When HP announced their business-focused Slate 500 Tablet PC in October of 2010, I had high hopes for it: $799 price tag, slate form factor, 8.9″ screen, 2gb of ram, win 7 pro, dual cameras, digitizer pen, dock, and carrying portfolio. Apparently many others had high expectations as well, as it has been next to impossible to find one in stock. Over the past several months, though, HP has ramped up production and it is now pretty easy to get one. I wouldn’t recommend acting on that impulse, though.
In short, I have not been more disappointed in a tablet pc experience in quite a long time.
- The build quality felt shoddy: pieces of plastic from the dock fell off; the aluminum bezel felt warped in places
- Writing on the screen was very loud: lots of tapping noises when the pen hit the screen. There is no way I would use the Slate 500 in a meeting. I would be an utter distraction to those around me.
- Inking was horrible. The Slate 500 has an N-Trig DuoSense digitizer, which supports 4 touch points and a digitizer pen. The ink was not fluid at all; I dropped a lot of strokes; I ended up with a lot of stray ink marks due to my hand touching the screen while I was inking. I was hoping N-Trig had upped their game over the past several years, but it is clear they still have a long way to go.
- The carrying portfolio felt like a cheap imitation of leatherette.
- There was no silo for the pen. The only place to store the pen was in the carrying portfolio. Handwriting on a tablet pc is useless without a pen and the best place for storing it is with the tablet pc.
- The Atom Z540 processor certainly lived up to expectations – it was dog slow. In some ways, I felt like I was reliving the early TC1000 Transmeta Crusoe days. The only decent performance experience I had was around boot up, where the 64gb SSD really shined.
If you are in the market for Windows 7-based Tablet PC, keep looking or waiting for Microsoft and their OEM partners to give businesses a real solution.
Hi Rob, thanks for sharing your experience! Would love to hear your take on the Asus EP121 if you had your hands on it already. I am happy with my HP 2740p but thinking about switching to a slate again, waiting for a decent one with trustworthy and accurate active digitizer (still can not convince myself that a touchscreen is good for work and an on-screen keyboard is for taking notes
Best regards,
Horst
I have not been able to get my hands on an EP121, but I have a good friend who has – he loves it.
If I can get my hands on one, I will certainly post my thoughts.
Thanks for your honest opinion Rob…the funny thing last week i was going to pull the trigger and order one but just felt i would be less than impressed, you confirmed my suspicion. I been holding off for the motion CL900 but the waiting is killing me…. Thanks again Rob.
Just going to wait and see the WebOS touchpad, but this is the kind of crap hardware that makes me think twice before laying out the hard-earned dough.
Gee, Rob, what did you really think?
Good to have you back, Rob. THis looked pretty good 6 months ago, before the actual specs were known. If you are going to have an active difitizer, you need a CPU good enough for production. The market for a windows tablet is the business and prosumer market. Ther are lots of netbook grade options for the casual user, but this target market needs productivity along with mobility. Price woul;d be more attractive w/o Win 7 PRO. It can be added if needed.
Rob, I am SO glad to see you getting back in the saddle! I have missed your insights. I will be paying close attention. Write on!
Sharon
Funny thing, you seem to have achieved time travel. People’s replies are arriving from tomorrow!
Hmmmm.
Thanks for the review Rob. I looked hard (at least on line) at this as a substitute for my faithful TC1100. I think I’ll keep waiting.
Rob: It’s good to see a few of the old GBM crowd here. Is your site open for guest postings?
PS: After having lived with a Slate 500 for about 3 months, I’m about ready to sell it. The screen is too small and, as you point out, the performance leaves something to be desired. I really don’t understand why HP didn’t just update the classic TC1100 when they had the chance…
Welcome back to a more public online presence, Rob. You’ve been missed.
RE: HP. At least here in the Middle East, build quality has gone downhill drastically generally. The 200+ 2740p units we bought last year are atrocious in terms of quality. No surprise that this is true of the Slate 500 as well.
HP has a track record, IMO, of a steady downward trend in their Tablet design. The TC1100 (really a Compaq product) is easily their best. The 4X00/2710/2730/2740 series, while better and better in many ways as notebooks, has been worse and worse from a Tablet PC usability front. Sad. I don’t think we’ll be going with HP at all for this year’s units.
