HP Slate 500 | hpslate500

HP Slate 500, and aimed at business types rather than consumers-up close and in person.

The shipping version will start at 2GB. But it left me wondering whether devices such as HP's Windows slate might be less iPad rivals than a second pass at making Tablet PCs that large numbers of people might actually want.

Slate 500 has Tablet PC features like Microsoft's handwriting-recognition engine, but it has an 8.9″ screen, weighs 1.5 pounds, and will start at a semi-reasonable $799-unlike most Tablets, it's not a laptop in disguise. It feels more like an electronic notepad you might tote just about everywhere, which is what the Tablet PC was aiming for all along.

The Slate 500 is unlikely to be a breakthrough. But if HP perseveres and Microsoft cooperates, a Slate 700, 800, or 900 could finally be the device that Bill Gates was envisioning back at the turn of the century...