Internal HP Document Admits Slate Tablet is Like Comparing Oranges to iPad’s Apple

John Brownlee ()

Internal HP Document Admits Slate Tablet is Like Comparing Oranges to iPad’s Apple

Well, it’s official: as rumored, HP’s own would-be iPad killer, the Slate, is basically just a keyboard-less netbook turned inside out.

In fact, it’s such a underwhelming, bog standard effort compared to the iPad that in a leaked internal document, HP saw fit to highlight the iPad’s advantages over the Slate in red.

Compared to the iPad, the Slate has a tiny, 8.9 inch display packing a WSVGA, 1024 X 600 resolution, and its WiFi maxes out at 802.11 b/g without any N support in sight. Moreover, its battery life is halved over the iPad’s, and even the cheapest Slate costs $50 more than the iPad (albeit for 32GB of internal storage).

That’s not to say it’s all in the iPad’s favor: those who value USB connectivity and expandable storage will prefer the Slate, and 3G capability comes without a boost in price. The Slate also has both front and rear-mounted webcams for video conferencing, which is a depressing omission in the iPad’s feature list made all the more inexplicable given the empty iSight slot built into the iPad’s frame. It also supports a stylus or pen digitizer… but if you want to use one with your iPhone, most people can probably get by with a pocket full of sausages.

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I have to give credit to HP here: this internal sheet indicates that they are very well aware of their device’s strengths and shortcomings when compared to the iPad, and are prepared to market to them.

That said, perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the Slate is its choice of Windows 7 as the operating system. HP has chosen not to highlight it, but it bears repeating: Windows 7”s multitouch support is a last minute hack, and simply can not compare to an operating system that has been built from the ground up with finger navigability in mind.

22 comments »

About the author

John BrownleeJohn Brownlee is news editor here at Cult of Mac, and has also written about a lot of things for a lot of different places, including Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, Gizmodo, Kotaku, Lifehacker, AMC, Geek and the Consumerist. He lives in Cambridge with his charming inamorata and a tiny budgerigar punningly christened after Nabokov's most famous pervert. You can follow him here on Twitter.

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Posted in Hardware, News |

  • Obsidian

    I’ve got to say, even as an Apple fan, I would probably prefer the Slate. I’m having a hard time finding a use for the iPad.

  • Dustni

    While on paper this device looks good, i don’t think its going to do so well because of the experience. I just have a feeling doing things on the Slate will be bad. But who knows, maybe i will be wrong.

  • http://ObamaPacman.com ObamaPacman

    AKA. HP is good with photoshop and comparing magic unicorn to an existing product.

  • yargo

    typo:
    … those who value USB connectivity and expandable storage will prefer the iPad

  • Giogio

    You miss something speaking of the s.o.
    It is not only windows 7 but windows 7 + HP touch optmized UI, that is some sort of superimposed touch interface like the ones, unusable and creepy, of windows mobile.
    So it is something very very odd compared to iphone os.
    Think also to ipad’s apps, developed for touch, compared to slate’s apps developed for windows 7 and running on windows 7 + a never seen superimposed touch UI.
    And the app store?
    All in all I wonder if there is something that is really comparable between the two devices.
    It is not that the HP is worse it is that two completely different objects and a comparison does not make sense at all.
    The hardware can be similar but the software is so completely different …

  • Christian

    I have high hopes for this device, but I just noticed the 1 GB non-upgradeable RAM… that’s very little ram… I have 2 GB on my HP netbook…

  • http://sugarcane.es Sugarcane

    I think with the first release Apple wanted the price to be as competitive as they could make it. The iSight will be added to the second generation units as the cost of making the iPad comes down in price – this is the way Apple have always worked.

    I work as a mac technician and I love Apple stuff, and am looking forward to having the iPad for home internet surfing and so forth. I am worried about the locked nature of the device though: the app store was a great idea for the iPhone, but really, for a tablet computer I don’t want Apple dictating what programs I can and can’t use.

    There’s no getting around the fact that the iPad does look seriously cool…

  • http://www.metrokids.ca Conrad

    I think what the world seems giddy to overlook is that a 1.6GHz 1GB RAM computer is running Windows 7! Touch or no touch you need a virus scanner, this thing is going to be SOOOOOOOOO slow inside of 6 months it will boggle the mind. My 2.0GHz 1GM RAM desktop took about 3 months or so to slow down with XP installed. I switch to Ubuntu 9.10 and I couldn’t be happier. Can this slate have Ubuntu installed on it?