Mark
I’ve had my Slate since December and I would have to disagree with some of what you said. Still, people who buy what we used to call UMPCs need to understand that the category comes with limitations.
My build quality was fine but I’ve seen a number of complaints in the TabletPCReview forum. At best you can say that, to date, it’s been inconsistent.
Writing with the n-Trig pen is louder than writing with a Wacom pen on my OQO or a resistive stylus on my T91MT. It appears to be an n-Trig problem as the same comments have appeared regarding other devices using n-Trig’s Duo Sense pen and from people who have ordered other OEM’s Duo Sense pen and used them on the Slate. I have adapted to it and with a gentle touch I don’t find people in meetings being distracted. Part of the problem might be it’s fanless which makes the pen sound louder. The vacuum cleaner noise when my OQO’s fan kicked in was much more distracting in meetings.
Inking, for me, is better than resistive but not as good as Wacom. Note that this requires you to change the default settings. N-Trig’s attempt to recognize both the pen and your finger at the same time (which is the default) is useless. I use the switching mode where a double tap with your finger activates touch while proximity to the pen activates pen input. I’ve also had success with pen only which I use during meetings.
The portfolio is free and not worth much more but it’s inoffensive and it protects the Slate in my bag. As far as the silo, I’d rather have the smaller chassis but I wish they’d put a clip on the pen. The Cross Executive Wacom stylus remains the ne plus ultra of styli.
Lastly the CPU. Rob, you’ve been spoiled. Having used an OQO with a 1.67GHz Via until the motherboard died and then an Asus T91MT with a 1.33GHZ Atom, the 1.86GHz Atom is great for something that is so small.
And therein lies the issue.
The Slate is steno pad sized and it weighs a pound and a half. Larger tablets have more space for batteries which can power faster CPUs and power hungry Wacom digitizers. The are also heavier and bulkier. For me, I am willing to put up with the limitations to get the size and weight reduction. Other’s may feel differently. It’s something each purchaser needs to decide upon before they plunk down their money. And, frankly, if you don’t need Windows, you don’t need the HP Slate (or Asus EP121 or Motion CL900 or Fujitsu Q550). A tablet with a phone OS can email, tweet, and couch surf better than any Win7 option.
Thanks for your comments Dave P. I think a lot of people buy umpc etc without fully understanding their pros and cons and then make ridiculous comparisons. I use a hp tm2 and that is good, but it is heavy to carry about. So a umpc with windows, a stylus and a camera (such as the hp slate 500) is fine to do what I want, albeit being much slower than the larger/heavier tm2.
it will not replace a desktop or a laptop. Iit should be seen as an auxiliary support for your main pc
Rob should have tested the switching mode with regards to finger and pen recognition
People should question
Hmmm, thanks for the review Rob. I have not had as bad an experience with mine. Build quality feels good to me (and I’m normally a Fujitsu person). I agree the digitizer is a bit noisy, but I have no complaints about accuracy. As for the “dog-slow” CPU, depends what you’re trying to do, I guess, I wasn’t expecting a speed demon in the first place. I have two quibbles – screen viewing angles could be improved, and I don’t like having to feed batteries to my stylus. Other than that, I give the Slate a solid, business-oriented B or B minus.
Rob, I’m glad to see you writing about tech again! Sadly, I’m disappointed that the HP 500 is so lousy. I recall my old TC1000 fondly, although it had its issues, and I’m generally very happy with my current HP tx2 (except for the N-Trig digitizer, which is all kinds of buggy), but I’ve been wanting a slate tablet, something to compete for my attention (or affection) with my iPad2. I had hoped that the 500 might be it, but I guess N-Trig still hasn’t gotten their act together — I don’t know why HP continues to use them, and the 500 has a lot of the same performance problems that my old TC1000 did.
Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose…
Thanks for the wonderful encouragement!
Steve S: guest posts are always welcome!
Excellent review, and some really great responses as well.
Now if I may throw in my two cents, I’ve had my slate for about three months now and I’d have to agree with much of what you said, take issue with some, but pretty much agree with your overall conclusion.
