HP has just brought out eight new tablets, with two Pro Slates catching the eye as the Android market gains more variety.
The Pro Slate 8 and Pro Slate 12 look quite cool and, considering Apple is rumoured to be looking at incorporating a stylus of some sort with its next iPad, it will be interesting to see whether they take off.
That’s because they come with a HP Duet Pen, which doesn’t need to operate on the device at all.
The new tablets have ultrasonic microphones installed in them that receive high-pitch counts emitted from the pen, so whenever you write on any flat surface, within range, then the Slate can translate the drawing or writing, digitally, onto the screen.
Both tablets are powered by a Snapdragon 800 series processor, are less than 8 mm thick with ‘business-day’ battery lives. The Pro Slate 8 is one of the first tablets to market using Gorilla Glass 4, apparently the toughest cover glass to date.
A number of products
Then there is the Elite x2 1011 G1. It’s 11.6 inches and runs Windows 8 Pro. It also enjoys a first, with a WiGig enterprise wireless dock based on a joint collaboration with Intel.
The Pro Tablet 408 G1 is one of the cheaper models, at 9mm thick and 8 inches. It’s an Atom-based tablet, again with Windows 8 Pro. It has micro-HDMI, up to 64GB of storage and an 8-mexapixel rear camera. For teachers there’s the Pro Tablet 10 EE and Pro Slate 10 EE, which each enjoy a stylus, although it’s not the Duet Pen.
At the higher end of the price points, the ElitePad 1000 G2 Healthcare Tablet and Rugged Tablet are each specifically targeted at either healthcare professionals or field workers, such as manufacturers. Interestingly, the healthcare option has an antimicrobial treatment to protect the product and can be cleaned easily, while the Rugged device is better protected for dust and moisture, with 20 hours of battery life.
The logic behind these devices seems sound, with a clear picture of who HP wants to buy them, too.
All these tablets are Windows operated, of course, and they are spread out across the different price ranges. From US$279 for the Pro Slate 10 EE, right up to the ElitePad 1000 G2 Healthcare Tablet for US$1,499 and its Rugged Tablet brother at $1,599.