New HP slate vid shown

[corriewf]

So look - basically I don't care what your opinion is - I will not buy a device like this that doesn't have at least 8 hours of battery life, period the end. And I'm pretty confident I'm not alone in that.

Does anyone here really care about anyone's opinion or are we just passing time in geek form? Anyway, I understand your point about forgetting to plug in the HP Slate, but honestly, that's a non point. You really don't need this device for business purposes. You don't need the Ipad either. If my Ipad or HP Slate was dead, oh well, I use my computer or Iphone. You do remember to charge your Iphone everyday right? There isn't much during your business hours that the Ipad can do that the Iphone can't. You CAN read a book on an Iphone however can you do that at work and not get fired? I don't have the luxury of doing ANYTHING at work that isn't work related except maybe listening to music.

These devices are for entertainment only.... Can you do work related things on them? Yeah, but there are much better devices that currently do them. 5 hours of battery life is fine for most people. It has been fine for Iphones....

Don't get me wrong, I won't be pissed if they decide to put a better battery on the HP Slate.

 

[wombat888]

I'd have no interest in the Archos 9 from your description.

The Archos 8 looks odd in the picture (I don't mind a bezel, but that bezel is ginormous) and the blurb doesn't mention wifi, 3g, or much else about functionality I care about.

The Archos 7 looks interesting. I'll research that a bit more, it may play into my decision regarding the iPad. No 3g would be a big drawback, but pocketable would be a big advantage.

 

[corriewf]

You still haven't answered my question. What advantage does the HP Slate have over a laptop? If you're thinking about plugging in a mouse and keyboard, that just defeats the purpose even more.

Why buy an HP Slate when you can have a laptop

Why buy an Ipad when you can buy a macbook pro?

Seriously guys, these devices are toys for grown ups. We want them because they are cool and fun. They are not better than anything, they are just cooler to do stuff on.

I can say on my touchsmart 600 made by HP which doesnt have a capacitive screen, it's a fun experience. Most things are not made for use with touch but something are. I play many games that are supposed to be used with a mouse yet are so much more fun with a touchscreen. I love company of heroes using the touch screen. I feel more involved in the game. Heck even playing chess that comes with windows 7 is awesome with the touchscreen.

The benefit of HP Slate versus a laptop? A little more portability. A cool factor with the touch screen. That's about it.

I will say this! I can replace my netbook with an HP Slate, which I can't do with a Ipad.

 

[Davidkoh]

I will say this! I can replace my netbook with an HP Slate, which I can't do with a Ipad.

Exactly my point. I never bought a netbook, my girlfriend did to use for lighter schoolwork in classes. Or for that trip where the need for power is low.

I could totally see me use a Slate instead. Even Diablo 2 should run on it for the occational gaming . And say that im away from home I can still plug a keyboard in and do some programming to fix some bugs.

I really wish that Apple could bring me this, I am an Apple fanboy, believe me. But I could do the same work that I could on the iPad, on my iPhone.

 

[babbit]

Exactly my point. I never bought a netbook, my girlfriend did to use for lighter schoolwork in classes. Or for that trip where the need for power is low.

I could totally see me use a Slate instead. Even Diablo 2 should run on it for the occational gaming . And say that im away from home I can still plug a keyboard in and do some programming to fix some bugs.

I really wish that Apple could bring me this, I am an Apple fanboy, believe me. But I could do the same work that I could on the iPad, on my iPhone.

You can replace a netbook with a Slate, but the Slate doesn't bring anything more than a netbook besides the touchscreen and lighter weight. Compared to a good netbook it has a lower res screen, poorer battery life (it's not going to get 5 hours considering an equivalent netbook with the same size battery gets max 4 hours), slower typing speed (because of the touchscreen), etc...So besides the tablet form factor, there isn't really any reason to replace your netbook with a Slate. I would just keep the netbook unless you want to cut your weight in half (3 to 1.5 lbs).

There are a miilion things a netbook can do that the iPad can't, but at least there are some things the iPad can do that are better than a netbook. 1st: instant on with good battery. You can put the slate to sleep, but it's still not instant on, and battery still drains at a measurable rate. 2nd: App speed. The equivalent program runs faster on an iPad because of the lack of multitasking, and a lot less background threads in the iPhone OS compared to Windows. From the off state, I can quickly turn the iPad on, open a browser, go to google, type in a question, and get a result back in about 5-6 seconds beginning to end (I just timed it myself). You'll be lucky to do it in 30 seconds on a netbook even without a cold start browser. I can name other advantages, but you get the picture.

