[PCWorld]

Post your comments for Tablet Battle: HP Slate vs. iPad vs. Galaxy Tab vs. Playbook here

[SteveStrowbridge]

this "war" is going to be an interesting one to watch from the sidelines. I still love having a "real" keyboard on my network, which is something that has served me well for the past 2 years, and something I think I'll continue to use for at least 2 more, the best part yet, even with all the RAM and SSD upgrades, I still have under $500 in my toy.

[SteveStrowbridge]

SteveStrowbridge, on 22 October 2010 - 06:04 AM, said:

this "war" is going to be an interesting one to watch from the sidelines. I still love having a "real" keyboard on my netBOOK, which is something that has served me well for the past 2 years, and something I think I'll continue to use for at least 2 more, the best part yet, even with all the RAM and SSD upgrades, I still have under $500 in my toy.

Even with a "Real" Keyboard, I still have typos! Meant to say netBOOK.

[BryceThorup]

As far as I can tell, even with multi-touch capabilities you would only be able to press two of the three keys in the CTRL+ALT+DEL sequence. So, unless you hook up an external keyboard you're out of luck.

As a side note, iOS and android are stable enough you don't need anything like that.

[halofaller]

What the reviewer didn't mention (who knows why) of course are the standard applications the Slate can run instead of hobbled single purse quasi apps that all other tablets are forced to use. You can't buy an iPad configured to do much for less than $900.

Guess what? The Slate can print right out of the box. It can connect to any standard peripherals including scanners.

I don't know about you but after about two hours I take a break. My idea of productivity or even entertainment doesn't consist of poking a tablet for hours on end.

[MichaelScordakis]

the difference is that with the HP500 I can actually install software I already own, and not have to hunt for some stripped down "phone app" version. Plus because it's packed with Windows 7, it natively integrates into our existing environment and can share in the security policies already in place. Get a Terga2 or 3 in there and that would be a screaming system. The iPad is almost unusable, the Android offerings are cheap, but the applications are glorified phone apps and I haven't seen the Playbook (it does look awesome) but it looks like I would have to invest in a bunch proprietary applications for it. Either way the form factor that has been out for over 10 years years is finally getting noticed in the consumer sector.

[JeffBiesiadecki]

IMO, Microsoft got it all wrong. WinPhone7 would have been the ideal OS to put on a tablet, as has been shown with iOS and now Android. Desktop OSes suck on a tablet; I would have thought that they would have learned that after 10 years. WinPhone7 has a really nice UI. It's a shame they didn't go that route.

[JeffBiesiadecki]

halofaller, on 22 October 2010 - 06:30 AM, said:

What the reviewer didn't mention (who knows why) of course are the standard applications the Slate can run instead of hobbled single purse quasi apps that all other tablets are forced to use. You can't buy an iPad configured to do much for less than $900.

Guess what? The Slate can print right out of the box. It can connect to any standard peripherals including scanners.

I don't know about you but after about two hours I take a break. My idea of productivity or even entertainment doesn't consist of poking a tablet for hours on end.

Certainly a valid point about installing pre-existing Windows apps, however I would debate the $900 price point for a "usable" iPad. I've got a $600 iPad, and while I can do multitrack recording, blogging, spreadsheet/doc editing, web surfing, email, photo manipulation, video watching, book reading, etc. I certainly didn't spend $300 in software. more like $50 at the most.

And the long battery isn't necessarily about continuous use; more about time periods before having to plug it in. I was on a four day business trip, and I charged only once at the hotel. That's convenience I like.

Printing will happen next month in 4.2. I do agree with you on the peripherals thing; I wish they'd allow scanners and audio interfaces to be used with it.

[KerrySanders]

I'm going to stick with netbooks, until they get this sorted out. Dual core Atom based netbooks are in the works, and may in fact already be available.

These people just don't get it. They are going to have to get the price down to somewhere near $100.00, for these to really take off.

Ask yourself (aside from being cool), why would you give up your laptop or netbook, for one of these? In fact, you could buy two netbooks for the price of one of these, and load them up with memory, and an external DVD drive, and still come out less for one of these crippled high priced devices.

