is not finger-friendly on any device. Using the display, we were able to draw with two fingers at once in Windows paint, to rotate and resize photos in Windows Photo Gallery, and to pinch-zoom in IE 8 and Google Chrome browser, though the zooming was a bit delayed in IE 8. The Duo's capacitive touchscreen was responsive to our touches. In tablet mode, you'll need to hold the Duo at an angle to see clearly, as colors completely wash out when the chassis is laid flat on its back. Viewing angles were solid from 45 degrees to the left or right when we watched the dark scenes in a couple of Tron trailers, but when we streamed a more colorful scene from Fringe, colors washed out when we were at the same angle. Despite the Broadcom HD accelerator, both a streamed 720p YouTube video and a fully downloaded 720p QuickTime trailer of Tron had mediocre frame rates of 21 and 23 frames per second, respectively. Images were sharp and colors bright, but video playback was a mixed bag. With its 1366 x 768 resolution glossy display, the Inspiron Duo's 10.1-inch screen is larger than what you'll find on a typical netbook of this size. When we streamed a heavy metal tune from Napster and played a jazz tune from the hard drive, the sound lacked the typical tinniness, but the volume was rather low. You wouldn't expect hi-fidelity sound from a 10-inch netbook, so it's no surprise that the Dell Inspiron Duo delivers audio that's relatively clear, but not at all rich or colorful. The 1.3-megapixel webcam provided decent images under direct lighting, but in the dim light of a cubicle, our face was covered in shadow.
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