HP releasing $799 Slate 500 to take on iPad in tablet market - Page 3

I can see HP selling some of these but barely touching iPad sales. I can imagine there being a few in business for whom the Windows on a Tablet would hold appeal, but relatively few in the consumer marketplace.

Interesting that they have gone for 8.9" - bit narrower than the iPad - but a similar resolution - in some ways this is a company lining up behind what SJ said: that 9-10" is a better size for a tablet, rather than the 7" "half size" others are brining to market.

Isn't that exciting?!!

I don't see why people would buy this over a laptop/netbook? W7 may have some touch feature to it but it is still built to be used with a mouse and keyboard.

Until MS builds an OS that is touch based from the ground up, it just doesn't work. At least for me.

Did you see the part about a whole extra slide out panel to display the paper stick on license MS insist is there on all pre installed Windows machines? How 21st Century eh?

This thing has a USB port. Does that mean you can go to any cell provider and get an aircard for your data? If you can that plugs a huge hole in the iPad's garden wall. AT&T is not everywhere, and if your a business in an AT&T dead zone, that USB port could make it an attractive option.

What is there a business will want? Sorry, if it costs more, it should have more; atm it just looks like a squeeze job rather than a tailored job. They didn't have a comparable OS specifically designed for a Tablet form, so they squeezed in the only thing they had available which was W7. Unfortunately for them, this had higher hardware requirements which cost more to put in and suck power greedily. As for the stylus, I had one of these on my Compaq iPaq personal organiser, and it was a pain to use and easy to lose; strangely I find my fingers harder to misplace somehow.

How much space will be left over after W7 and MS Office are loaded? You're probably looking at a maximum of 32 Gb of 'free' space and less than half a day of battery power for $100 more... which is not what businesses want. The only thing the HP Slate adds is a USB port... As for companies developing in house apps for it, these will take far more effort than iPad apps to create.

At the end of the day though, it's the cost the businesses will baulk at.

I suspect it won't work for many people. I predict Zune type sales. In fact probably the same people.

I am trying to imagine dealing with all those pop ups from anti-virus, the Windows OS and updates etc. while three copies if IE open because you were shaking with anger when you tapped the stylus ...

I can see a slew of 3rd party add ons ... first a piece of string with duct tape either end for the stylus.

No, really. Can one of you tech guys let me know if this will let office run on this device? Seriously.

If it is running Windows why not? All done with a stylus.... the multi-gesture functions like pinching to zoom etc. might be a bit difficult though!

HP + Business = Vertical integrated markets.
HP is a BIG business consultant and services provider. Very big in the medical field - hospitals.
This tablet will be great to put digital medical records and such on. Last time I was in a hospital, there were PCs on wheeled podiums all over the place that the nurses & doctors used to look up records, etc. Put those apps on a tablet like this.

IF HP can muster the will to write some industry specific apps that use the touch UI well then this'll be a profitable hit. If they just take the podium PC UI and glom it onto the slate, they'll fail.

They aren't targeting the personal user. They don't have the OS or UI skills for that.

- Jasen.

Ugh, the straw man arguments and whining never cease.

1. Who said there was anything "wrong" with Windows 7?
2. The pretentious condescension about "fanboys" is especially played and boring, especially on a blog like this one. Yawn.
3. You are agreeing what part of this guy's comment? That Windows 7 isn't "wrong?" Or that "fanboys" exist?

Put pressure on Apple to throw in a stylus? iPad is slow? Have you used one? Slower than running a full Windows 7 on an Atom CPU? Has anyone seen a picture showing a virtual keyboard?

What is exactly in this product that Apple might feel compelled to compete against? It may be a more capable device but it is less useable than the iPad, has a smaller screen with lower resolution and costs more. The fact is no blue blooded Windows user would buy this "slate" over a netbook, which is cheaper and easier to use. They will be giving them away at conferences to developers, journalists, and employees.

put him on ignore list and spare us seeing his trolling

o.k. so I'll revolutionize my company with this?

You guys tell me how bad apple is. I might as well give my guys something that will integrate with our systems.

I like reading your posts. Thank you very much!

An attractive option for whom, exactly?

So let me get this straight: You think people will opt for this bloated keyboard-less netbook because it has a USB port, and thus will then go out and buy a USB wireless card for 3G access. Then what? Surf?

Damn that thing looks sweet!



I'll be very interested in the actual hands-on reviews. Until we see them, we know basically nothing except that it has GREAT specs. It should be VERY fast with all that RAM and that sweet processor.

Hardware wise, it looks like a great product. One could even say it's better hardware than the iPad. Windows 7, from what I've heard, is a nice product. Everyone I've spoken to says its leaps and bounds better than XP and Vista. Price wise, it's in the ballpark...and probably aimed at the right market.