    Also, how’s the virtual keyboard co-exist with the classic desktop UI on that thing? Pretty well I assume with only 600px in height! And people say the iPad’s keyboard dominates the screen, let’s see how well HP’s fares.

    To say I’m underwhelmed is an understatement.

  • Xavier

    Funny as always. HP recognizes eventual issues, and Apple fanboys publish Apple fanboys articles. Anyway…
    HP adresses all iPad issues. Flash and multitasking (Windows7), webcam and USB connector. The things that drive many people away from the iPad, in my case the absence of webcam and USB connector, are on the Slate.
    Now, the real issues of the Slate are Windows7, which will without a doubt be much less user friendly than iPhoneOS, and the battery life. To me, the battery life is the main issue. 10 or 5 hours means a huge change in usability. Given HP battery have 20% more power than the iPad ones, this speaks a lot on the power consumption of the Atom compared to the Arm-based A4 of Apple. If the Slate does not reach at least 8h (normal day usage), then it will also be a no-go for me and I’ll still wait for a real netbook replacement…

  • Annon.

    I wouldn’t bag on this machine just yet. Yes, there is more hoopla regarding the ipad but the HP hardware IS better. (Why no cameras, apple? Waiting for version 2.0?) What makes or breaks these devices – really any consumer appliance – is the interface. Apple’s phone, ipod, and now the ipad are consumer appliances. We expect them to be intuitive and easy to use. HP had better understand this and make the ‘experience’, that is, their UI built onto windows 7, a homerun. Otherwise this will only be a niche player.

  • Clown

    Why would anyone want a Windows-based slate? It’s not the first one, and there’s no strong reason for it to be the first to actually succeed. Windows simply isn’t meant for touch input. All that minimizing, maximizing, file management, window and file dragging… I imagine it’s quite accident prone, as you accidentally touch the wrong button, and delete something sensitive.

  • charli

    this device is for a different audience. Just like the ipad and the iphone are for different audiences. the catch is whether that audience is big enough to sustain the slate and if they get it out on the market in time to catch the folks that are in the borderland where either device could work.

    I have several friends that are like “I have an iphone and a notebook, why should I get an ipad.” and I tell them they shouldn’t. They have no need for it. But I don’t have an iphone and my computer is a desktop. And the reason I would get an iphone is for the email etc so for me the ipad with the larger screen and no contract on the 3g (if I go that way) is viable.

  • markbyrn

    I have divided loyalties; use PCs with Windows 7 for my desktop/laptop needs and Apple for the mobile devices including the new ipad. Sorry to say, I can’t see Windows 7 existing on a tablet and not becoming a major problem considering the need for virus/malware software and regular OS maintenance tasks. How will you bring up the task manager without a ctrl-alt-del? :)

    To be fair, I wouldn’t of bought the ipad if it used Mac OS – putting a desktop type OS on these type of mobile devices is nuts – it’s like using a shoe as a glove.

  • Steve

    They forgot about iPhone OS. They forgot about the Apps.
    They forgot about iTunes. The stores. The look & feel.
    Apple’s marketing. A pad is not about the hardware, HP!

  • Zotz

    In the Slate we can imagine the kind of product Apple should have introduced: a full OS X tablet. As delivered, the iPad will find life as a game toy, book reader, web surfer, movie viewer, home theater remote, or sales tool in a studio, but little else we could consider serious. As a tablet computer, it’s a colossal misfire.

    Perhaps Apple *IS* planning a full OS X tablet for next year, and is simply testing the market earlier and more cheaply with a simple growth of its existing multi-touch product line. Until then, you’ll only get a complete computer experience on Windows tablet.

  • http://www.metrokids.ca Conrad

    “iPad will find life as a game toy, book reader, web surfer, movie viewer, home theater remote, or sales tool in a studio, but little else we could consider serious.”

    What are you, daft?

    “Game Toy” – The video game industry is a multi-billion-dollar-per-year industry! Just look at Nintendo!

    “Book Reader” – Like the Kindle, or Nook? This is the future of book reading. Textbook publishers are already getting on board. This could become a vital tool in the educational system.

