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   HP is set to launch the first iPad competitor, the HP Slate 500. Since HP acquired Palm earlier this year, you would think it might be running the webOS? No, this is the Slate that Steve Balmer showed us at CES in January. It runs Windows 7 with a ATOM processor. It basically is a netbook without a keyboard. It will cost $799 for the 64GB version, a $100 more than the iPad version. It has a 8.9” screen instead of a 9.7” that the iPad has. It does have an SD card slot, which the iPad does not. HP is trying to market this to business users instead of consumers. I can see why, no consumer would want to buy it.
   How does it compare with the iPad for business? It has more processor power than the iPad, which is needed because it runs Windows 7. That processor power will translate into 2-4 hours of battery life. How many business users are going to want a under powered netbook without a keyboard and short battery life? Not many. The iPad is already selling well in many parts of business and I don’t see this being much of a competition. When a webOS version comes out sometime next year, I predict HP will kill the Slate 500.

   It does have one more thing, that the iPad does not. It has a retractable tab for certification logos and licenses, like the Windows License sticker. Yeah, there is a good idea, make a whole new slot just for logos. You can find a picture of this tab was well as other images at Engadget’s hands-on gallery.

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