Wednesday, May 1, 2013

HP Slate 7 Australian release date and price.

The HP Slate 7 was launched in February with a release date as yet unknown in Australia. You can go to the HP site and register your interest and I believe they'll let you know. The good thing is you can opt out of other email contact by HP and I tend to trust HP will do what they say.

The HP Slate 7 according to the site starts at $199. The US price was $169 and US prices don't include tax, so the price isn't too bad and it raises the bar (or lowers) in terms of price expectation.

The HP Slate 7 has a lower price so you should check the specs. The front camera is VGA resolution and the rear 3 megapixel. Low certainly but that really depends on your needs. The 7 stands for 7" diagonal screen size. What surprised me with Google's Nexus was how much smaller the screen was compared to Apple's Mini iPad which is 7.9". The size difference is because quite an amount of space is taken up with the on-screen Home button whereas with the Mini iPad the home button is hardware based and located in the bezel area.

I have an Acer 10" Android 4.1 tablet and really I have to say I'm disappointed with Google's software. It is flaky and even if I use Google's Chrome browser it doesn't work properly with Google's own sites. I use IMAP for email and the email client won't configure correctly for me. Overall I'd find it hard to recommend a Google Android device.

Personally I prefer the full experience I get with a Windows based notebook. There are many sites which simply don't work with Apple and Google tablets, so when people ask me if they should get a tablet to replace their ageing PC, I say the tablet can't replace their PC, but they can use the tablet for much of their usage. In the same way we now use our mobile phones for many things we'd have previously done using a desktop computer. I look forward to the day when Microsoft releases a tablet which is 7", runs full Windows (not Windows RT), is a decent price, giving me portability and long battery life. For any reasonable amount of typing I'd still need a decent keyboard, which I have waiting for when the right device is released. Not really sure Microsoft will ever deliver the product I want, so in the meantime I'll continue to migrate as much as I can away from being dependant on Microsoft applications.

Kelvin Eldridge
Online Connections
www.OnlineConnections.com.au
Call 0415 910 703 for computer support.
Servicing Templestowe, Doncaster, Eltham and the surrounding area.

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