    “Web Surfer” – ‘Cause hardly anyone uses the intertubes, right? It’s not like EVERY PENNY GOOGLE HAS EVER MADE IS FROM THE INTERNET.

    “Movie Viewer” – Once again, a dying medium. Just ask Paramount, Universal, Disney, WB, and New Line. Movies are all but dead.

    “Home Theatre Remote” – Use your imagination, man! Picture this thing linked wirelessly to your MacBook or iMac or Home Theatre or Guitar Rig, etc. This could be intense! Imagine how effectively you could use applications like TeamViewer or LogMeIn to control a WHOLE desktop experience over WiFi or 3G to have access to an entire OS (and the hardware attached to that desktop computer) and the iPad only needs to use it’s processor to run the GUI. Amazing! This could easily replace a laptop if you have a full desktop computer.

    And that’s just the stuff you mentioned. This is a bag a win. I am excited to get one when it’s release in Canada.

  • IcyFog

    Hypothetically, let’s say the Slate’s touch interface wasn’t a hack, and that it had just as many apps as the iPad.
    Literally the advantages I see are just three – cameras, more memory, and 3G isn’t a premium.
    Given all that, the iPad is still the clear winner because the Slate runs Windows.
    Produce a Slate that runs Linux, and I might bite. One with Windows, no way.

  • Lars Pallesen

    I’ve been told several times by Windows fanboys how great it will be to have a “real desktop OS” on a slate, like the HP Slate. “Windows 7 is prepared for a touch interface”, they keep telling me. Well, that’s good and all, but what about the applications you’re going to run on the slate? What good is it gonna do you that the OS is “touch friendly” if the software running on it, isn’t? How will these Windows tablets handle multitouch in MS programmes like IE, Word, Excel, Outlook, Powerpoint etc. ? Not to mention all the non-MS Windows programmes?

    Can anybody clarify how the “touchfriendly” features supposedly inherent in Windows7 will make standard windows programmes fit for a touch interface?

  • Nationalmaverick

    Seriously? I have $12,000 worth of apple shit within arms reach right now but you think the slate is “such a underwhelming, bog standard effort compared to the iPad” because your completely oblivious to usefulness over having an apple logo, seriously its just fucking hilariously biased to say that the slate, which seems to have at least TRIPLE the hardware and software functionality of the iPad, is “bog standard”.

    THE IPAD IS A FUCKING BIG IPHONE, Rail against the issue all you will be in terms of design, they didnt even have a fucking brain storming session, they just said “make it bigger but dont add a single thing”

  • murphysm

    Funny how HP highlights their 1080p playback capability. Only way it could do that is via output to an HD tv since in device it can’t even playback 720p content (only 600 pixel high resolution).

    If the slate wasn’t running Win7 I would seriously consider waiting for it. The expansion slot and two cameras intrigue me. I think I’ll stick with the iPhone OS. I think it works great and haven’t found a lack of a specific app. We’ll see what I say when I play with the iPad/buy one. Might change my mind.

  • ILoveGadgets

    I concur with Steve’s comments. There are different audiences for these 2 products. I tried the netbook when it came out because I was looking for a consumption device that wouldn’t limit me to sitting in a particular spot. I didn’t work as I had hoped. Plus I much prefer my MBP over my Windows laptop due to the differences in interaction between the 2 systems. I work in IT and over the years I grew so tired of coming home to do more of the same work activities like maintaining the bloody thing yet I still love the fun aspects that a computer offers. For me the iPad is terrific and have been waiting a very, very long time for such a device. About 10 years. As such, the Slate won’t be a fit for what I have been looking for. When I think about how I will actually, physically interact with the device, it will still be too much like a netbook. It doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with either device. It truly is apples and oranges.

  • Wrigsnipe

    Look all I have to say is I have an iPad and yes I’m writing this on it and I will get the hp slate for one thing only and that is to change the OS and put ubuntu netbook version on it because it has the touch UI for it and we all know the linux has been on phones for years and works great. The problem with most OS on a tablet is the usage and the icon size and the copy and past and all the sort cuts. If your going to use your finger you need a OS that thinks that way and windows does not and Mac OS X does not we need a new OS that will change desktops and mobile and make the switch to touch on desktop and mobile by doing this we can bridge the gape and were two years away from that. I will be realizing a os that does that with the Linux kernel