HP Launches New Slate 500 Tablet via Website
Email
Print
HP is positioning its Slate in a different category than Apple's iPad, which it considers a "media-oriented tablet" for consumers.
SAN FRANCISCO--Hewlett-Packard started selling its long-awaited new Slate 500 tablet portable computer on its Website early on Oct. 22. Some earlier reports had the devices becoming available on Oct. 25. HP, which priced the new 6-inch-by-9-inch device at $799, is positioning it in a different category than Apple's iPad, which it considers a "media-oriented tablet" for consumers: The Slate runs Windows 7 and is aimed squarely at the business market.
"You
won't be able to buy this at retail," HP Personal Systems Group PR
Manager Mike Hockey told eWEEK. "We're making it available
strictly on our Website, because we're looking at it as a
business-type device."
The docking station adds two more USB 2.0 ports when in use, plus an HDMI output and a second headphone/microphone jack. The company claims the tablet's battery gets up to five hours of service. Under the hood, the Slate boasts a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor, 2GB of RAM, 64GB of NAND flash storage, and a Broadcom Crystal HD chip for HD video playback on the 8.9-inch, 1024x600 display. "The Slate is really a fully functional PC, only in a tablet form factor," HP director of Business Notebook Marketing Carol Hess-Nickels told eWEEK. It comes preloaded with Microsoft Office 2010 and Evernote productivity and organizational software. "It will run all your office applications. We see it really for business users because most people, for example, just don't make a habit of using spread sheets at home," Hess-Nickels said. The Slate comes with direct WiFi access but has no built-in capability to connect to other high-speed 3G or 4G networks, as do the iPad, Dell Streak and Samsung Galaxy Tab. Click here to read an eWEEK review of the HP Slate 500.
The HP Slate 500 package includes a docking station (at right)
and a soft-cover protective carrying case. The unit itself is narrower
and slightly lighter than an iPAD. (eWEEK photo by Chris
Preimesberger) 
Chris Preimesberger was named Editor-in-Chief of Features & Analysis at eWEEK in November 2011. Previously he served eWEEK as Senior Writer, covering a range of IT sectors that include data center systems, cloud computing, storage, virtualization, green IT, e-discovery and IT governance. His blog, Storage Station, is considered a go-to information source. Chris won a national Folio Award for magazine writing in November 2011 for a cover story on Salesforce.com and CEO-founder Marc Benioff, and he has served as a judge for the SIIA Codie Awards since 2005. In previous IT journalism, Chris was a founding editor of both IT Manager's Journal and DevX.com and was managing editor of Software Development magazine. His diverse resume also includes: sportswriter for the Los Angeles Daily News, covering NCAA and NBA basketball, television critic for the Palo Alto Times Tribune, and Sports Information Director at Stanford University. He has served as a correspondent for The Associated Press, covering Stanford and NCAA tournament basketball, since 1983. He has covered a number of major events, including the 1984 Democratic National Convention, a Presidential press conference at the White House in 1993, the Emmy Awards (three times), two Rose Bowls, the Fiesta Bowl, several NCAA men's and women's basketball tournaments, a Formula One Grand Prix auto race, a heavyweight boxing championship bout (Ali vs. Spinks, 1978), and the 1985 Super Bowl. A 1975 graduate of Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., Chris has won more than a dozen regional and national awards for his work. He and his wife, Rebecca, have four children and reside in Redwood City, Calif.Follow on Twitter: editingwhiz
