The original HP Slate was highly touted at CES a few years back but the device itself got off to the quietest launch I can remember and never really amounted to much. But now HP is back with the HP Slate 2, a follow-up to its original Slate. Is it worth checking out?
According to HP, the Slate 2 features a 9-inch, 1024 x 600 (WSVGA) screen and weighs just 1.5 pounds. It's powered by a 1.5 GHz Atom Z670 processor, 2 GB of RAM, and up to 64 GB of solid-state storage. Available expansion ports include SD, SIM, USB 2.0, and an HP Slate Dock connector. It supports 802.11/abgn and Bluetooth 4.0 + HS.
The operating system is Windows 7 Professional 32-bit. Prices start at $850, right where the iPad starts to max out, price-wise.
An available Dock looks interesting, and adds 2 more USB 2.0 ports and HDMI. Other notable accessories include a USB Ethernet adapter and a Slate digital pen.
But again. Is it worth considering?
The big issue here, of course, is the screen resolution: Since the Slate 2 runs at 1024 x 600, this is not a good Windows 8 device: Windows 8 requires 1366 x 768 or higher for side-by-side app multitasking. That alone would turn off many potential buyers.
HP doesn't say how many touch points the screen provides. Remember that Windows 8 requires 5 touch points.
Also problematic, in my opinion, is the Atom processor. And while I'm sure Intel has indeed improved things dramatically on the Atom front since the dismal first-gen, single core versions, I'm not interested.
My take: Skip it.
