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New HP Slate pricing and features list (?!) compares it to Apple iPad

Engadget has uncovered supposedly an internal HP document that compares the upcoming HP Slate versus the recently launched Apple iPad. Well, it looks somewhat like that Apple iPad vs HP Slate comparison of our own made in January when both devices were announced… except this comparison sheet is in simplified point form has a couple of new details and tech specs.

Things that we already know about the HP Slate: the 8.9 inch 1024 x 600 multi-touch capacitive display that supports pen input, HD video playback, SD slot, USB 2.0 port, HDMI output port and Windows 7 with a HP-created UI injected into the mix (ie, what they currently do with their Touchsmart PC’s)

New info revealed by the Engadget-found document about the HP Slate include:

• The HP Slate will use a single-core 1.6 GHz processor (specifically the Intel Atom Z530)
• Not only will it play HD video, it will play full HD 1080p video (beats the iPad with its standard definition video playback “magic”!)
• The HP Slate will come in 32 GB and 64 GB flavors
• That SD slot on the Slate will support standard SD cards, SDHC cards and recently announced SDXC format (the latter coming in monstrous capacities measuring 48 GB and above); this allows you to more than double the amount of memory you carry with the HP Slate
• There’s a dock connector on the HP Slate, so it will probably be bundled with a dock (or have one available as an optional accessory). This also opens up the door to a broad range of potential accessories: from speaker docks to physical keyboard attachments
• The HP Slate is slightly smaller than the Apple iPad (also thanks to its 8.9 inch display which is a little smaller than the iPad’s 9.7 inch screen)
• The HP Slate will have dual cameras: a VGA unit on the display side for “webcam” purposes (ie Skype and video conferencing) and a 3 megapixel camera on the back for snapshots

What’s interesting is the HP Slate will have a built-in (read: not directly accessible) “long life cycle” battery that’s rated to last about 5 hours. HP (or whoever made the comparison document) proves that the HP Slate is superior to the Apple iPad in almost every way imaginable in terms of specifications, save for screen resolution, battery life and the fact that they can’t really undercut the 16 GB non-3G iPad.

However, they did manage to accomplish their little mini-mission (if the document is correct) to undercut their Apple iPad equivalents of similar capacity – it’s likely the 32 GB HP Slate will go for $549 while the 64 GB version will go for $599; that’s $50 and $100 cheaper than the 32 GB and 64 GB iPad’s respectively.

HP Slate and HP Android Smartbook: both official!

HP has just announced their new Slate tablet with a full color display, multimedia and reader functions. They’ve also got their new Android-based Smartbook on the table. They’re keeping mum about specifications at the moment, so I’ll keep you posted once they come out.

HP Slate: This tablet appears to be a 9 or 10 inch device that runs Windows 7, probably with some enhancements and dedicated software by HP (Touchsmart UI anyone?) to enhance the ‘touch’ experience, seeing it doesn’t have any keyboard. The 9 (or 10) inch display is a touchscreen which supports multi-touch. Functions of the HP Slate include multimedia capabilities (music and video playback), photo viewing and “reading mode”, supposedly via the Amazon Kindle app for PC. Of course, you can do all sorts of other stuff you do on your computer as it runs Windows 7.

So far, we can see the HP Slate’s power on/off button at the top and what appears to be a volume control rocker. On the right side is a wireless on/off slot and 3.5 mm headphone jack. None of HP’s videos or photos reveal what’s on the left side of the HP Slate, which may or may not be deliberately hidden by creative camera angles.

HP says prototypes of the HP Slate will start appearing later this year (huh?!). Well, they’d better hurry up if they want to start selling these BEFORE Christmas 2010!

Here’s a little 18 second promotional/mini-preview video of the HP Slate, courtesy of Hewlett Packard USA:

HP Android netbook: The HP Android smartbook (or netbook, whatever you prefer call these things) is not nearly as exciting as the HP Slate, but it appears to be a white HP Mini (looks like the Mini 110) with a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor in it and it runs Google’s Android operating system. No word on pricing, availability or battery life so far.

HP Mini 311 vs HP Pavilion dm1 – what’s the difference?

At present, there are two HP ultra-portable notebook models that look almost exactly like each other: the HP Mini 311 and HP Pavilion dm1. What’s the difference? On the outside, there are few design differences… the two main things that separate the two are the processor and graphics set used. The HP Mini 311 uses the single-core Intel Atom processor paired with Nvidia Ion graphics, which is a decent graphics card suited to playing some games (though on medium to low settings) and high definition video. On the other hand, the HP Pavilion dm1 uses Intel Celeron processors, allowing you to select from a decent range up to dual-core offerings (which are of course, more basic than their larger notebook counterparts). However, you won’t get dedicated graphics at all – you’re sacrificing the Nvidia Ion graphics of the Mini 311 for integrated Intel graphics (a poor choice for gaming).

• Mini 311 – Single core processor with Nvidia Ion graphics for video playback and basic/low-end games
• Pavilion dm1 – Dual core processor so you can run more day to day applications with less slowdown, but you make a sacrifice in the graphics department