HP TouchPad vs. iPad vs. Xoom vs. PlayBook: the tale of the tape
At last, the webOS-empowered TouchPad, HP's answer to the growing tablet market. And make no mistake, it's coming in with guns blazing -- specs-wise, the slate stands up pretty well to the competition currently in play (e.g. iPad) and the other up-and-comers not quite out the gate (e.g. Motorola Xoom and BlackBerry PlayBook). Stacked side-by-side, it's clear Apple's entry is lacking a bit in both memory (256MB vs. 1GB for everyone else) and front-facing camera -- not that we expect that to be the case for all of 2011. When it all comes down to it, what'll set these slates apart will be the platforms and software themselves -- should make for an interesting summer, no? In the meantime, for the nitty-gritty on technical specifications, venture past the break.
HP  | Apple  | Motorola  | BlackBerry PlayBook  |
Platform | webOS 3.0 | iOS 4.2.1 | Android 3.0 | BB Tablet OS (QNX) |
Processor | 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon | 1GHz Apple A4, PowerVR SGX 535 GPU | 1GHz NVIDIA | 1GHz Cortex-A9 dual-core |
Display | 9.7-inch | 9.7-inch | 10.1-inch | 7-inch LCD |
Resolution | 1024 x 768 | 1024 x 768 | 1280 x 800 | 1024 x 600 |
Memory | 1GB RAM | 256MB DRAM | 1GB DDR2 RAM | 1GB RAM |
Storage | 16GB / 32GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB | 32GB | 16GB / 32GB / 64GB |
Front camera | 1.3 megapixel | none | 2 megapixel | 3 megapixel |
Rear camera | none | none | 5 megapixel with | 5 megapixel, |
Cellular radio | "3G and 4G variants" | UMTS / HSDPA / | EVDO Rev. A | 3G and 4G |
WiFi | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11a/b/g/n | 802.11b/g/n | 802.11a/b/g/n |
Bluetooth | 2.1 + EDR | 2.1 + EDR | 2.1 + EDR | 2.1 + EDR |
Gyroscope | Yes | No | Yes | -- |
Accelerometer | Yes | 3-axis | 3-axis | Yes |
Battery capacity | 6,300 mAh | 6,600 mAH (approx.) | -- | 5,300 mAH |
Weight | 740g | 680g (WiFI), | 730g | 400g |
