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HP Forum Archive 21

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Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #1 Posted by Bruce Bergman on 10 May 2013, 12:49 a.m.

And if so, how do you like it? I've been toying with getting a Nexus 7 (currently best-in-class for that size tablet), but I have a couple friends at HP who seem to gush over the HP Slate. Not sure if that's marketing for you, or it's really that good. The specs don't seem to impress much.

So, anyone have one yet? What do you think of it?

Thanks!

Bruce

      
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #2 Posted by Chris Smith on 11 May 2013, 8:50 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Bruce Bergman

I bought a 2007 Lenovo ThinkPad T61 with dual 2.0 core 2 CPU, 4Gb RAM from eBay and a new solid state disk (128Gb Samsung 840 pro) for approximately the same price as a HP Slate if that's any recommendation...

Goes like lightning and has those old fashioned button things. Plus you can "beat an elephant to death with it without it breaking" to quote my good friend.

We had a couple of nexus tablets in the office for testing and they were broken within a week. Same with ipads.

            
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #3 Posted by Bruce Bergman on 11 May 2013, 9:56 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by Chris Smith

Wow, you guys must be really tough on technology products.

We've had two iPads and a Nook Tablet in our house (with two girls under 12) for almost three years and nary a scratch on any of them. Well, one scratch on the Nook (corner of the case), but that's it.

Thanks,

bruce

                  
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #4 Posted by Chris Smith on 12 May 2013, 6:19 a.m.,
in response to message #3 by Bruce Bergman

We are indeed. Although its usually our lower primate derived QA operatives who knock them off their desks.

You must be lucky with your children - ours destroy everything.

Small rant as I'm bored, which is applicable to anything without a removable battery. Lost a 2 month old MacBook Pro a couple of years ago but that to be honest was down to shoddy design. One spilled drink and it sucked it up off the table via capillary action. Inevitably, the silly design doesn't have a removable battery so I had to turn it upside down to take it to bits at which point it rained sticky terror on the motherboard and promptly caught fire and was thrown out of the back door. It burned for 25 minutes and was unrecognisable.

Apple didn't want to know about it all. Lovely company.

      
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #5 Posted by Tim Wessman on 11 May 2013, 10:24 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Bruce Bergman

I didn't buy one, but there are people from the group involved with them that sit near me.

I've played with them fairly extensively. While it is nothing to write home about in terms of amazingness (would any tablet that price be?), it seems to be a pretty good tablet. The Nexus 7 is better, but I don't know if it is 30-40$ better (for my use that is). I'd use mine for kids on trips and being able to stick in external memory would be useful for that.

For the price it is a pretty good little unit.

TW

Edited: 11 May 2013, 10:25 a.m.

      
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #6 Posted by Les Bell on 13 May 2013, 12:27 a.m.,
in response to message #1 by Bruce Bergman

Quote:
I've been toying with getting a Nexus 7

Bruce, I would be careful to take the infrastructure behind the Nexus devices into account in any comparative evaluation. The N7 is at its best if you are heavily invested in the Googleverse, that is, if you are using several of the following:

  1. Gmail
  2. Google Calendar
  3. Google Contacts
  4. Google Docs / Drive
  5. Google Plus
  6. Google Play store for music or movies

Although the N7 offers amazing bang for the buck (just wait a week and see what's announced at Google io) and a very capable platform for calculator simulators like Go41cx, it really comes into its own if you store a lot of your life information in Google's cloud. At that point, the N7 (especially with 3G or better) or similar Nexus devices will take over organizing your life for you, via the Google Now app. ;)

I blogged about this at http://securitasdato.blogspot.com.au/2012/10/do-androids-dream.html.

Best,

--- Les
[http://www.lesbell.com.au]

            
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #7 Posted by Bruce Bergman on 13 May 2013, 2:12 a.m.,
in response to message #6 by Les Bell

Thanks Tim and Les --

Yes, I'm inclined to wait and see if the Nexus 7.2 is truly going to be a reality this July. If it is, and even if it's $50 more than the rumored price ($149), it would be far better to wait and get that.

I've been leaning towards the Nexus 7, but the Slate does look pretty, and I'm always willing to support HP endeavors. Just not sure this is a solid one. ;)

Thanks!

Bruce

            
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #8 Posted by Thomas Klemm on 13 May 2013, 4:48 a.m.,
in response to message #6 by Les Bell

Quote:
I blogged about this

That was an interesting read. Thanks for sharing. But I must admit that old-fashioned me is still reluctant to share everything in a cloud.

Best regards
Thomas

                  
Re: Has anyone purchased an HP Slate?
Message #9 Posted by Les Bell on 13 May 2013, 8:16 a.m.,
in response to message #8 by Thomas Klemm

Quote:
But I must admit that old-fashioned me is still reluctant to share everything in a cloud.

You're right to be reluctant, Thomas. In my case, I did some research into the way that Google stored information in its data centres, as well as controls like two-factor authentication, then decided that the risk was acceptable for my purposes. Everyone should reassure themselves and make their own decision about that. Things to consider include:

  • The sensitivity of information such as your emails, calendar entries and contacts
  • Whether you find targeted advertising annoying or unacceptable
  • Whether it is worth paying $50/yr for the commercial Google Apps service, which has additional functionality and no ads
  • Any special requirements you may have, such as for management of encryption keys, privacy compliance, etc.

I actually teach a lot of that stuff - I'm a university lecturer in information security - and a useful guide has been produced by one of the Australian government agencies. You can find it at http://www.dsd.gov.au/publications/csocprotect/cloud_computing_security_considerations.htm

Best,

--- Les
[http://www.lesbell.com.au]

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