The Dock and Case

Although they are included in the box, we would be remiss not to mention the excellent dock and case that come with the Slate in any list of essential accessories. The included dock provides additional connection options such as extra USB ports and an audio output jack, making it a great way to use the slate on a desk with ease, even with a keyboard and mouse.

External Optical Drive

One of the biggest criticisms of the iPad is its reliance on a host computer for many operations. Support for external optical drives makes it easy to install programs or even burn discs directly from the Slate, even on the go. This addition helps to blur the line between a tablet and a full-featured laptop.

Ethernet adapter

The Slate comes with great support for wireless standards, but many users may require or prefer a wired ethernet connection. HP’s USB ethernet adapter is designed for just this purpose. It provides wired ethernet when you need it, and can be disconnected and carried along when you don’t.

Wireless keyboard and mouse

While the touchscreen aspect of the Slate 500 is likely what most buyers prefer, there are times when a keyboard and mouse are necessary. It is a good idea to have a wireless keyboard and mouse for times when typing is a priority. In fact, with the extra USB connections on the dock, it is easy to keep these connected, ready to be used with the Slate whenever it is docked.

While the iPad is generally aimed at consumers for home and travel use, HP is targeting mainly business users with the Slate 500. This could certainly be a good thing, as Apple has recently admitted that the iPad is becoming more and more popular with business users.

The Slate is also more of a traditional computer, with an SD card slot and USB port on its body, and two additional USB ports and an HDMI port in the dock once connected. This extra connectivity allows it to interact with more accessories and other devices than the iPad, which is more of a self-contained unit. It runs on a 1.86GHz Intel Atom Z540 processor and contains 2 GB of RAM. Its 64 GB SSD hard drive provides adequate space for most uses.

The Slate 500 runs Windows rather than a specialized operating system. This is likely to be both a major benefit and a major downside. On the one hand, using Windows allows a greater level of compatibility and access to a wide world of software, but without a specifically-designed interface for touch-screen interaction. Although Windows has some limited support for touch interfaces, buyers expecting the kind of integrated interface of the iPad will likely be disappointed. We may see versions of the Slate 500 in the future with an improved interface, but for now, the Windows version is the only choice.

Despite its comparisons to the iPad, the HP Slate 500 could become very popular with business users, and more competition in the tablet market will encourage all manufacturers to improve their products. It remains to be seen whether business users will embrace the Slate.

For one thing, touch screen displays are a lot easier to navigate than even using a traditional mouse. With a touch screen, you simply have to touch what you want to select or interact with, and it’s done. This also allows users to do more delicate tasks than they could with a mouse, as the touch of a finger is easier to coordinate than moving an external mouse to influence the graphical cursor. Eliminating the accommodation for a mouse also frees up hardware space on your laptop, allowing for the keyboard to expand to a fuller size, making it easier to type than on a regular machine.

In fact, the exclusion of a mouse and therefore mouse accessories (such as room for a mouse pad, or a touch pad, or extra USB or serial ports), actually has the potential to lower the production costs of these machines, which in turn makes them more affordable for consumers. Indeed, as more and more touch screen laptops make their way onto the market, prices are continually dropping and becoming even more accessible for users.

Touch screen laptops also add the convenience of features that traditional laptops cannot. For example, students can use a stylus with their touch screen computers and physically write down their notes on their computers, which can be run through text-recognition software and converted to type, or manipulated by a note taking program that can allow them to manipulate and organize their notes in ways traditional pen and paper nor traditional laptops could. It’s also worth noting that many touch screen laptops also include the functionality of having the LCD screen swivel around to essentially make the machine a convertible Tablet PC, which is an added bonus and makes the machine even more portable and easier to work with.

What can you do with the TX2Z’s touch screen? With the same technology made famous by the iPhone and iPod touch, you can easily control objects on the screen by making gestures with multiple fingers at once. Also, users can make an “M” shape with two fingers to launch HP MediaSmart and its touch-enabled media programs. The TX2500Z has a slightly more restrictive touch screen that you could tap on to make selections, but you cannot make any finger gestures.



The TX2Z comes with a unique stylus that is hidden on the right side of the laptops body, close to the front of the keyboard. With the tablet’s handwriting recognition software the notebook deciphers your written words with incredible precision. It reads cursive handwriting as well, and hardly any pressure needs to be applied while writing. Entire words can even disappear completely when they are heavily crossed out.



The HP Pavilion Tablet comes with a 12.1-inch (1280 x 800) display. The picture is consistent at vertical angles, and watching a movie at almost a 180-degree angle horizontally is easily possible. The HP Pavilion Tablet is readily available with SRS Premium Sound audio technology and Altec Lansing speakers for a high quality entertainment experience.