More on HP Slate and how it compares to iPad

Ars Technica / Engadget have some leaked specs on the HP Slate Tablet coming out. If you haven’t heard much about this device, don’t feel bad. It was announced at CES, by Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer, but with no release date given and not more than a trickle of details until now. The device was already at the stage where the form factor was established though, and that was before any kind of iPad announcement. I say this because some critics see the device and scream “iPad copy!” but it’s just not that simple.  You could say both devices copied the bezel of Sharp and other LCD TVs too. Black plastic, silver, aluminum, they’ve been done everywhere in many appliances, not just the iPhone ok!. /end rant

So back to the important stuff. The chart pulled from information from an HP internal meeting lists a  5+ hour battery. I’d REALLY like for it to be a true 8 hours and I think a lot of people will feel that way when they are shopping for these.  Realistically, I can still use a device with 5 hours quite well. If I’m a full-time student in classes a lot of the day and wanting this to be my main input device, I’d be interested in knowing how I could supplement the power with device case / battery add-on. The iPad is over 10 hours with a 30 hour standby. That’s significant.

I like how it’s the HP Slate has full Windows 7, but I think that will only work for newcomers if this HP Touch UI overlay works REALLY well for basic tasks.  Windows Media Center overlays are decent so if they went that direction I think people will like the experience.

This is a real computer. What do I mean by that? I mean it’s customizable to a certain degree. It will work without any kind of tether to an app store.  If you have utility apps you like on your home PC, or things you program yourself you can use those with this device. It’s got a camera, USB port, HDMI out, nice storage specs at 32 and 64, plus an SD (High Capacity) card slot. Price is close to lower priced iPad at $550 and $600 with more features, but less battery life. It’s nice to have more information now about it.

HP video from January 2010 just after HP slate was revealed at CES