HP Slate... Sold out till the New Year?

heatlesssun

Extremely [H]
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And the iPad doesn't seem to be an HP Slate killer either.

I've been chatting with a number of HP Slate buyers out there and apparently the damn thing is already a smash hit. HP COMPLETELY underestimated demand and apparently they are only able to make a fraction of what what they can sell. HP's site shows a ship date of early next month but a lot of people are saying they are getting emails saying that there orders are delayed indefinitely.

I know a lot of you think the Slate is expensive but $800 for an active digitizer slate with 5 hours of battery life at only 1.5 lbs.is actually remarkable.

Fortunately I ordered on launch day and hope to have mine next week (that's what my online invoice is still saying and I've not gotten a sorry-gram from HP) and I'll be posting a review. Can't wait for the iPad folks to rip it a new one while it sells like cheap crack.:)
 
My "estimated delivery date" is still 11/12/10. So Looks like I'm still on track to get mine next week.

I agree about the value of the device. Ok, it could be cheaper, but considering the feature set and accessories, it's actually a better deal than getting an equivilant iPad.

For $100 more than a 64GB WiFi only iPad, you get the Active Digitizer w/ pen, dual cameras Docking Station and Case. The last two would cost you an extra $75 or so to buy for the iPad.

I wish this device had the battery life of the iPad, or even the touchsmart TM2, but, I'm looking forward to getting it.

I hope this demonstrates to other would be slate devices that a digitizer w/ pen is something a lot of us really want in a slate.
 
sweet......i'd be willing to bet its the screen on backorder (thats what held my 2740p, guessing popularity was misjudged on that as well)
 
Well I just got one of those delay emails and called HP and the person I just spoke to said no Slate for you next week!:mad: They're saying for me the week of Thanksgiving. I'm going to ping the HP rep that sold me mine and see that he says.
 
raise a shit storm :D got my shipdate for my 2740p(yes different product....same place though) changed back to the origional delayed shipdate rather than the one that was a month after that..
 
Just got a response back from my HP rep. He's THINKING I should get mine next week but he's not sure, they are overwhelmed with orders, HP simply did not anticipate the demand level it looks. So with my luck I'm expecting a delay.:mad:
 
if you do raise a shit storm. You will commonly get some form of discount , at the very least a free gift card (which is what happened with me in regards to my delayed order of the Hp Envy 14)
 
Just got a response back from my HP rep. He's THINKING I should get mine next week but he's not sure, they are overwhelmed with orders, HP simply did not anticipate the demand level it looks. So with my luck I'm expecting a delay.:mad:

maybe they had nay sayers in production ;)
 
I think you're overestimating the popularity of it a bit (you know I'd say that, but it's true!).

You can ship a very small quantity and sell out if your demand is only slightly bigger. I'm glad for HP, but Apple will still have sold more iPads this month than the HP Slate will manage for its next 12 -- probably more than all Windows tablet PCs combined.

The Slate is well-designed for what it is, but it's being built and marketed for insurance claim adjusters and doctors, not "everyone." I'm more interested in the PalmPad, since that's what HP plans to support the most and should have the battery life, interface and performance people actually want.
 
PCs outsell Macs around 10 to 1 but Macs are still popular wouldn't you say?

The HP Slate is looking to be a kick ass note taking and productivity device, non-Windows devices at the moment just can't compete in this area no matter how great the battery life and UI are.
 
PCs outsell Macs around 10 to 1 but Macs are still popular wouldn't you say?

The HP Slate is looking to be a kick ass note taking and productivity device, non-Windows devices at the moment just can't compete in this area no matter how great the battery life and UI are.

I think we can agree in both areas. It's just a question of relative popularity. Also, I'm very curious as to how those Kno tablets work out. They're using a custom Linux OS on a 14-inch capacitive touchscreen (or two, in case of the dual model) that supports pens too, so in theory they could have the HP Slate beat.
 
Yeah, I've been keeping an eye on the Kno, the issue with it will be handwriting recognition, this is one thing that Windows excels at that's a natural fit for slate devices and it's not easy to replicate
 
If I'd ordered at a given date, and they changed it, I'd be calling back demanding a discount for my frustration - if they back down then I'd cancel the order outright.

But that's just me, of course. ;)
 
Yeah I'd pitch a fit too but I'm not even sure I need to yet. My online invoice is still showing a delivery date for this Sunday, which is wrong but is assuming a ship date of this Friday which is when the first units were supposed to ship. Guess we'll know soon enough.
 
Let us know how it works for you, I'm rooting for someone here, more competition is a good thing! *'watches topic*
 
Well, now we know why the Slate 500 has sold out: HP only planned to make 5,000. You can sell out pretty easily when you set the bar that low. It might explain why HP wasn't giving out review units; give out 50 samples and you've set aside 1% of sales.

For reference: when Apple launched the iPad, it was selling about 1 million per month, or about 33,333 per day (that number has since gone up). At that rate, Apple outsold even the increased 9,000-unit Slate order quantity in... seven hours.

Again, the HP Slate can be very useful in the right circumstances, but you can be certain Steve Ballmer won't be holding it up at CES 2011 as the Apple killer he wanted it to be at CES this year.
 
