HP today presented its follow-on to last year’s Windows 7 tablet, the HP Slate 500. The Slate 2 is an evolutionary refresh, with virtually the similar physical plan and few updated inners. So soon, the company has done more to promote the Slate 2 than it did the Slate 500; that model flew below the radar last year thanks to its positioning as an enterprise tablet. The Slate 2’s value drops to a starting of some rupess, and the company joins other new Windows 7 tablet releases from Fujitsu, Dell, Motion, Samsung, and Viewsonic.


Like many of those vendors in that list, HP retains to forthright target business users with its Slate 2. This update includes a Trusted Platform Module embedded protection chip 1.2 to give an additional layer of security for the information preserved on the tablet. And the company has 2 business-friendly accessories—the HP Slate Bluetooth Keyboard and Case, the case includes important thickness to the tablet, but it also gives a convenient, all-in-one carry-case for toting the Slate about. HP also views its Retail Mobile Point of Sale Case, which has a credit card magnetic stripe reader and a barcode scanner built-in.


The Slate 2 has some other alteration above its predecessor, Cosmetically, it appears nearly the similar, preserve for the now-plainer plan on the back. The dimensions are much the similar, through the Slate 2 is incomplete thicker and heavier, at 5.9 by 9.21 by 0.61 inches, and starting at 1.52 pounds. It has an 8.9 inch few meliorations display with 1024 by 600 pixel resolution and N-trig capacitive touch and digitizer display for utilize with the added pen input.


Among the internals, the Slate 2 bumps the processor to a 1.5-GHz Intel Atom Z670, now gives preserve alternatives of 32GB and 64GB mSATA flash, and gives buyers the select of Windows 7 Home Premium in extra to Windows 7 Professional and Windows Embedded Standard 7. The 2-cell battery should last intimately triplet that of the Slate 500 up to 6 hours while HP didn’t say anything about how the company improved battery life.


When I managed the tablet, it felt reasonably good-proportioned in-hand, still while it is thicker than other tablets I’ve held. The screen felt responsive in short trials, and the fresh extra of the Swype keyboard a first for a Windows tablet was a welcomed substitute to Microsoft’s own, less-conducive on-screen keyboard. I could touch-typewrite on the keyboard, something that I determine more hard on Windows’ own keyboard. I also liked how HP incorporates an SDHC card slot, SIM card slot, and USB 2.0 port, plus physical shortcut buttons for home, calling up the keyboard, and calling up the task manager.