We've only ever seen the
HP Slate in
extremely controlled demonstrations and
cheesy videos until now, but it looks like the Windows 7 tablet just spent a little bit of time in the wild --
Conecti.ca's posted up a full hands-on and mini-review. Their conclusion? "The official verdict is meh." Yeah, ouch. Apparently the Slate's biggest strength is also its greatest weakness -- it's essentially a touchscreen netbook, and that means that while it can run everything including Flash, it can be "slow and annoying." Unfortunately there's not a lot of info on how well HP's TouchSmart Windows 7 skin works, so we'll wait till we play with one before we make a decision, but man -- we definitely weren't expecting this thing to look so chunky in the photos. No wonder
the press pics and other demos are so carefully arranged -- it really does look like a chopped up netbook. At least the HDMI dock is somewhat sexy, we suppose. Couple more pics after the break.
[Thanks, WikiWarrior]
posted April 19th 2010 3:14PM
@ttringle I didnt know all those Windows applications were touch compatible. At least the Apps for the iPad were built for a touch device and they work well.
Touchscreen netbook =fail
tablet computing must be it's own os
@Brushsyn17
why? it can have a perfectly usable application designed just for tablet usage, or maybe even switch between two types of skins.
but I would rather have a 7" tablet with win xp, also need swivel camera
@htd Universally skins on top of windows or windows OS's even the mobile ones have sucked. Apparently the HTC ones are pretty good but the problem is that when you make your own skin for a device like this there is no consistency.
Applications developed for these devices running windows will have no true consistency for them. For gods sake windows doesn't even make the buttons for minimize, maximize or close any bigger when it recognizes it's running on a touch enabled device.
Ok first of all, what does the look of the device have to do with anything?
Secondly, I'm not against an app taking several seconds to start as long as I can run pretty much any app I want. Let me decide whether it works on the device or not and give me access to the filesystem.
Likely the 'slowness' is all eye candy stuff that can be disabled anyway. They really should have put windows XP on this thing.
@malibu1234 They used to make ugly slates running Windows XP, you know. They... didn't catch on. Is that a nice way of saying it? I think it is.
@malibu1234
Noooo xp. XP has terrible SSD support, very limited pen and touch support, no native multitouch support, and no native gesture support. While windows 7 wasn't designed from the ground up with touch in mind, it does accomodate it very nicely.(from the larger taskbar buttons to automatically expanding list item height when using touch among other things).
@malibu1234 Ever heard of industrial design or user experience? The way something "looks" can greatly affect how consumers interact with a product and their tendency to want to drop a whole lotta cash on a gadget.
The weird pattern on the back of the slate confuses me, I hope it looks a lot better in person.
@malibu1234
Why would by put XP on here? Windows 7 actually has native touch support built-in. It's the only logical choice if you're going to put a desktop OS into a tablet.
@Prevacator Granted, all the Windows 7 and touch compatibility comments, I wasn't thinking about that. the problem with windows 7 is too much emphasis on eye candy. All the clunkiness with things being transparent or fading in and out.. Just give me a grey button that is there to press. It will work the same and I'll be happy.
@zeMoose Well yeah I guess some people buy a device for form over function.. Personally I will never understand it. If you are marketing a device to be pretty then reviews don't really matter because people will decide as soon as they see it anyway.
@zeMoose
Sorry for the multiple posts but I just had a thought.
If people need the eye candy in a tablet now then we have already closed the door on ourselves for good tablets. By the time we can really do a full featured tablet with eye-candy (no the iPad is not full featured) then we'll be wanting 3D.. and so on and so forth.
A chopped up netbook? Welp, I'ma go pack my bags..
I thought this would be it. But it ain't. So far the ONLY 2 tablet contenders for my money remain: the TM2 and the ModBook.
Leaked?
HA!
was this also found on the floor in a bar?
@AppleDrank
Apple patent #645.457.315
-pertains to leaving touch based computing device on a bar floor to get free publicity...
@AppleDrank looks like it was there a long time and noone gave a sh*t
god, do we really need more cheap plastic junk?
@fuesse
Thats why Apple makes its gear out of metals and glass/ceramics now...
because if they made it out of plastic, THEY BLEW IT!
@fuesse - do we really need more Apple fanatics commenting in non-Apple posts? I think not.
@AppleDrank "if they made it out of plastic, THEY BLEW IT!"