And Apple has spent how many millions promoting the iPad? Not exactly a fair comparison. HP isn't even trying to promote the Slate and I bet that has a lot to do with not wanting to interfere with their webOS plans.

The device that Microsoft will be touting at CES will be the Asus EP121 which will come with a UI that they co-develooed with Asus.
 
My guess is that >75% of the people who're responsible for the 'unprecedented demand' shouldn't be buying it.
 
And Apple has spent how many millions promoting the iPad? Not exactly a fair comparison. HP isn't even trying to promote the Slate and I bet that has a lot to do with not wanting to interfere with their webOS plans.

The device that Microsoft will be touting at CES will be the Asus EP121 which will come with a UI that they co-develooed with Asus.

The webOS tablet has a certain part to play in it, no doubt, but remember what happened in the first half of the year; it was clear HP didn't have confidence that it'd succeed.

I was at the CES keynote where Steve Ballmer first showed the Slate. He gave it a brief demo using an e-reader app and Windows Media Player. HP's promo videos for the first half of the year were showing Flash videos and even syncing an Apple device through iTunes. It, and definitely Microsoft, wanted it so desperately to be an iPad killer.

Acquiring Palm certainly changed HP's tune, but think about when and why it happened: the buyout occurred in the spring, after the Slate was well into development and was even rumored close to release. Odds are, they looked at the cost, the five hours of battery life and the interface and realized it probably wouldn't hold up in the market.

HP could have thrown lots of marketing dollars at the Slate if it wanted, so I don't think that's the issue. And look at how relatively little money it puts into PC marketing but yet still leads in world computer share. Apple most likely managed to hit a sweet spot in price and backed it up with a good interface as well as, very importantly, a good explanation of what you could do with it.

As powerful as a Windows tablet PC can be in certain areas, I don't think Microsoft has ever made a compelling case in marketing (or even at keynotes) for the mainstream user. Some students, some inventory warehouse workers, some serious iSketch addicts, but not someone who just wants to curl up with an e-book or get to e-mail inbox zero at the coffee shop.
 
The thing about using Windows on my W100 and tm2 is that I can do things on a desktop just like a desktop. Now the tm2 is a comvertiable but the HP Slate will have a digital pen as well so that is what is appealing to me.

And you are quite right, Microsoft has not only not had a compelling message about Tablet PCs. it's had no message at all. Microsoft has never really tried to market Tablet PCs and that is odd as Microsoft did make some serious investments in the technology. The handwriting recognition in Windows is rather amazing. It fantastic overall with standard text.
 
My guess is that >75% of the people who're responsible for the 'unprecedented demand' shouldn't be buying it.

Let me guess you think they be better served with an ipad :rolleyes:

Pair this thing with a BT keyboard and you got an ultra portable OneNote note taking device. The ipad can't even compete without an active pen digitizer.

The slate would also be great in replacing older UMPC or tablets that are currently being used in many industries.

Assuming only a couple thousand devices were made, it is not surprising this thing sold out instantly. HP is either incompetent with demand projections, trying to kill the slate (very likely if they're trying to push webOS in the future) , or there is some unknown manufacturer issues.
 
Let me guess you think they be better served with an ipad :rolleyes:

Pair this thing with a BT keyboard and you got an ultra portable OneNote note taking device. The ipad can't even compete without an active pen digitizer.

The slate would also be great in replacing older UMPC or tablets that are currently being used in many industries.

Assuming only a couple thousand devices were made, it is not surprising this thing sold out instantly. HP is either incompetent with demand projections, trying to kill the slate (very likely if they're trying to push webOS in the future) , or there is some unknown manufacturer issues.

Nope. My main issue is with Windows 7 as a slate platform as opposed to a convertible platform - which I think is a far, far more workable prospect at the moment.

I travel with an X201T. The toy - the iPad - stays at home, unless I want it for movies, noodling around, etc - i.e. unless I want a toy on the move.

The Slate is basically the product of an iPad and a pen-enabled netbook in a headlong collision, after which it has both hands tied behind its back.

The HP Slate ships with 'vanilla' 7. Tried prodding Windows (let alone densely packed application) controls with your finger? Or for that matter, even with a pen, day in, day out? How about that Windows onscreen keyboard? Hmmmm?

Now have that be your *sole* interaction method - unless you take the dumb iPadist approach and load it up with cradle, wireless keyboard, mouse, etc (making it heavier than your laptop). No thanks, I'll stick with a convertible until Microsoft gets a common finger *and* pen-friendly presentation layer for Windows sorted out - or someone else manages to make something compelling enough for everyone else to license.

HP realises that it's a half-assed solution as a general-purpose tablet, only genuinely suitable for vertical markets - which is why it's aimed specifically at businesses. Demand from people who are actually better off with iPads because they don't know what they want / don't know what they're buying, being too retarded (and consequently, better off in the Apple world) to consider simple things like the above before getting all excited about an 'anti-iPad' (and they *will* be let down) was perhaps not expected to be high. That is most likely why they didn't make too many of them.