Re: build quality. At first glance, I can’t really fault that. You apparently got a shoddy one that must’ve been assembled while the Third World labor crew was desperate for some sleep. Everything generally held together just fine with mine. And overall I would have to call it a lovely little device, in terms of shape, size and build.
The overall form factor I absolutely love. It’s not too big, not too small. I’ve been in love with tablet PCs and handheld PDA type devices since back to the days of the Newton, and as far as form factor goes, this was the perfect size & shape for me. (with a Perfect Bezel to boot). But I could see how having bits and pieces fall off would mar your opinion. Still, overall I thought mine was a beauty.
And as far as the OS goes, it worked just fine for me. I never asked it to do more than I would ask of my netbook (run MS office, surf the web, play some media files, and do some drawing with Sketchbook Pro) but it handled all of that just fine.
I never got around to Photoshop, before eventually giving up on it. But I’ll get to that later.
Regarding the little case. Sure, I guess it does look a little cheap, but most cases look chintzy, with the exception of the new iPad2 cover.
Fake leather? Yeah, I suppose so. But I really never expected much more, and in fact the case has so much utilitarian value that totally makes up for any cheapness on its part. It’s so light and functional it really becomes one with the device itself. I found it 3-parts useful next to 1-part cheap.
I’m ambivalent next Regarding the N-trig pen. On the one hand, I actually found that it performed incredibly well.
But wait, before you say I’m crazy, let me finish that thought:
It performed incredibly well, UNTIL the slate’s battery becomes HOT.
The first rule though was “Don’t use it in Dual-Mode!” But as long as you followed that, it performed just fine. But once the device battery gets HOT, which happens after about 15 minutes of use, inking becomes practically Useless. And starts Vectoring all over the place.
90% of what I need from a Tablet Requires a Stylus. But if the N-trig pen works just fine Until the hardware gets Hot (and causes wild Vectoring & palm interference) is that N-trig’s fault? Or HP’s, for making crappy battery & hardware? I don’t know?
And oh, yes, regarding that loud noise that the N-trig pen makes while writing, drawing, or doing practically anything: I couldn’t stand it!
Sure, I can minimize it by writing slower, or more softly. But if I’m at a class lecture and I’m madly scribbling notes, the last thing I’m thinking about is writing slowly or more gently.
I have an older TC 4400 from HP, with the typical Wacom pen and I’ve never experienced such an issue.
I’ve also got standard Wacom writing tablets at home and work, and never had an issue regarding noise. So I can’t imagine how N-trig could’ve missed this.
Maybe they were just a really noisy bunch.
But while it’s no big deal if I’m at home — when you’re in a classroom or a meeting. It’s really distracting. It’s screams: Hey! Look at me!
By contrast, the noise of someone casually typing, or even a laptop fan going on, is something that our brains unconsciously know to tune out. But this ridiculous N-trig clackety clacking with every single word is just Unacceptable. To me at least.
Last week I pre-ordered the Fujitsu Q550. But while it comes with an N-trig pen, I heard from N-trig a month ago that they would be coming out with a replacement pen that is presumably softer or quieter.
Also, the Q550 is from Fujitsu! And these guys know Slates. (But then, that was the same thing I had said about HP).
PS, I forgot to mention viewing angles: HORRIBLE! Perhaps the worst of any device I’ve ever owned. Even my little Archos 5 has better angles.
HP, what were you thinking??!!
(But if it’s any consolation, it was still 10X more useful than my iPad)
PPS, regarding the lack of a silo for the Pen.
Nah, that part didn’t really faze me.
Hey, I figure I’ll probably end up losing it anyways, so at least that puts me ahead of the curve.
If A.J. is correct and there is a new pen coming from n-Trig with the Q550, it should work in all Duo-Sense tablets so there might be hope for the clickity clack of the Slate.
Also, just to add to his comments on the heat affecting the pen, it also seems to be negatively affected by static electricity.