But this kind of product demonstrates the real failure of the Windows/Microsoft ecosystem. It's not an integrated system. It's two systems that are made to run together (even if they do so quite well). In the Mac vs. PC world that existed up until, say, 2007...the PC had a least a compelling argument. People and businesses basically looked at their computers as a two part system comprised of hardware and software. Microsoft did a fantastic job of making their software run on nearly every system, and Windows became ubiquitous. As went Windows, so too did the PC market.

Now though, the game has changed. The iPad is not hardware and software...it's a product unto itself (as is the iPhone). It's more than the sum of its parts and is a real "game changer," so to speak. This has already happened with consumers, as more and more people want an integrated product like the iPad and iPhone. The software and hardware work together seamlessly as one. While this was and is true of the Mac, the game was different then. We Mac users sung the same praises, but much of the market was still stuck in 1996-like thing. Now we have something in which the hardware and software essentially CANNOT be separated.

I think that next step is that businesses are going to start seeing value in Apple's "closed" system, just as consumers have. That, in short, is why I think products like this are going to fail--or at least "not succeed fully."

"run on this device"(1) and "run smooth enough to actaually be usable on a tablet"(2) are NOT the same.

So, 1. Yes, Office will run,
2. You guessed it - no.

According to Reuters, the HP Slate 500 will fit a full-version of Windows 7 into a 1.5 pound tablet with an 8.9-inch multi-touch screen and a 5-hour battery life. With 64GB of Flash storage, the device is $100 more than the comparable 64GB iPad. The tablet will reportedly have a 1024-by-600-pixel resolution.

"bring kinect technology 'back to pc'" - Now that is a very good idea! We already have folks looking like schizophrenics talking to themselves while on their bluetooth earpieces. Soon we'll be seeing them do the Ballmer dance every time they want to type an email in their tablet PCs.

Sarcasm, right?

I don't know. How do I find out? Do I have to hire one of those "tech" guys you speak about?

Competition is good, but this is not really competing with the iPad. Sure, they are both considered tablets, but I cant many people hemming and hawing over an tablet designed from the ground up for the HW and a tablet that was sandwiched a desktop OS designed mainly much faster HW into a tablet form. I think HPs WebOS tablets offer much more potential considering the fit and form of their HP Slate HW. Who knows, maybe HP can learn to be a good OS/SW developer. Thats the competition that we really need in the market.



He seems to forget that the iPad has a 3G option. He also seems to have forgotten that any vendor can access the 30-pin connector which uses USB signaling.

I can create an excel spreadsheet and send it to you from my iPhone.

I won't tell you how either.

Polish a Turd, its still a Turd

Why would you install "a full version of windows"? It includes a lot of drivers and other stuff that would be inapplicable.

My guess is that like every other OEM, they will install a version of Windows that is certain to work perfectly with the hardware, but which excludes unnecessary pieces. Generally, you can set up Windows to keep the unnecessary, but potentially useful pieces compressed and uninstalled. The stuff that is unnecessary takes up little or no space.

WRT Office, it too is modular, and you can install only what you use. Most people use Outlook and Word. A few mid-level types use powerpoint.

Do people in the business world need to use the internet when they are on the road? I bet they do. If they operate in a portion of the word that has poor ATT coverage, then yes, this product might be a viable option.

So the iPad can work with Verizon and Sprint and T-Mobile? Didn't know that. Thanks for the update.

I didn't really understand it before, but now i think I know what "Fan Boy" means.

Very good question. Help us out please....

If you want to run Windows 7 on your PC, here's what it takes:
1 gigahertz (GHz) or faster 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor.
1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32-bit) or 2 GB RAM (64-bit).
16 GB available hard disk space (32-bit) or 20 GB (64-bit).
DirectX 9 graphics device with WDDM 1.0 or higher driver.
Additional requirements to use certain features:
Internet access (fees may apply).
Depending on resolution, video playback may require additional memory and advanced graphics hardware.
Some games and programs might require a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10 or higher for optimal performance.
For some Windows Media Center functionality a TV tuner and additional hardware may be required.
Windows Touch and Tablet PCs require specific hardware.
HomeGroup requires a network and PCs running Windows 7.
DVD/CD authoring requires a compatible optical drive.
BitLocker requires Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 1.2.
BitLocker To Go requires a USB flash drive.
Windows XP Mode requires an additional 1 GB of RAM and an additional 15 GB of available hard disk space.
Music and sound require audio output.
Product functionality and graphics may vary based on your system configuration. Some features may require advanced or additional hardware.

PCs with multi-core processors:
Windows 7 was designed to work with today's multi-core processors. All 32-bit versions of Windows 7 can support up to 32 processor cores, while 64‑bit versions can support up to 256 processor cores.