Also, if I wanted to run Windows or OSX apps or flash programs (minus video) on my iPad, I just use VNC or Remote desktop. That way I let my desktop do all the processing. It might be slow over 3G, but it's pretty smooth over wifi if you have a good connection.

 

[shaunymac]

Why can't they just give us a tablet that can really replace my macbook pro? I mean, these tablets, esp, the iPad are just so underpowered and featureless. Give us something I can run photoshop on while I am away from my main computer at home, then I am committed.

Yes, I know about the company that you can send your mac into, but I feel this is the approach that should have been taken. In a sense, a true tablet computer.

These tablets, even with there glorified iPhone OS, are bogus!

 

[HiRez]

Why can't they just give us a tablet that can really replace my macbook pro? I mean, these tablets, esp, the iPad are just so underpowered and featureless. Give us something I can run photoshop on while I am away from my main computer at home, then I am committed.

I'm sorry if this sounds mean, but you, my friend, DO NOT GET IT! Stop punishing the iPad for something it's not supposed to be. I think your notion of what constitutes a "real" computer is flawed. It's your right to want whatever you want, but you're not being realistic and you're not seeing the reason for the direction Apple is taking with the iPad. That said, I'm pretty sure at some point you will see some photo editing iPad apps, with layers and masking. But they will probably not be Photoshop (which would probably be horrible to use on a tablet without major UI modifications). If you want a tablet that weighs 2-3 pounds, gets hot, gets 3 hours of battery life, and is torturous to use, you can probably have it. If you want a truly portable device that can run all day and totally replace your powerful desktop and laptop machines, you're probably going to be waiting quite a while.

 

[7xovr]

This looks interesting, but it's almost like when the Zune came out and was supposed to be better than the IPAD. The HP Slate may do more, the camera is an example of this. But I have a reservation about HP and it's my own bias, Apple products seem to work a lot more smoothly than most PC products, but though the HP Slate looks good, it's missing one major major thing. The APP Store.

Lets just be realistic here, Apple has pretty much change the face of technology and how we purchase music and media, through the ITUNES Store. And the apps are fantastic, I feel that in the tablet wars to come it wont be the tablets that will determine the future. But the developers and the apps avilable to them that will determine the winner, and at this point in history Apple has that edge.

 

[corriewf]

This looks interesting, but it's almost like when the Zune came out and was supposed to be better than the IPAD. The HP Slate may do more, the camera is an example of this. But I have a reservation about HP and it's my own bias, Apple products seem to work a lot more smoothly than most PC products, but though the HP Slate looks good, it's missing one major major thing. The APP Store.

Lets just be realistic here, Apple has pretty much change the face of technology and how we purchase music and media, through the ITUNES Store. And the apps are fantastic, I feel that in the tablet wars to come it wont be the tablets that will determine the future. But the developers and the apps avilable to them that will determine the winner, and at this point in history Apple has that edge.

This is ALL I want for the Ipad to be better than the HP Slate, one place where all my files are stored and I can access and modify them... So in other words, I don't have to open this app or that app to get to my files. I want a place where my files go and I don't have to open an app to get to it. That would correct the problem I have. Even on the Iphone, I am tired of having to go to different apps to access my files.

Would also be nice if I could download and install files from the web...

 

[7xovr]

This is ALL I want for the Ipad to be better than the HP Slate, one place where all my files are stored and I can access and modify them... So in other words, I don't have to open this app or that app to get to my files. I want a place where my files go and I don't have to open an app to get to it. That would correct the problem I have. Even on the Iphone, I am tired of having to go to different apps to access my files.

Would also be nice if I could download and install files from the web...

You may get your wish in the future. Things like MobileME which has an App through the APP Store, and the fact that through your PC you can store your files on MobileMe and then you can access those files online from another computer or even your IPOD Touch. I don't have an IPAD so I don't know how well it works with MobileMe currently, But I feel there is so much that can be done to intergrate MobileMe into the Apple devices that are out there. And I think we will see that in the future, im not an apple fanboy, but I do support good products, and Apple has a way of bringing things to the market that are innovative and have not been thought of. I was upset about the lack of a USB port, but then I thought about how technology is shifting more toward data being stored online than on a external harddrive or flashdrive.

