Video: HP Slate Running Windows 7
Cross your fingers and then hope and pray that this isn’t actually HP’s finished design for its Slate. The video purportedly shows the upcoming HP tablet, and it’s running Windows 7.
From what we can see, the hardware seems very capable. It has two cameras, a pair of speakers, a USB port and a capacitive touch-screen. From the front, it has the same wide, grab-able bezel and bright screen of the iPad. The problems start when the video’s maker – x313xkillax – boots the machine.
Windows 7 may be a great OS, but it is a desktop OS. See how x313xkillax tries to scroll the page but instead opens a new tab (or something – even he’s not sure)? That’s because his finger isn’t a tiny, sharp mouse-pointer (look closely and you’ll see the actual pointer appear on screen after boot). Also notice that there is a hardware key to switch the keyboard on and off. Without this, you’re screwed: the Windows 7 tablet I reviewed back in March had the same problem, only without the switch to rescue you. Switch into full-screen view in the web-browser, for example, and you had to plug in an external keyboard to escape.
Best of all, though, is the hardware Ctrl-Alt-Delete switch. The three-fingered salute is an essential part of corporate life (you need to press the combo to log-in to servers) but it is also the emergency life-raft when things go awry. Putting this on an iPad competitor is a big signal that HP has spent the months since the iPad launch sleeping.
It’s a shame, as the hardware looks great. I have a feeling that this is the actual, real, ready to go Slate, though, which will be a disaster. HP should just wait until it has a proper WebOS slate ready to go, instead of playing catchup with this half-assed solution.
HP Slate review [x313xkillax / YouTube via ★]
See Also:
HP's Windows 7 Slate Strikes at the iPad
HP Slate Details Leaked: $550 Netbook, Minus Keyboard
Official: HP Slate Will Run WebOS
HP Slate: About $500, Atom Processor, June Launch
Leaked HP Slate Fails to Impress in Early Peek
Report: HP Kills Slate
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Fuente: Gadget Lab
