After waiting impatiently for the arrival of the HP Slate (powered by Windows 7), it looks like my dreams of a fully functional tablet PC was shattered after watching this video demo by CrunchGear.
While I have nothing against Windows 7 (which truth be told is probably the best OS Microsoft has ever released), the touch screen lag is very noticeable, even on HP’s own promo site.
Although the HP Slate 500 is a lot more functional than the iPad (not to mention $50 cheaper than its iRival than the most expensive iTablet), the fact that HP still has not nailed the touch display for Windows 7 is a bit underwhelming (something I hoped they would master since unveiling the HP TouchSmart earlier).
The HP Slate also lacks a built in 3G radio which means that I have to tether the device to my iPhone (something which I was hoping to avoid since I want to keep my unlimited 3G plan).
Hopefully this is a software issue (rather than hardware issue) as the HP Slate currently has two advantages over the iPad: the ability to view flash websites and a front facing camera.
Perhaps HP will do better when the PalmPad arrives in 2011, although right now the iPad is looking like a strong contender for me (provided Apple adds a front facing camera to the device).
Originally posted on October 22, 2010 @ 1:22 pm