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/22/unibody-macbook-late-2009-review/
"Hell, we were underwhelmed by the old plastic MacBook back in June, when we reviewed the refreshed unibody MacBook Pros -- we said we were "honestly left wondering" why the $999 plastic model continued to exist when the $1,199 13-inch Pro was obviously superior. So when we heard the first whispers that Apple was working on a total overhaul of its low-end MacBook, we naturally assumed that it would either gain in features or drop in price -- but neither one of those things happened. The new plastic MacBook remains priced at $999 in its only configuration, and while it's been updated with the same unibody construction as the Pros, it's also lost some features along the way. So... what's going on here? Did Apple just blow a huge opportunity to totally re-think its low-end formula, or is there more to the MacBook than the spec sheets and price tags say?"
Oops. They blew it.
@NewL Oh, please STFU. Just read any apple article and you'll see there's more anti-apple haters commenting there.
@vqro - lovely to see how you feel adressed when I say "Apple fanatic". Pathetic much?
@vqro - lovely to see how you feel addressed when I say "Apple fanatic". Pathetic much?
@NewL
wow, u r psycho- how did u figure out i m a fanatic?
...tell me more about me :)
but also try to point out why this really really cheap plastic-y looking tablet is actually oozing quality in ur eyes?
@NewL What makes you think I "feel addressed"??? The fact that I respond to a stupid self-appointed comment police like yourself? Try again. You're not as smart as you think you are.
@vqro @fuesse - did I step on some toes? My bad :D
@NewL
not at all. u just demonstrated to everyone who u are.
That's chunky? You guys have no idea what chunky is. If you're comparing it to the iPad, remember, even with a super efficient ARM SoC in it, it still manages to overheat. Constantly. Obviously having it super ridiculously thin isn't an advantage. That being said, it's still not chunky, I don't know where you guys get your dictionaries from.
Also, while I still have no use for a Tablet from any manufacturer, I like that it has a matte black backing to it, as opposed to a glossy one. Very nice touch.
@Prevacator It's chunky and clunky.
@Prevacator
Like it or not, the iPad is going to be the popular touchstone for the slate form factor. Regardless of specs, if it's 3/4" thick, it's going to be dismissed as clumsy.
I know. The world is full of idiots. I'm just giving you a head's up.
@Prevacator I have been using my iPad non-stop since I got it and it has never even gotten warm.
I can imagine myself playing PC games during boring lectures
Another epic failure, but thats no surprise at all. More failures to come.
Just keep embracing crappy Flash guys....a losing strategy...
There's will be nothing in the iPad's league for some time.
Now go and whine in a corner all you flash lovers and Apple haters...
@ninja98
The iPhone already beats the iPad in versatility and usability. It was a useless product before it was even released.
@ninja98
The slate fully supports Flash and HTML 5.
@Prevacator +1
@cherryboom - yeah, and McDonalds makes awesome food, because it sells millions of burgers each day, right?
@cherryboom
That doesn't make it any less useless. It just means there's a half a million idiots in the world who bought a product that does less than the iPhone even does. Namely making calls.
@Prevacator Stop comparing the iPad to a phone. Its a tablet. They have different use cases. Don't you get it?
@ninja98
Uses like what? What can you do on the iPad that you couldn't do on any smartphone, or do better on a laptop/desktop?
@ninja98 Man those haters that responded to your comment are sooooo stupid. It's pretty funny that there's people like that.
Bottom line, it's not easy to build a tablet that works fast enough and well enough to sell well. Next up is the Notion Ink Adam that everyone's so excited about. I'm pretty sure it'll suck just like the JooJoo, just like the HP Slate.
But whatever.
@Prevacator
Uh, how about browse the web?
I can browse the web better than you can on your smartphone or netbook.
How's that?
@ninja98 LOL no they dont. Its just a big Iphone/ Ipod touch.
@ninja98 It's hard to have a debate with someone that can't imagine what a 10" multitouch device can do that a 3.5" one can't- even after the device is out and there are dozens of apps that prove it.
You're better off trying to explain it to a box of thumbtacks.
@Prevacator The ipad is useful for those who don't like to wait and care about usability. What you're referring to are people who buy based on specs and never use their product. It just for show... Just look at the ipad's net usage share already!
Basically you're proving you're an idiot. HP is aiming this product for idiots. Idiots who will never use this crap. Will buy for specs and then walk around with it....
If I found this on the floor in a bar, I would've called the bombsquad
I like my Flash "slow and annoying." than no Flash at all.
It's nice for Apple to have competitors.
But this is exactly what happens when you aren't draconian with the "pruning" of options, like Apple is. A great fat block of the 1970s in the wrong era.
Flexibility and complexity go hand-in-hand, unfortunately. You can't have the benefits of one without the drawbacks of the other.
"meh"? engadget is funny.
I'm sorry but is anyone really surprised?
Take iPad for example. Even with all its shortcomings, at least Apple undertands that you can't just slap on a desktop OS with few visual tweaks onto a tablet. It won't work!
HP appears to be run by apes!