HP Unveils its Own Would-Be iPad Killer, the HP Slate 500

[Maura]

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Wired’s Charlie Sorrel writes on CNN today that HP has finally unveiled its Slate table, which, Sorrel reminds us, Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was predicting would be an “iPad killer†way back before the iPad was even released. Sorrel is pretty scathing about the tablet, or the HP Slate 500 Tablet PC to give it its full title, which is Wi-Fi only, with no 3G capability, and includes a Windows license on a slide-out plastic bar.

For the price of $799.00, Sorrel is underwhelmed, saying that despite the USB port, HDMI-out, and front and back cameras, all of which the iPad doesn’t have, the 8.9-inch tablet is basically just a “netbook with the keyboard missing,†and not worth the steep asking price. The one feature that Sorrel seems impressed with is the Wacom digitizer, which enables you to use a stylus to take notes on screen.

Elsewhere, Engadget seems to view the device much more favourably, after their brief hands-on time with it, pointing out that HP is stressing that the Slate 500 is aimed firmly at the business and enterprise market, probably after realising that it didn’t have a hope of being an iPad killer if it tried to take Apple’s device on head-to-head.

Source: CNN, Engadget

 

[Demandarin]

I thought they killed off the slate project some time back. They had a press conference or something saying that. Correct me if im wrong plz..lol. Now its back. I remember the demo videos from b4 and i was impressed back then. I wanted that originally thinkn it was gonna be released around same time as ipad. Then i heard they cancelled it.
For starters that price is way too high. We all know u pay for the form factor and portability of it but dang. Making it wifi only, front n back cams, hdmi out, etc..does not jack the price up over $200 more thn the ipad. I could maybe see if it were the 3g one, but its wifi only. Come on now. The specs look nice and device looks good like ipad but wont sell nowhere near as much as ipad.
What is hp gonna do when 2nd and 3rd generation ipads get released? That will have the same stuff minus the windows os..lmao. The ipad will be a better deal. Then apple, hp, n windows cannot overlook or sleep on the Android phenomenon taking place. Android still in infant/teen stages but already predicted to take over soon based on the rate of growth n expansion now. Its worldwide. Thats why apple openin them stores overseas and china. They see how fast android mobile phones/devices are spreading globally.

 

[jordexj]

Lord... even after dressing it up, this thing sounds like a dump machine... one thing is the hardware... another thing is re-creating a similiar system to the itunes store and the Android Market. I don't see how this thing will compete... You just can't instantly create an app store...

 

[Alanfujii]

I think HP blew it. The window of opportunity was the time before Apple introduced the iPad. If this product has been in development so long why did they wait this long to introduce it?

There is a market for this product but it has been greatly reduced for HP by the iPad. Prior to the iPad the tablet potential market would have been happy with a product of this type. The iPad has redefined the requirements of a portable tablet. The HP Slate definitely will not work for the larger consumer market. The iPad has made some penetration in the business market. I believe now this product will only be used by businesses that have an absolute need for Windows 7 based applications. Even with these companies I'm not sure the Slate offers that much vs. the lesser cost netbooks.