This will be a great year for Tech Geeks like us.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

A camera is a bad idea for a tablet it just does not work that is why apple did not add one.

What will you say when RevB rolls in with a camera?

 

[7xovr]

What will you say when RevB rolls in with a camera?

Actually I think placing a cam on a tablet is not the best idea, its not because it's not cool, it's practicality. Example, you have to hold the tablet in your hand, most times looking down at it to do work or whatever you do. Well, if you want to have a video conference with someone, you have to prop up the whole device or hold it in both hands at eye level, your hands will get tierd and your body will of course shake a bit with the tablet in that position. I am all for a camera, but please make it an attachment, so I can plug it into my IPAD or HP SLate or whatever tablet, and place it somewhere static. It's just more effeciant that way. I don't wanna say Apple didnt think of this or they did and that's why it's not in the IPad, I just say for my sanity and im sure others would agree, make the camera a $40 add on or something.

 

[NoSmokingBandit]

Well, if you want to have a video conference with someone, you have to prop up the whole device or hold it in both hands at eye level

Why must you hold it up? You can lay it on your lap and still look directly at the camera. Your neck does bend right?

I'm holding a dvd case on my lap, slightly angled upward as if i were reading it, and my face is pointed directly at it.

When you read a book you dont keep your head/eyes pointed directly forward, so why do you think you would have to in order to use a webcam?

Think about it for a minute instead of rushing to Steve's side.

 

[wovel]

rumored specs released. Weighs less than the iPad. The only downside I see is the battery life but that is still longer than my mbp. Also I am curious to how the UI will compare.

http://gizmodo.com/5510143/hp-slate-specs-leaked-compared-to-ipad-in-hp-internal-presentation

Specs will be more compelling when they can actually show a photograph of the device.

Matt

 

[7xovr]

Why must you hold it up? You can lay it on your lap and still look directly at the camera. Your neck does bend right?

I'm holding a dvd case on my lap, slightly angled upward as if i were reading it, and my face is pointed directly at it.

When you read a book you dont keep your head/eyes pointed directly forward, so why do you think you would have to in order to use a webcam?

Think about it for a minute instead of rushing to Steve's side.

Not really defending Apple here, im talking about me and my preferences in a device. So far as reading on a tablet you can do that with all of them as they are, that was not the point of my comment. If I have a teleconference with a friend or for work, I do not want the tablet on my lap angled a certain way looking up my nose or me looking down at the person. THis is why laptops have the camera angled in a way in which you are looking directly at it. A tablet could not accomplish this without a stand of some sort, or a mobile camera that was not built into it's frame.

As I said in my previous post, im not sure if Apple considered this factors or not in the IPads development nor do I care. I have a camera on my laptop and cellphone. if I want to do a pic I do it through my phone and transfer to my laptop for editing, if I want to vidchat I do it with my laptop. I don't need a camera on another device. It's nice to have, but for ME i'd prefer on my tablet it be a separate device that I can set up and use my tablet only to see the other person.

 

[corriewf]

Actually I think placing a cam on a tablet is not the best idea, its not because it's not cool, it's practicality. Example, you have to hold the tablet in your hand, most times looking down at it to do work or whatever you do. Well, if you want to have a video conference with someone, you have to prop up the whole device or hold it in both hands at eye level, your hands will get tierd and your body will of course shake a bit with the tablet in that position. I am all for a camera, but please make it an attachment, so I can plug it into my IPAD or HP SLate or whatever tablet, and place it somewhere static. It's just more effeciant that way. I don't wanna say Apple didnt think of this or they did and that's why it's not in the IPad, I just say for my sanity and im sure others would agree, make the camera a $40 add on or something.

Well in general use it would be stupid, but I would like to take a pic of a document and convert it to pdf so I can send it to someone... Also the front cam for video messaging is great.

