The HP Slate is out

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

The lack of ports on an iPad is a little annoying.

On mine, I have two USBs, mini-VGA (and it'll work for everything unlike the cluster of a vid out for the iPad), audio in/out, an RJ45 network port just in case, SD, and only a front camera.

It also came with the case and VGA adapter, helping the price be more competitive.

I found being able to plug in a keyboard super handy for doing some quick setups of my network shortcuts, favorites, etc. vs. playing with the onscreen keyboard, which, while good, is nowhere near as fast as the real thing.

Is what you are talking about out in the market yet? What is the OS?

[MysticLlama]

On the market, but sold out and won't have any more for a while unfortunately:

http://www.ctlcorp.com/v4/p-909-2gopad.aspx

Was $550 with Win7 Pro.

It's not perfect, devices in 6 months will be better, but it's accomplishing my purposes of testing out the viability of this sort of device for some special projects I have that the iPad just won't do. Having a serial port would be a bonus, but for 99% of people that'd just be silly.

[island911]

Originally Posted by red-beard

It comes with the docking station for the money. With the dock, it becomes a small PC. They are supposed to have a bluetooth keybord and mouse for it as well.

As far as the kick stand, I agree. But this will work:...img]

It will be interesting to see if that case cover back-bends to act as a stand in ones lap (or where ever). I use my little tablet a lot even tho I have a 30" 2560x1600 monitor in the study. --like while watching tv. the small size is great. But the kickstand is really needed when using a bt keyboard.

btw, I use an Apple bt keyboard (shorty) with my Samsung tablet. ..the keyboard doubles as a screen protector, when not in use (the thin keybrd nests over the tab nicely)

Oh, if you use the Apple keyboard, there's a trick to get it to pair. ...enter the pairing code on the tab, but use the keybrd 'enter' key to submit.

[island911]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

...
I think yours is only about a 1GHz anyhow right? Somwhere in the neighborhood power/resolution wise of a Window Phone 7, Galaxy S Android phone, iPhone 4, etc. Or maybe something along the lines of a Galaxy Tab is the size you might be going for. ...

Yeah, the processor (on my old Samsung) is slow by today's UMPC standards. Yet it still seems okay for what I use it for.

The Galaxy Tab has a lot going for it (as far as I can tell). IMO, the perfect device would have a 7" (wide aspect) screen, and NOT have that big Etch-a-sketch sized bezel. (like the Galaxy Tab, and the ipad have.) ...something more like the the HTC HD2 or DroidX. -Trim/space efficient. It would also have a kickstand and lanyard.

[MysticLlama]

When I'm watching TV I still just go for my laptop, it seems to be the perfect form factor for sitting on a lap, go figure.

[island911]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

When I'm watching TV I still just go for my laptop, it seems to be the perfect form factor for sitting on a lap, go figure.

meh. . laptops on the lap... they always end up toasting my thighs. And, no touch-screen means a mouse. or centered touch-pad. The Macbook pro is the least sucky of those (with the big touch-pad) but still, not as comfortable as the tablet. Also, my tablet is 1.5 lbs.

The sony vaio P-series would be a potentially good replacement. /ramble.

On pricing, the Slate is what I expected. Compared to similar devices, it seems like a reasonable price to me.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by island911

meh. . laptops on the lap... they always end up toasting my thighs. And, no touch-screen means a mouse. or centered touch-pad. The Macbook pro is the least sucky of those (with the big touch-pad) but still, not as comfortable as the tablet. Also, my tablet is 1.5 lbs.

The sony vaio P-series would be a potentially good replacement. /ramble.

On pricing, the Slate is what I expected. Compared to similar devices, it seems like a reasonable price to me.

I have a wood surface between me and the laptop..

[island911]

wait. . you have wood where? TMI...



Yeah, I have a lapdesk too. Although, it just adds weight. :-/

I think that you will find the (very light weight) tablet a very nice replacement.

cool vid (I think I'll hvae to get one.)

[island911]

Argh. . .just realized .. no replaceable battery. :-/ Why did Apple have to set that silly trend...

[MysticLlama]

On the laptop thing, just have to use an SSD and ULV proc and they don't get near as warm as they used to. I prop mine on the armrest sometimes too, which a kickstand might not be happy with.

I also have one with the much-maligned touchpoint in addition to the trackpad, and I love the thing, no need to go back and forth while trying to type something, it's always right there, and works great once used to it, I really dislike trackpads in comparison. Sometimes I wish I had one on my office keyboard for small moves in addtion to the mouse, since I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts already.

