HP Slate 7: worse than we could have imagined

[s44]

Ok, we already knew most of the reasons it would suck from the release announcement, but this...

The Slate 7's display is a 7-inch number that is 600 pixels wide and 1024 pixels tall, a ratio of 1:7.066. But the actual real-world dimensions of the Slate 7's display are 4.4375" (112.7 mm) wide and 6.0625" (154 mm) tall, giving an aspect ratio of 1:7.636.

What this works out to is a screen that's been stretched by 4% along the vertical axis. Instead of filling the space with more pixels (or, you know, just making the device fit the 5.86" inch-tall screen that the 4.4375" width would dictate at that resolution), the screen seems to have been stretched to fit the available space.

I literally can't believe even HP can launch this sort of turd.

 

[Red Storm]

Hahaha

No surprise HP is stuck in the past.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I really don't understand why companies like HP want to put their names on such terrible Android tablets. HP probably should have stuck to doing nothing.

 

[dagamer34]

They clearly built it to a price point and create profit, regardless of the quality they actually ended up with. Problem is that they apparently assign zero value to their brand, or they would never come out with such trash.

Do you think Apple could ever get away with building such a product? No one would spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on their stuff anymore!

 

[Sheep]

They're aiming for people who want the cheapest product possible who will see the HP and Beats branding and think they're getting a quality device. Unfortunately those people who don't know any better or who just want the cheapest thing possible (and will then proceed to bitch about the lack of quality) exist IN DROVES.

This isn't exactly a good way to build a userbase, but it's HP so it's to be expected by now.

 

[Zaap]

Meh. HP. No big surprise. No one quite does clueless like them.

Maybe I'll pick one up for my toddler when they have the inevitable $40 fire sale.

 

[Crono]

HP doesn't move fast enough to be in the tablet space. Though some of their laptops/ultrabooks aren't half bad.

 

[poofyhairguy]

So is this basically a HTC tab? I know they control Beats and don't have a tablet line.

 

[Dominato3r]

Isn't that resolution too low to do the metro snap?

 

[BladeVenom]

Right now at least, you can get the much better looking Nook HD for $150.

 

[Roland00Address]

Isn't that resolution too low to do the metro snap?

It is an android tablet, no metro, no snap.

There are no bad products only bad prices.

What price would this need to be for you to buy it for yourself or as a gift?

 

[lopri]

So this means things will look stretched?

 

[lopri]

I've read somewhere Xperia Z tablet is being recalled.. for not being waterproof enough. Sigh. I fancied using one in my bathtub.

I really want to see a decent Android tablet other than Nexus 7/10.

 

[lifeblood]

There are no bad products only bad prices.

What price would this need to be for you to buy it for yourself or as a gift?

Normally I would agree, but in this case I can't. I would consider getting this for my 10yr old daughter except she wouldn't even use it. She likes fast moving games and would get frustrated by the lousy performance.

The worst part of all this is how much potential WebOS had. I still use a Palm Pixie smartphone and love it. It has many advantages over my wife's iPhone. If HP had just put the time, money, and effort into it they could have had a real winner. <Sigh> Such wasted potential.

HP use to be the king of electronics. Oh how the might have fallen.

 

[lifeblood]

I've read somewhere Xperia Z tablet is being recalled.. for not being waterproof enough. Sigh. I fancied using one in my bathtub.

My daughter reads books in the tub. I'm sure she would love one so she can play games while taking a bubble bath.

 

[Red Storm]

What price would this need to be for you to buy it for yourself or as a gift?

Honestly I wouldn't buy it even if it was $50. Heck it could be free and I still probably wouldn't take it.

 

[Ravynmagi]

It is an android tablet, no metro, no snap.

There are no bad products only bad prices.

What price would this need to be for you to buy it for yourself or as a gift?

Unfortunately since we have these basically subsidized tablets from Amazon, Google, and B&N, there is probably very little room to work with for these budget tablets. They have to make a profit off the hardware, but have to compete against devices they don't have to make a profit of the hardware.

If the Fire HD, Nexus 7, and Nook HD didn't exist, HP could probably price this tablet at $200 and do rather well with it. But they do exist, so they are pricing it at $170 I guess because they can't go much lower and make a profit.

Sadly for HP, there is a far more than a $30 difference worth in quality between the Slate 7 and the Nexus 7. To me the Nexus 7 is easily worth twice what the Slate 7 is, so I wouldn't pay more than $100. Assuming I'd be a person to buy a super budget tablet, I'm not but I'm sure there is a market for it. But I highly doubt HP could build these things and make a profit selling them for $100.

So it's a bad product because it's not possible to price it properly. It really shouldn't exist and it's only chance of success is preying on the ignorance of shoppers how might be lured in by the bright colors and the HP and Beats branding. But if that works, good for them I guess.

 

[Genx87]

Ok, we already knew most of the reasons it would suck from the release announcement, but this...I literally can't believe even HP can launch this sort of turd.

Why? They had firesales on the last tablet they launched as it was that bad.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Why? They had firesales on the last tablet they launched as it was that bad.

The HP Touchpad was a great piece of hardware for the most part. It was HP's CEO that decided the company needed to go in a different direction and abandon WebOS after just 2 months or something that doomed the tablet. Granted WebOS probably didn't have much of a chance anyway against Android and iOS, but HP gave up way too quick.

 

[Insomniator]

WebOS was awesome - shame HP killed it. Touchapd for $500 was hilarious - a baby could have told you that was going to fail miserably. This slate is just awful, I would mayyybeee buy it as a toy for 50 bucks.

This division of the company is clearly lacking in many areas.

 

[ChronoReverse]

The Touchpad itself was pretty good. If it weren't price the same as the iPad it would have worked probably. Killing it immediately after launch torpedoed its chances.

 

[Gleasonator]

Honestly I wouldn't buy it even if it was $50. Heck it could be free and I still probably wouldn't take it.

Hello,

I was given this tablet for free and I took it. It has some pretty glaring issues (searching Google about the stretched screen is why I stumbled upon this thread to begin with) and it really adds nothing new to the table compared to the older (and still superior, for only a few bucks more) Nexus 7.

That being said, it's pretty fucking awesome for $0. This is my first 7" tablet and I do find myself reaching for it more than I expected. The stretched screen is a little bothersome but thankfully it's just software, and nothing an update or custom ROM can't fix.

 

[MrX8503]

Anyone remember Steve Ballmer introducing the first HP Slate? Clearly they were trying to steal Apple's thunder for the rumored iPad. I'm not sure which is funnier, that keynote of the original slate or this new one.