 

[Davidkoh]

You can replace a netbook with a Slate, but the Slate doesn't bring anything more than a netbook besides the touchscreen and lighter weight. Compared to a good netbook it has a lower res screen, poorer battery life (it's not going to get 5 hours considering an equivalent netbook with the same size battery gets max 4 hours), slower typing speed (because of the touchscreen), etc...So besides the tablet form factor, there isn't really any reason to replace your netbook with a Slate. I would just keep the netbook unless you want to cut your weight in half (3 to 1.5 lbs).

There are a miilion things a netbook can do that the iPad can't, but at least there are some things the iPad can do that are better than a netbook. 1st: instant on with good battery. You can put the slate to sleep, but it's still not instant on, and battery still drains at a measurable rate. 2nd: App speed. The equivalent program runs faster on an iPad because of the lack of multitasking, and a lot less background threads in the iPhone OS compared to Windows. From the off state, I can quickly turn the iPad on, open a browser, go to google, type in a question, and get a result back in about 5-6 seconds beginning to end (I just timed it myself). You'll be lucky to do it in 30 seconds on a netbook even without a cold start browser. I can name other advantages, but you get the picture.

Also, if I wanted to run Windows or OSX apps or flash programs (minus video) on my iPad, I just use VNC or Remote desktop. That way I let my desktop do all the processing. It might be slow over 3G, but it's pretty smooth over wifi if you have a good connection.

I like how you take **** out of your ass. "it's not going to get 5 hours considering an equivalent netbook with the same size battery gets max 4 hours", show me proof of it actually not getting 5 hours, otherwise its just your own guesses.

A netbook is pretty "instant on" if you use a good SSD in it, also without SSD in sleep my gf is losing about 4% of battery overnight, and I've gotten reports of the iPad doing the same.

I can agree that the iPad is better if all you do is go "I gotta google this!" and then google that and turn it off, but once you are actually going to do something else besides just surf a bit you might to be outperformed by something that multitasks.

And no, Apps will not run faster on the iPad, the iPad can't even run most of the programs. The iPad runs mobile phone games, thats it. If you want to run a real game made for a computer you can't.

And VNC to a desktop cannot replace the need for a computer, it might be enough to program some or work in a text editor, but apart from that, no. Also, what if you are on vaccation and your house has a power blackout, then you are totally cut off from doing many tasks.

 

[ImperialX]

I'd love to praise the HP Slate, but seriously, that thing is running Windows 7. No matter how much more powerful the hardware is compared to the iPad, the HP Slate is NOT running an OS full dedicated to Multi-touch, and the apps it runs will be designed for the MOUSE, and not for your fingers.

There's no way this will provide a true tablet experience like the iPad does.

 

[Davidkoh]

I'd love to praise the HP Slate, but seriously, that thing is running Windows 7. No matter how much more powerful the hardware is compared to the iPad, the HP Slate is NOT running an OS full dedicated to Multi-touch, and the apps it runs will be designed for the MOUSE, and not for your fingers.

There's no way this will provide a true tablet experience like the iPad does.

I agree, I would like it to run OS X, not windows. But as long as they incorporate mouse movement and clicking good (by looking at the 2 finger to right click on the MBP) I think it could be decent. I'd rather buy the Slate then knowing that when I'm going out to school/vaccation or whatever I don't have to bring both my tablet and a laptop. With the iPad I would have to, with the Slate I wouldn't. I just learned that the iPad don't even have a camera, so photographing handouts in school to add to my note taking would require me to bring a camera too.

I can't say anything about how good the Slate will be with the touch screen and how good their custom UI will make Windows work. But we will see, I won't buy one if it's badly made, but it doesn't have to be .

 

[ravenvii]

I agree that the fact that this is based on Windows 7 makes it unappealing to me - I have gone to a developers' workshop for Windows 7 where they demo'd the multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7, and let me tell you it ain't pretty.

Yes, HP has built a nice slick GUI on top of Windows 7 that utilizes multi-touch, but the true power of the tablet comes from Windows 7 (in other words, if you want to use programs beyond what HP provides, you have to use Windows 7).

This is the best-looking Windows 7 tablet I've seen so far, no question. So if you *really* want a Windows 7 tablet, this is the product for you. Me, on the other hand, do not, so I got the iPad instead

Nothing wrong with that.

 

[mosx]

Windows 7 + 1GB of RAM + Atom CPU = fail.