A thin bezel to make the most of the screen space does seem like the best idea, not sure why it's not more common.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

I also have one with the much-maligned touchpoint in addition to the trackpad, and I love the thing, no need to go back and forth while trying to type something, it's always right there, and works great once used to it, I really dislike trackpads in comparison. Sometimes I wish I had one on my office keyboard for small moves in addtion to the mouse, since I use a lot of keyboard shortcuts already.

Yep, I prefer the clit. I buy Dells for my laptops so that I have one. I recently saw a netbook with one and wish I'd bought one of those. I hate the touch pad.

[island911]

Rob, on heat... My old Samsung tablet has an SSD (albeit only 32gb) and the processor must be low voltage, right? It really doesn't get hot. ...vents air up thru the top edge.

I was looking at that go-pad you have linked. --no SSD

And on the HP, State tax and shipping puts it at $900

[MysticLlama]

Yep, the 2Go pad has a clickity 250GB in it, an SSD would be a nice option. I was going to put one in, but I can't see how this thing comes apart, which means prying is likely, and not worth it.

The HP *is* a better device, it's just the amount of cost difference that I thought made it hard to justify.

The SSD in that old tablet is more akin to SD or USB flash memory than the current crop of speedy drives, and yeah, the proc is probably fairly low voltage, but an Atom probably has it beat for performance per watt.

Though even in that realm, a purpose built proc like the A4 with an OS designed around that is why the iPad has such great battery life. I think they use the entire back as a heatsink too.

[MysticLlama]

Also, when considering cost, we have to remember that the iPad is the benchmark, and it starts at $499 and is very usable in that config, it's not like it's a super stripped down model or something.

[gtc]

I had an older HP tablet. It worked fine with windows tablet pc blah blah 200X etc edition. The only thing I really didn't like was the distance between the actual screen and the face of the tablet... it was seemed like 1/4" or more, which gets annoying when your face isn't directly in front of the screen.

I'd rather have the windows based slate than an ipad or even an android based tablet.

[island911]

Originally Posted by MysticLlama

Also, when considering cost, we have to remember that the iPad is the benchmark, and it starts at $499 and is very usable in that config, it's not like it's a super stripped down model or something.

hold on.. at $500 it is a stripped-down comparison. ...and, I don't buy that iPad is the benchmark.

More comparable would be the 64gig iPap w/ case and cradle.

pad & case (no cradle) from amazon:


HP with an SD slot, USB conn, a much slimmer (portable) form... can run all internet (flash)...

[jyl]

I used Windows tablet PCs for years. Compaq then IBM. Windows XP tablet. They were fine, but eventually the novelty wore off and I got tired of tap-tapping with the stylus at the Windows menus and onscreen keyboard.

I watched a short video of using the HP slate, and it looks like it uses the same O/S and application interface as any other Windows PC, except that you can use your finger as a mouse (click, draw, etc) and do multi touch zooming. I imagine it has HWR too.

However, the things you are trying to tap with your finger are often really small. The icons on a ribbon on Office, scaled to a small screen, are tiny. The pop up keyboard has keys that look barely bigger than my iPhone's. That is going to be a pain in the butt. My suspicion, from a long time tablet PC user.

MSFT needs to build an O/S that was actually meant for small screens and touch.

Hopefully HPQ will take this hardware and put on the WebOS that they got with PALM, for a consumer model. If they don't get WebOS out there soon, in a really great tablet, it will be too late for that O/S. WebOS is a perishable asset, in less than a year it will be dead. There is not room for AAPL's O/S, MFST's, GOOG's Android, NOK's Symbian, and HPQ/PALM's WebOS. One will die and at this point HPQ is being slow and stupid enough that it's WebOS.

The video is linked below


Hands-On Video With the HP Slate 500

[nostatic]

The iPad has been a hit because of iOS. The slate will likely fail because it is Win7 with tablet hacks. The smaller form factor and gesture UI are fundamentally different than keyboard and mouse. Apple understands this - not clear MS does. Ballmer certainly doesn't.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by nostatic

The iPad has been a hit because of iOS. The slate will likely fail because it is Win7 with tablet hacks. The smaller form factor and gesture UI are fundamentally different than keyboard and mouse. Apple understands this - not clear MS does.

Yep, exactly, I'll be surprised if MS gets the touch interface right the first time or two. Where this will fit is with folks that want a REALLY small PC. I think it's trying to be competition for the iPad, but it's not going to be. It may fill a similar but different niche.

I like my iPad. I'm waiting for some really good Android based competition. Once that hits the market, I think things will get exciting.

[red-beard]

Cool! Steve, when mine comes in, we can compare them.