HP Thinks Giant Tablets Are a Good Idea

1. The PC as a Game Board

   The HP Rove 20 is an all-in-one PC that's actually a tablet. It's equipped with a battery, so you can move it from room to room casually. It also comes pre-loaded with games like Monopoly for use as a casual gaming device.

   

2. Stood Up

   You can stand the Rove 20 at any many different angles.

   

3. Back

   The back of the Rove 20 has a special hinge that holds the screen up.

   

4. Side View

   The thin profile hides the hinge unless you view it from the side.

   

5. Hinge

   You only need one hand to adjust the hinge.

   

6. Backside

   The Rove 20 doesn't wobble as you adjust the hinge.

   

7. Modes

   A look at the many modes of the Rove 20.

   

Windows 8 has officially created a new category: the monster tablet. Last fall's Sony Tap 20 could have been dismissed as a one-off aberration, but others have since launched giant screens equipped with batteries, including HP, who just unveiled the Rove 20.

Why Rove? Because it can do exactly that — the 20-inch display is fully portable with almost 4 hours of battery life. Although its mobility, along with the 10-finger multi-touch display, technically makes it a tablet, it's really better thought of as an all-in-one PC that you can move from room to room when you need to.

Much like the Tap 20 and Lenovo's IdeaCenter Horizon, the Rove has a special hinge that lets you use it in many different ways. Stood up at a high angle, it's great as a normal all-in-one or even an "easel" for a painting app. At a low angle, it's more suited for drafting. The hinge is made so you can easily adjust the angle with one hand.

It really shines when it's laid flat, though, since it becomes a virtual game board for any number of gaming apps. Many come pre-installed, including Monopoly, Fingertaps Jigsaw Wars and Musical Instruments, and Disney Fairies.

The in-plane switching (IPS) LCD will help with off-angle viewing from various players during gameplay. And if the accelerometer does anything weird, HP wisely provides a manual rotation button that puts you back in control of the screen.

The Rove 20 won't be available until July, partly because it's waiting on Intel's latest Core processors, the fourth-generation "Haswell" chips. Those are expected to officially arrive in the next month. The Rove will use as lower-power chip meant for Ultrabooks and hybrids along with Intel's integrated HD graphics.

The Rove packs 1TB of storage as well as an 8GB solid-state drive for faster response time. It's also includes the latest and greatest Wi-Fi (802.11ac) and WiDi for use as a wireless display from another device such as a phone or tablet.

Price isn't final yet, but HP says it'll be in the neighborhood of $1,000.

How do you like the Rove 20 and the new breed of Windows 8 supertablets/mobile all-in-ones? Let us know in the comments.