HP SLATE Reviewed - Netbook crap in tablet form, no sale!

[4phun]

Tech Site Claims Hands-On With Leaked HP Slate

Daniel Ionescu
Apr 20, 2010 11:53 am
A tech site claiming to have gotten its hands on Hewlett-Packard's unreleased Slate tablet PC deems it an unimpressive iPad competitor. The site, Mexico City-based Conecti.ca, doesn't mention how it got a hold of the HP Slate, but conducted a mini-review of sorts complete with photos.

HP's Slate has been mostly a mystery, with no official specs, no availability date, and no further details from HP. If Conecti.ca's report can be believed, the upcoming HP Slate tablet appears to be more of a netbook and less of an iPad, posing little threat to the strong iPad sales.
Photo courtesy of Conecti.ca Without staged shots and carefully arranged teaser videos, the alleged Windows 7-powered HP Slate doesn't seem as glamorous in the hands-on shots from Coonecti.ca. The report, written in Spanish and translated with Google Translate, highlights some shortcomings of the Slate, such as "long and annoying" loading time for the OS.

As seen in Coonecti.ca's photos, the screen and the back of the HP Slate are made of plastic, and the reviewers note that it is still feels dense and tough. The alleged Slate is also slightly thicker than the iPad (0.57-inch versus 0.5-inch).

These latest impressions of the HP Slate arrive only days after allegedly leaked specifications of the Slate, which revealed that the tablet would also feature half the battery life of the iPad (5 hours versus 10+ hours for the iPad).
On the upside, the alleged HP Slate does come with several nifty features missing from the iPad, according to Coonecti.ca. It has two cameras, a front-facing one for video calling and a 3-megapixel one on the back, and can also play 1080p HD videos. (TheiPad, meanwhile, can only play 720p videos.)

The Slate features two external ports, USB and a dock connector. The HP Slate dock expands connectivity with two more USB ports, HDMI output, audio jack, and a power outlet (judging from the Conecti.ca photos). The tablet also features a smaller multi-touch screen than the iPad (8.9-inch versus 9.7-inch).

So far, Connecti.ca official verdict on the HP Slate is "Meh" ("the verbal equivalent of a shrug of the shoulders"). Its comparison of the Slate with a glorified touchscreen netbook without a keyboard seems fitting, and I find it hard to believe most people would choose a $549 Slate over a $499 iPad. HP still has a long way to go, considering it hasn't even announced availability for the Slate yet.

 

[Finnedog]

I have two HP tablet PCs 1 is being used as a desktop computer and the sylus is never ever used. And the other one has 4 gigs of ram but is used only on car trips cause it has a dvd in it and it drives me crazy because it takes so long to boot up.

The Slate seems to be similiar except only the power of a netbook with one gig of RAM running Windows 7, I would have to see this work before I would buy it, but if it is not instant on like iPad it would be hard to go back to a 2 minute wakeup cycle.

 

[iserian]

Love the additional features of a full computer, 5 hours of battery is enough and I'd be willing to make the trade-off for the increased feature set. As long as its 1.5 LBS and quick enough to use all of those features I'll be interested. I'll wait until its out in the wild for some "Real" reviews before making final judgement.

 

[gentlefury]

I still have yet to see a video of anyone actually interacting with this thing....I am still highly skeptical of it. If it is so great let's see it in action!

 

[4phun]

™ Mini Review: HP Slate PC - IPAD does not tremble or cold

Escrito por Mauricio Pastrana en Gadgets , Labs , eReaders , iPad​

Written by Mauricio Pastrana in Gadgets , Labs , eReaders , IPAD

Cada que Apple desarrolla un gadget no sobra los que vienen detrás a anunciar que tienen su reemplazo.​

Each develops a gadget that Apple does not spare those who come after announcing that they have a replacement.

Así como ya hay una gran cantidad de iPod Killers (seguimos esperando) y iPhone Killers (¿alo?), ahora ya se viene la gama de iPad Killers.​

Just as there are a lot of iPod Killers (still waiting) and iPhone Killers (Hello?), now has been the range of IPAD Killers.

Caso a luz, la HP Slate .​

Case to light, the HP Slate .

Tuvimos una brevemente en nuestras manos.​

We had a short in our hands.

HP Slate es el primer ofrecimiento en respuesta a la iPad que, con cara seria, quiere desbancar al iPodsote.​

HP Slate is the first offering in response to the IPAD that with a straight face, wants to unseat iPodsote.

Dos modelos de HP Slate saldrán al mercado, uno de 32GB por 549 dólares de precio y otro de 64GB y 599 dólares de precio .​

Two models will be marketed HP Slate, a 32GB for $ 549 price and a 64GB and $ 599 price.

Ambos contarán con una pantalla de 8.9 pulgadas y 1024×600 pixeles de resolución alimentada por un Intel Atom Z530 a 1.6GHz, chip gráfico integrado de Intel (probablemente el Broadcom Crystal HD) y 1GB de RAM no ampliable.​

Both have an 8.9-inch screen and 1024 x 600 pixels resolution powered by an Intel Atom Z530 at 1.6GHz, Intel integrated graphics chip (presumably the Broadcom Crystal HD) and 1GB of RAM is not expandable.

​

Según lo que vimos de la Slate, tiene el problema que es una PC entera.​

As we saw in the Slate, has the problem that is a whole PC.

Si, tiene Office, Explorer/Chrome/Safari y todos los checheres que se le puedan instalar a Windows. Tiene Flash , pero desafortunadamente esto quiere decir que tiene un largo y molesto tiempo de carga de sistema operativo (y luego una pantalla de usuario-password para entrar a Windows 7).​

If you have Office, Explorer / Chrome / Safari and all checheres that he can install Windows. You have Flash, but unfortunately this means you have a long and annoying load time operating system (and then a user-display password to enter Windows 7).

Si acaso, nos queda claro que este gadget no es una competencia al iPad sino a los netbooks que ya están en el mercado.​

If anything, it is clear that this gadget is not a competition to IPAD but the netbooks already on the market.

De todos modos vale la pena resaltar lo positivo. La Slate tiene puertos de expansión ad-nauseum que incluye un dock con conexiones HDMI y USB. Tiene una camara built-in .​

Anyway it is worth noting the positive. The Slate has expansion ports ad-nauseum that includes a dock with HDMI and USB connections. It has a built-in camera.

Tiene su propio sistema de administración de medios que, esta por ver si resulta ser verdaderamente util pero definitivamente lindo si es.​

It has its own media management system that is to see if it be really useful but definitely nice if it is.

La pantalla, aunque es más pequeña que la del iPad, es un poco más brillante y si, obviamente, es multi-touch y aunque es hecho en plástico, se siente denso y resistente.​

The screen, although smaller than that of the IPAD, is a little brighter and if, obviously, is multi-touch and although it is made of plastic, feels dense and tough.

El diseño de equipo no deja de ser lindo para lo que es una pseudo-gama de Netbooks sin teclado.​

The design team continues to be pretty for what is a pseudo-range of Netbooks without a keyboard.

El veredicto oficial es “meh” .​

The official verdict is "meh" .

Esta versión de la Slate se queda muy atrás de la iPad como “paquete de gadget”, pero definitivamente esta es la netbook completa más pequeña que van a poder encontrar .​

This version of the Slate far behind the IPAD as "gadget package", but definitely this is the smallest complete netbook that they can find.​

Les dejamos una galería de imágenes.​

We leave a gallery of images.

Enlaces : Alt1040 | Engadget​

Links: ALT1040 | Engadget