Let's not forget that Windows 7 was designed for a "desktop" environment a hardware significantly more powerful than the Atom, which is essentially a low power and overclocked Pentium 1.

The HP Slate is using desktop hardware with desktop software wrapped in a touchscreen UI.

The iPad is a touchscreen device built from the ground up, both hardware and software, to be touchscreen.

And, again, let's go back to the hardware. It's an Atom processor with 1GB of RAM. It's running Windows 7. That means that it will be running desktop apps. Now, as much as I like iTunes, have you ever paid attention to how much RAM it uses? Or how much memory browsers use? I have Firefox open with 1 tab right now. It's using 113MB of RAM. I have iTunes open. It's using 75MB of RAM. I just scrolled through my entire music library using "album" view and that shot up to 280MB of RAM.

By running a desktop OS known for being a resource hog and by running full desktop apps, that 1GB of RAM is going to show its limitations instantly, while most users will never notice the RAM limitation with the iPad.

 

[Davidkoh]

I agree that the fact that this is based on Windows 7 makes it unappealing to me - I have gone to a developers' workshop for Windows 7 where they demo'd the multi-touch capabilities of Windows 7, and let me tell you it ain't pretty.

Yes, HP has built a nice slick GUI on top of Windows 7 that utilizes multi-touch, but the true power of the tablet comes from Windows 7 (in other words, if you want to use programs beyond what HP provides, you have to use Windows 7).

This is the best-looking Windows 7 tablet I've seen so far, no question. So if you *really* want a Windows 7 tablet, this is the product for you. Me, on the other hand, do not, so I got the iPad instead

Nothing wrong with that.

I wonder, it might be that you can install Apps so you launch em from the custom GUI. In the demos so far you can see iTunes and firefox items. Ofcourse you are on your own when you start them.

I hate windows, I really do. The problem I have is that I hate iPhone OS more when it comes to doing anything more then "googeling". So it comes down to choosing the lesser of two evils . I will atleast keep the question open until the Slate comes, they might have actually made something work with windows, although it would be one of the first times

By running a desktop OS known for being a resource hog and by running full desktop apps, that 1GB of RAM is going to show its limitations instantly, while most users will never notice the RAM limitation with the iPad.

That's just because they cannot run more then 1 app at once. My jailbroken iPhone using a radio streaming application uses ALL the memory, when I put it in background and start Safari, memory runs out and it closes the radio streaming application. I can listen and check my mail, or use ebuddy, but loading safari would require more memory then the iPhone have.

 

[supplieripad]

ok I get the whole webcam thing, but why would you want to take photos or videos with a tablet...that just looks weird. The HP Slate is really thick, and I'm sure that the response times will not get close to the iPad, I won't even bother to tell you about the battery life differences.

 

[Davidkoh]

ok I get the whole webcam thing, but why would you want to take photos or videos with a tablet...that just looks weird. The HP Slate is really thick, and I'm sure that the response times will not get close to the iPad, I won't even bother to tell you about the battery life differences.

Well, as I said, say that you are in school getting a handout with some graphs or datasets on, would be really convenient to just photograph that paper and put it in your document with your notes.

We will see how it looks when its released, im not saying it will be good, im saying that Spec wise it looks appealing. But that is usually the case when comparing Mac to PCs, but Mac always wins usually

 

[corriewf]

Yeah the camera can be nice for taking a pic of a form or document and converting to pdf for field input etc.

You guys that say a system used with a mouse is not made for touch. Maybe windows 7 gestures suck, I have not had that problem, BUT your finger IS the mouse. Anything that uses a mouse can use a finger as a replacement. You could make the iphone use an IR trackball and remove touch and it would work, although your games wouldn't be as fun. The mouse argument is a tad overdone. Look at the Nexus One or the HTC's that use trackball that acts like a mouse.

If you have used an HP Touchsmart on *gasp* Windows 7 you will quickly find out it's quite nice. Although it is not as smooth as the Iphone as it uses a different tech for touchscreen ( not capacitive ) on the Touchsmart, it is very functional. Want to right click something? You hold done your finger for 2 seconds and a circle forms that brings up a right click menu. It brings up a nice keyboard when you tap on a field that requires text. It is quite nice. I have no doubt the HP Slate will be nice and smooth.