The problem, as I understand it, is that Wacom uses a full screen grid that broadcasts a signal to the pen while n-Trig’s new system puts the broadcast into the pen (which is why it needs a battery) and picks it up with a sensor which surrounds the screen. Hence it is more subject to random, false, detections. The reason is to reduce the power consumption of the PC – Wacom’s grid is constantly sucking a good deal of power just in case a pen comes into range.
I had a similar experience with the Slate 500. I’ve had Motion M1300, IBM X41T, Lenovo X60T, and Lenovo X200T tablets and was excited by the HP Slate. I waited a month after it was released to see reviews and then ordered. I waited nearly 3 more months to get it in my hands. I used it for 3 weeks before returning it to HP. The speed was excruciatingly slow, the inking left a lot to be desired, and the pen noise was annoying. It didn’t feel like it was worth $800 to me. I returned it and bought the Asus EP121 which has been a totally different experience. It is fast, handwriting is awesome (as is to be expected with the Wacom digitizer), and overall has been great. The shortcomings are it’s a bit heavy (but I’m OK with that for the size of the display), the battery life leaves much to be desired, and it has no security features (TPM, fingerprint reader). I’m using a facial recognition program so that I can have a strong password while still logging in conveniently, so the fingerprint reader isn’t as big a deal as I expected. The inability to encrypt the hard drive means I’m more selective on what data I carry around. The Fujitsu looks like a great machine, but since it uses the N-Trig, I’m wary. We’re getting ready to by 6-10 tablets for our clinic, and are planning to get the Asus, but I may try the Q550 first.
I so very much agree with all of Dave P’s points. I’ve had my Slate a few months and I’m loving it. Making very effective use of it at work in an office setting. I often get compliments. I’ve used an HP 2710 in the past, as well as a Toshiba tablet. I’ve been blogging about my experience because there seems to be a shortage of positive reviews on the advantages of Win7 on a tablet.
I hope the ntrig pen on the motion cl900 or fujitsu q550 are not noisy at all so that they are useable in meetings.
Could a screen protection foil help to get the noise down?
Another question (maybe A dumb one): could my current Dell XT digitizer work on a motion or fujitsu tablet work since they both use ntrig tech? I must say the noice on my XT tablet isnt annoying at all.
Thanks for info
Tuur:I believe the pens will work across different machines.
N-Trig’s pens are backward compatible, not forward. The new generation of pens uses a battery to broadcast to the digitizer while the previous generation had the digitizer broadcasting to the pen. Wacom PC pens will work on any Wacom PC but are not compatible with Wacom “tablet” pens like those for the Cintiq. And, of course, Wacom pens will not work with n-Trig and vice versa.
<>
…Not correct. The two types of pens are NOT cross-compatible. The battery-powered pen will not work on the older N-trig digitizers and the battery-less pen will not work on the new N-trig digitizers…
Perhaps I should have said “n-Trig claims” although, when I went back to find my source it seems it should really be “n-Trig used to claim” since it is no longer in the linked brochures. I now think you are correct in your assessment.
When the “digital pencil” was announced n-Trig said: “N-trig’s DuoSense supports a proprietary
electrostatic battery-less pen, and a
battery-powered Digital Pencil™. Both pens
correspond to the same unique hardware”
http://www.n-trig.com/Data/Uploads/Misc/DuoSense%20Pen%20Solutions%20final%20version.pdf
This is my first time commenting here. Excellent review by Rob and response from Dave P. At one time I wanted to get a hold of a HP TC1000 or 1100. Never could. A while ago I finally got a HP tx2 1375dx for me to teach and my son for college. As Dave mentioned I adjusted the sensitivity and I am quite happy. Only problem I could mention is the weight and the heat (o yes that fan in the corner throwing out a tiny inferno). I use a free university-made software to teach called Classroom Presenter, my students can follow me online in class and make me private questions. Yes, one has to write firmly. Yes, it is not as clever and fast as used to be my old Windows pocket pc (its recognition was far better than my tablet). If I had the time to put down in the same room with the same teaching software the Fujitsu Q550 or the Asus ep121 with the Slate 500 and others, I could say more. Don’t have the time, and you do not get the hardware grants from Fujitsu or Asus that you get from HP, when they hear and read your proposals. So you get some good things and loose others. The perfect slate pc / tablet pc is yet to come.