I'll by buying netbooks for home, and my home based business. I will also be purchasing and recommending netbooks to my users at the day job.

Cheers!

[ShawnFarris]

BryceThorup, on 22 October 2010 - 06:28 AM, said:

As far as I can tell, even with multi-touch capabilities you would only be able to press two of the three keys in the CTRL+ALT+DEL sequence. So, unless you hook up an external keyboard you're out of luck.

As a side note, iOS and android are stable enough you don't need anything like that.

I think they mean that there is a dedicated ctrl+atl+del button on the device... i.e., not a softkey.

[delo]

I can't believe the reviewer didn't mention the wacom digitalizer built in. I realize I'm a niche user, but any tablet I buy must have the ability to draw figures and write equations. I'm sure this also adds to the price.

[AJan1]

comparison with ipad is just wrong. ipad is an entertainment device meant for mainly browsing internet, where as HP slate is a tablet laptop replacement.

the other day i went to a specialist doctor. he entered the room with a big ass tablet in his hand, and a digitizer pen. While talking to me, he was entering information on his tablet PC. it was just like writing on a notepad. but he looked uncomfortable holding it.

You could argue that its a very narrow focus, but these are the kind of business that Microsoft is targeting with this tablet. They will most probably come up with a Windows Phone 7 based tablet for consumers (hopefully soon).

[bankerdanny]

AJan1, on 22 October 2010 - 07:01 AM, said:

comparison with ipad is just wrong. ipad is an entertainment device meant for mainly browsing internet, where as HP slate is a tablet laptop replacement.

the other day i went to a specialist doctor. he entered the room with a big ass tablet in his hand, and a digitizer pen. While talking to me, he was entering information on his tablet PC. it was just like writing on a notepad. but he looked uncomfortable holding it.

You could argue that its a very narrow focus, but these are the kind of business that Microsoft is targeting with this tablet. They will most probably come up with a Windows Phone 7 based tablet for consumers (hopefully soon).

It is narrow focus, but that is by design. HP has said all along that this is aimed at businesses that need access to the full range of Windows software.

Windows Phone 7? HP bought Palm so that they could get webOS for a Slate device. If HP didn't own webOS they would almost certainly build a consumer version with Android rather than the unproven and app deficient W7P.

As it is HP has said that they will be introducing a webOS version of the Slate next year. WebOS 2.0 comes out next month and from what I seen on precentral.net it is going to be a killer OS for Slates.

This post has been edited by bankerdanny: 22 October 2010 - 08:15 AM

[hastaluego249]

It looks like they are still trying to push the failed MSFT tablet concept. When are they going to learn that touch doesn't work on an interface designed for point and click? Lenovo figure this out and canceled their Windows 7 tablets. The only option to compete against Apple is the next version of Android.

[AbeNebuchadnezzar]

Can it run Wolfram Research Mathematica?
also can it run Blizzard's World of WarCraft?

[bankerdanny]

Your chart needs to be updated. The iPad multitasking should say "limited with iOS4.2" because what Apple will be offering barely qualifies as multitasking compared to Win7.

[AnthonyAmbrosio]

The docking station that comes with the HP Slate is really impressive, it has HDMI out, 2 USB, and audio out. It also comes with a Wacom active digitizer, pen, and an included case. The HP Slate seems like a really good value for what you get. My main two wishes for the future is to see a faster processor and better battery life.

[AnthonyAmbrosio]

No mention of the inking capabilities of the HP Slate 500 in the comparison sheet. The inking abilities are one of the biggest selling points of the device and PCWorld completely negates it.

[RonaldEenwerd]

I am an open source guy and am not interested in commercial tools

Please have a wonderful time

Just ronald

[hastaluego249]

All the responses revolve around all the programs and features the slate has vs the IPad. But nobody denies that the input interface sucks. That is a good starting point to realize that if you are going to run desktop software then get a desktop or a laptop. A tablet is the last thing you should be thinking if you need that stuff. But if you need an ultra portable for emails, reading, trading stocks, surfing the web, short documents, educational software, watching movies, then the iPad is for you.