PCs with multiple processors (CPUs):
Commercial servers, workstations, and other high-end PCs may have more than one physical processor. Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate allow for two physical processors, providing the best performance on these computers. Windows 7 Starter, Home Basic, and Home Premium will recognize only one physical processor.

Yeah, and this place is full of them. That's the problem here.

Are you under the impression that the iPad is popular in enterprise contexts? I have seen zero evidence for that.

Got any examples?

Be happy to. Apple has absolutely no business chaining the iPad to AT&T's 3G network. You might be able to justify this in the phone space, but the iPad is not a phone and it should have been open to every carrier from day one. To do otherwise is monolithic and I think we have enough of that in this business.

Put a USB port and let users get the best service for the area of the planet they work in. Do that and anyone can buy an iPad and use it in the Enterprise space.

Any questions class?

As a buisnes owner, and you know what your talking about, will this run my office software? It's a simple question, and I'm sure you have a lot of answers, but I just need a yes or no. You're the guys that know what's up with this stuff. My guys are using excell on their iPad. Should I buy more of them, or this? It's windows, so it should work with everything else I have right?

I wouldn't go so far as to claim that there is nothing wrong with it.

But the fact is, it works great. It does everything folks want to do, easily and seamlessly. It is compatible with the vast majority of PC software now being written. Choices, choices.

The software choices alone make it the only OS worth considering. The hardware choices are icing on the cake.

"Dance for us, Monkey boy! Dance!" is a typical response to a technological breakthrough by M$.

Uh, you can have a positive balance sheet in a given quarter... that doesn't mean it has compensated for the years of astronomical losses.

Yes, look at this quarter, or even the last half dozen, and you may see MS have just about sold more Xboxes than have been returned. Ooooh, it's in the green!

Look at the overall product, though, and it has still lost money. Tons. Need links? Just add up all the quarterly reports -- with the real bottom lines.

Apple just had a quarterly call to analysts. Looking at the iPad:
Apple gets a lot out of its R&D budget. Much more than MS. You can take Apple's TOTAL R&D budget for the last several years if you like (iPad and everything else as well). Take estimated operating and material costs for the ramp up in production for X millions of units for the two or three months leading up to launch early this year. Add all these millions up.

Now look at the revenue that Apple just announced for the last two quarters on the iPad alone (when they sold a million or so in the first week!). Those several billions of revenue probably covers ALL the costs listed above! When Apple says they have 4 Billion in profit this quarter, and put billions away in the bank -- it is because they already dealt with all their costs. They aren't shifting things around from previous years or quarters. They have no losses or debts that they have to cover with revenue from other areas of their business. I bet the iPad is, actually, profitable already; and it is only six months old.

I believe that when MS says the Xbox is now "making money" it is because it is comparing its current revenue to its current costs. Heck, they don't have to manufacture any in the current quarter -- they have a bunch of unsold stock in the channels! So, of course, ANY that they sell (after they take off all the returned ones) are free and clear...at least as far as figures are concerned for the current quarter. MS also has to sell some at good margins to cover all the loss leaders and discounted units. Apple doesn't have to worry about margins on ANY single unit of ANY of its products; Apple runs a tight ship from start to finish and plans ahead. The debts and losses on the Xbox [edit] in the past will have been covered by the enormous profits they were getting in their profitable businesses like Office. If their profits are similar now, and they have no current Xbox losses to cover, I guess it means they are selling less of their profitable products.

Simply put, from different things I have read, I think the Xbox has, overall, cost MS more than it has made MS, to date. But of course MS is not going to come right out and say that or make that easy to add up (just as Apple doesn't break out individual products sometimes). It's like the Channel Tunnel -- you can say it is making a positive operating profit right now... but that does not erase the years of bad debt, re-financing, losses, and complete hole that it was for many years because it went over budget and was mis-managed.

Edit: If you put the quarterly results side by side (and I am just making this up, so don't quote me), just for fun, you might have gotten something like this for several years:

Apple -- 20 billion in revenue, 4 billion of that is profit.
Break it out: 1 billion profit from Mac, 1 from iPhone, 1 from iPod, 1 from iPad.

MS -- 20 billion in revenue, 4 billion of that is profit.
Break it out: 8 billion in profit from Windows and Office (afterall it doesn't cost a lot to generate license numbers for OEM's), minus 4 Billion from assorted losses and bungling and crazy marketing schemes that try to disguise the same old stuff with new names.

11 Gigs is insignificant in today's world. Disk space is cheap.

I guess my problem is that I thought I would get answers here. I'm better off calling tech support. My server is Microsoft though... My guys are using IPads. I don't think my answers will be great.