You know how you fall off a bicycle or a horse and you're sort of hesitant to remount? It's been nearly two years since HP fell off its tablet bicycle/horse with the wreck that was the HP TouchPad.
HP has gotten back on the bicycle/horse (and, I promise, that's the last of this metaphor) with the pedantic HP Slate 7, a bargain $140 (after a $30 instant rebate) 7-inch Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" tablet that should be a much stronger entry, given HP's tablet history. While it contains some bonuses, most prominently Beats Audio sound, HP ought not to have scrimped in such a literally in-your-face place — the Slate's screen.
Its basic 1,024 x 600-pixel resolution has the same resolution as the 7-inch Samsung Tab 2, to which I'll be comparing the HP Slate 7. However, that's far less granular than the two book-centric 7-inch tablets, the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and Barnes & Noble's Nook HD. The HP Slate 7 display seems as if it's covered with a fine layer of silver dust, a common trait of older-generation LCD panels.
The flawed screen mars the Slate 7's watchability, and especially its readability. Smaller, middle-of-the-page headlines on the CNN and The New York Times websites, for instance, are practically unreadable, and subheads and story summaries are transformed into gibberish. Even if you boost font sizes, you still get a distracting shimmer effect; it feels as if you're trying to read through a dirty screen cover.
This effect is muted, although evident in comparison with other tablets, such as the Samsung Tab 2 7.0, whose screen is crystal-clear despite the exact same resolution. Of course the fact that Samsung makes its own displays and HP has to source its screen probably plays a huge role here.
Downloading Drag
Comparing more specs with the Samsung Tab 2 7.0, both tablets run Jelly Bean Android 4.1.1 (although the older Tab 2s are loaded with 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and require an hour-long update) and both include 1GB of RAM. Each has a 3-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera that's more like a webcam.
The Slate's brain is an dual-core 1.6GHz processor; Tab 2's reportedly a mere 1GHz Texas Instrument OMAP 4430 engine (Samsung doesn't list the processor brand on its Tab 2 spec page). Samsung is loaded with a 4,000 mAh battery; Slate 7 has a 3,500 mAh cell — another critical difference.
Keep in mind the 8GB Slate 7 is priced at $139.99, and the 8GB Tab 2 is discounted to $179.99, down from its original $249.99.
Slate's processing power advantage, however, is not evident in actual usage. Apps download faster on the Tab 2 — five seconds faster for the 9.9-megabyte WatchESPN, for instance, and a Kindle book (ironically, Walter Isaacson's bio of Steve Jobs — hey, it was the first one to pop into the Kindle app and I knew it was a hefty tome) downloaded 8 seconds faster on the Tab 2.
Plus, even though both run Jelly Bean 4.1.1, I got mysterious "Device isn't compatible with this version" messages when trying to download apps on the Slate — including Wikipedia, USA Today and the Weather Channel. The New York Daily News app didn't even show up in Google Play on the Slate. Mashable's own app seemed fine, thank goodness.
Beyond the pure speed and power differences, Samsung has added some niceties to the Tab 2 that are missing on the Slate. Although both feature five home screens, you can circle around to all of them on the Samsung; on the Slate, you come to the end and then have to slide back. On Samsung's onscreen keypad you get a top number line and, at the bottom, a separate ".com" key, all handier than the Slate's keyboard for inputting user emails and passwords.
I also preferred Samsung's black-on-white QWERTY keys to Slate's white-on-gray design, but I admit this is purely an aesthetic opinion.
Getting Physical
Physically, Slate 7 is 4.57 inches wide compared to the 4.8-inch Tab 2, which means you won't have to spread your hands as wide to get a grip; Slate is a slight 0.16 inch taller, which makes no difference in any usage case scenario I encountered.
While Tab 2 is just a silly 0.01 of an inch thinner, it feels much thinner thanks to its tapered edges, and it weighs about an ounce less. I suspect smaller hands will prefer the tighter grip enabled by the hair-heavier but less-wide Slate.
I also prefer Slate's design, even if it is a bit thicker around the edges. The on-off switch is located at on the top, together with the headphone jack and microSD card slot, rather than on the side next to the volume toggle as it is on the Tab 2, where I kept hitting it accidentally.
And while Slate's front-facing Web cam is centered, Tab 2's is off on the right, which means you'll be looking slightly off-camera, Michelle Bachmann-like, when video chatting.
But Slate's most striking physical feature is its bright red rubberized rear, which makes it easier to spot in a bag and provides a less slippery surface.
Camera, Battery and Sound
As noted, both the Slate and the Tab include a 3MP rear camera — and both suck big-time. Indoor photos are colorless, washed out, grainy and lacking in any detail — that is, if you manage to get any shots that aren't blurred by the minutest of motions.
Tab 2's battery with an extra 500 mAh may provide the difference between making it through a day and your commute home with the last bits of remaining juice — or not.
HP claims the Slate could play video for five hours, but after the 2:18-hour Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, I subsequently made it through only 1:40 of The Dark Knight Rises before it puttered out. That's not even four hours, if my math is right. Samsung claims it'll play video for nine hours.
The Slate 7 does enjoy one power advantage: It uses an industry-standard microUSB cable for charging, as opposed to the larger proprietary connector on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2.
Slate's claim to differentiation is the inclusion of Beats Audio, and it does subtly enhance the listening experience, especially while watching movies. In The Dark Knight Rises, nearly every Bane appearance is accompanied by a low ominous musical cue. On Tab 2, this effect is muted, but on the Slate you really feel the rumbling hum of approaching doom, which ties you far more emotionally into the action.
The Real 7-inch Tablet Choice?
Even though we've spent the last 1,100 words or so comparing the Slate 7 with the Samsung Tab 2, Slate's real competition may be that suddenly fabulous bargain, the Barnes & Noble Nook HD.
Originally priced at $229, the Nook HD, with its 7-inch screen and 1,440 x 900 (243 pixel per inch) resolution, 16GB of memory, 1.3GHz dual-core processor and 4,000-mAh battery, is now just $149. (Nook lacks a camera, but given the substandard imagers on the Slate 7 and the Tab 2, it's not a feature you'll miss.)
I haven't played extensively with the Nook HD. But you probably should if you're considering the purchase of a 7-inch tablet, especially compared to the underwhelming HP Slate 7, which will only save you ten bucks.
The Lowdown
What's Good
universal microUSB connector
bright-red rubberized back is easy to grip and spot
Beats Audio provides good bass
What's Bad
lousy screen
unusable camera
slow downloading speed
Images by Mashable, Stewart Wolpin
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