I recently bought an HP TouchSmart TX2 tablet/notebook to replace my EEE PC netbook. I wanted something small (-ish) to browse the web and watch video on while being on vacation or traveling. While Windows 7 does take some getting used to (especially after using a Mac for the last 7 years or so) I am really impressed by the performance and even more by the price. A lot of people seem to like the pricing of Apple’s tablet but I wonder if these people looked at what is out there today? I paid around $800 for the HP TX2. So the price is similar to Apple’s 64GB 3G/WIFI tablet but my HP has a 12’1 inch screen, 320GB 7200 RPM hard drive, 4GB RAM, DVD drive, 3 USB ports, 1 4 cell and 1 8 cell battery and an AMD chipset powerful enough to even do hardware accelerated Flash Video up to 1080p! And since the TX2 has Windows 7 on it, I can also install every single app and/or plugin I want. I can run my Twitter client when I’m watching a video and most of all I’m not tied to one single store to buy my music, apps and video content. The only problem is its form factor. It’s still a bit bulky but that’s just a minor issue.
Enter the HP slate. While there’s no news yet on how much memory it’ll have, how fast the processor is or how much disk space it’ll have, it does run a full Windows 7! In the video below, HP’s CTO Phil McKinney talks about their slate device. The video also shows the New York Times Reader AIR application (as shown in the screenshot above) and HD video on YouTube using Flash Player. Now that’s a real magical experience! Can I have one now please?
Let’s start a group buy! ;)
So we have a mobile product using a desktop OS featuring apps devised for a (multi)-touch interaction. Windows Mobile again ?
I can (really) understand the appeal of wanting a desktop OS on everything you use, so you’re always back to something you know from your PC. But as the iPhone demonstrated it, having apps but also the OS tailored for the device that run them wins is not a bad solution at all.
Having a bigger screen that a smartphone doesn’t make Windows 7 a mobile OS.
IMHO of course
@Toto
Firstly Windows 7 was partially designed for multitouch devices. And with Microsoft Table project Microsoft clearly had experience with designing such stuff so I doubt that on that front Windows 7 has disadvantages.
Now then about not being made for mobile use in your hands. Here I may agree that may be Windows 7 was not made for that. Who knows, we will see soon. But here Windows 7 has different advantage. Any developer be it device manufacturer or any third party developers or even enthusiastic developers can develop their own keyboard, widgets and other stuff to replace built in ones or fill in the gaps for mobile usage. I would like to see some one finger (on a side of screen where you hold it with one hand) keyboard(and may be even more) widget that will allow me to control device with one hand that also holds it. Slate will not be made with such feature in mind? May be. Will it be possible to work around it for third-party developers? I would bet that answer is “yes”.
@Serge
Dream device for that segment :) I don’t know if I want it yet but may be for reading stuff, using web applications, watching something on a go. Yes!!!
It also could become a popular Windows Live based console :) Playing Startcraft 2 on it could be fun :D I wonder if it will be possible to play Starcraft 2 on iPhone but on Slate it probably will be possible (depends on requirements but blizzard usually is pretty careful on that side).
@ wonderwhy-er
I’m sure that some developers will adapt their applications (interface, interaction) when they need to be used on Windows 7 running on a tablet. And its’ the best thing to do.
But when you leave the app (or access to the file system) you’re back to the desktop OS. Like what happened with some WinMo smartphones that had some alternative (and cool) interface but could never offer the full experience, because WinMo was still back one moment or an other.
Contrary to the iPad where the experience from OS to app is all the same and devised specifically for the tablet (not for tablet, netbook, notebook, desktop…). But we’ll see if the iPad and his way of doing things has success, or not.
But now that they’ve announced the Zune-like OS powering the new Windows Phone 7 series, maybe Microsoft could also integrate that same OS with the new upcoming slates. That would be something that could possibly rival the iPad.