If you're a fan of Windows inking, you should NOT buy the Slate. Because it will make you dislike Windows inking. Wait for better Windows slate experience with an actually usable everyday user interaction mode - and besides, significantly better hardware for this purpose is literally around the corner.
 
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I simply think it's a matter of what you like and are used to and screen size. Navigating with pen and touch on my tm2 convertible is actually pretty nice especially I like text input with the pen. That's the ONE thing that Windows has on mobile OS based slates, it's EXCELLENT handwriting recognition.

It's so good that it's actually a decent input method. I know a lot of people that hate handwriting, to be it. But pens are still powerful input tools and aren't easily replaceable for art, math and science. I like being able to post in ink like I am now. It can have it's quirks but it can also more often than not get chicken scratch right and if something is recognized incorrectly usually the first correction is the proper one, the correction tools are nearly as impressive as the handwriting recognition itself.
 
Yes, Windows handwriting recognition is great. Ink features are great. Searchable notes in Onenote are the bomb. Touch can be responsive. But you're not listening to what I'm saying (or rather not reading what I'm typing). It's all about the everyday interaction, not very narrow specifics of pen use. A stock install of Windows 7 is just not ready for life without a keyboard and a touchpad/mouse.
 
Pair this thing with a BT keyboard and you got an ultra portable OneNote note taking device. The ipad can't even compete without an active pen digitizer.

OneNote on a tablet is just rediculously rediculous. I have it on my laptop for taking notes on top of my professors' presentations and sometimes its annoying because you can't draw properly with a mouse, but with a pen, it'd just be awesome.
 
Okay, at least you understand the strengths, and yes I do understand the weaknesses of touch on Windows 7. The MAIN issue though in my opinion is a simple one though VERY difficult to fix, you simply need more applications that are touch aware, or at the very least work well on a touch screen device. There actually a large number of applications that I can use on my W100, with it's two yet pretty small 7" 1024x600 screens that are touch only, no pen, I can actually do a lot. Of course the W100 has a very a neat virtual keyboard and track pad that work especially well in a hinged design which a regular of slate will have. And of course the HP Slate has no nifty touch enhancements at all being just a vanilla Windows 7 install.

But then there are apps like Steam and Zune that suck on a touch screen, though they can use usable on my W100 because of the track pad, but on an all touch screen device those apps simply don't work. And there are parts of the Windows standard UI that could more touch friendly sure but a lot of if isn't that bad, once again on a bigger screen like the tm2, pretty much all of the Windows UI and options are controllable with touch, it's not always the finger friendly experience but a lot of the stuff that it's are things like deeply nested options menus and such, stuff that one isn't going to actually use that much anyway.

But sure, the iPad is a better touch screen device, I've said it the a million times, that's on of the iPad's great strengths, but like Windows 7 touch screen devices, the iPad also has weaknesses, but people by in large don't seem to be bothered by them give the iPad's great commercial success which is no surprise to me, it's a nice device with that wonderful Apple mantra behind it, how could it NOT have done well.

I think that's it just a matter of time however before Microsoft and Intel cook up enough interesting stuff for Windows 8. Maybe Microsoft won't be able to pull it off be we know Microsoft has a lot of interesting IP in this space, the canceled Courier project for instance. That kind of device would have been a TRUE iPad killer, I think there's little doubt that a well done Courier like device at the right price would have a a formidable opponent to the iPad, I just don't think that the hardware is there to be able to produce a well running and reasonably priced device. But in time there's no doubt that the hardware will get there, and I don't think we're talking more than 2 to 3 years out, maybe 5 but I don't think it's more than that.

But yes, it would behoove Microsoft immensely to make Windows 8 as touch friendly as it can for slate devices as Windows 7 has a lot imperfections in this area, though it's very usable with the right software on larger screen devices, 9 inches +. That is one concern I do have about the slate, the screen might be a little small but then HP might have nailed the size overall, hard to know without actually using one. I hope to be getting mine in next week but HP really has dropped the ball here, they seem to have NO desire to want to sell these things, but it obviously they can sell plenty if they mearly tried.

Sure 9,000 pre-orders is piss ant stuff compared to iPad sales but for PC makers, 9,000 pre-orders for just a single model number is pretty good folks. When was the last time any PC model got 9,000 pre-orders? This kind of thing just doesn't happen in the world of nameless PC devices. I think that it's arguabable to say that the HP Slate is the single most heardled single PC model in the history of PCs. I simply can't think of a single PC model that people have been talking about for so long with its long of confusing history. It's almost become an epic tale leaning on the side of tragedey. HP could have done a LOT with this device but is now going to webOS for it's consumer slates. It'll be intresting how those do compard to the Slate 500.
 
Ah dude, Zune... You have no idea how crestfallen I was when I found how much it completely sucked with touch. It could have been a beautiful love story...
 
Yeah, I'm thinking that by Windows 8 at the latest the Zune desktop client will become become touch friendly, it is a beautiful piece of software, and because of it's importance to the Windows Phone effort I hope they have some good stuff in store for it and a revamped UI that is touch enabled would be awesome.
 
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