Double the fun, half the trouble

A powerful tablet computer that’s also a full-function notebook computer and allows you to work on your Office documents on the go, the HP Slatebook 10 x2 is an Android-based tablet. Where it differs from most tablets is that it boasts a keyboard that’s actually more than a just keyboard: call it a notebook with a removable screen.

The bottom of the tablet has a special port for connecting to the keyboard and turning it back to a tablet requires no more than releasing the magnetic hinge.

The keyboard has a battery that automatically recharges the tablet part and also comes with a full-sized USB port to allow you to work with your documents stored on a flash drive. An HDMI port is also included allowing you to connect to your large-screen LCD or Plasma TV so that you can use the Slatebook 10 x2 as a HD movie player.

The keyboard also has a SD card slot for you to import photos from your camera’s memory card easily. That SD card slot compensates for the microSD card slot at the bottom of the tablet, which becomes inaccessible once you connect the tablet to the keyboard base.

Slatebook 10 x2 has an overall weight of 1.27 kilogrammes and the tablet part weighs only 0.61 kg.

It sports a sharp and bright 10.1-inch anti-glare LED-backlit IPS display with 1920 x 1200 resolution.

It does not have 3G connection but it uses Wi-Fi 802.11n connection for the Internet and supports Bluetooth 4.0 connection.

Slatebook 10 x2 is a powerful tablet computer. It is powered by NVIDIA Tegra 1.8 GHz quad-core processor and it has 2 GB DDR3 RAM and 64 GB internal storage.

The tablet has dual speakers and its sound system decodes DTS sound encoding, allowing you to enjoy HD movies in various file formats.

Slatebook 10 x2 runs on Google Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean), which is intuitive to use.

During the test, I found that the tablet’s touch screen and menus were responsive. The tablet handled multimedia files fast and smooth. Video clips ran smoothly.

I had no problem connecting the Slatebook’s HDMI port to my Samsung Plasma TV. The Slatebook automatically mirrored the display on the its screen and on the TV display without the need to adjust any setting.

I had no trouble playing a 720p HD video stored on my flash drive from the Slatebook to the Plasma TV and the quality was good. The Slatebook also decoded the DTS sound embedded in the movie.

The notebook’s keyboard worked fine too and I didn’t find it at all awkward even though it’s 91 per cent of a normal keyboard size and is a textured island-style pr chiclet-style keyboard.

The Slatebook comes with HP File Manager for you to browse files kept either on the tablet or on a flash drive as well as with Kingsoft Office for you to work on Microsoft Word, Microsoft PowerPoint and Microsoft Excel files.

The keyboard was responsive during the test and its touchpad worked effectively for moving around the screen and clicking on options.

Slatebook 10 x2 comes with all Google Internet solutions, including Google Search, Voice Search, Gmail, Contact Sync, Calendar Sync, Google Talk and Google Maps.

HP Slatebook 10 x2 retails for Bt19,990 (VAT included).

 

Key specs

_ Operating System: Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)

_ Processor: NVIDIA Tegra T40S 4-Plus-1 Quad (1.8 GHz, 1 MB L2 cache)

_ Memory: 2 GB DDR3L SDRAM (on-board)

_ Video Graphics: NVIDIA Wayne SoC

_ Storage: 64 GB eMMC

_ Display: 10.1-inch WUXGA Anti-glare LED-backlit FHD (1920x1200) IPS LCD

_ Wireless Connectivity: 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN, Bluetooth 4.0

_ Sound: DTS sound + with dual speakers

_ Keyboard: 91 per cent of standard size, textured island-style

_ Pointing Device: HP Imagepad with on/off button and multi-touch gesture support

_ External Ports: Multi-format digital media card reader for MMC and SD cards, 1 HDMI, 1 headphone-out/microphone-in combo, 1 USB 2.0

_ Camera: Front-facing HP webcam with integrated digital microphone; rear-facing FHD camera (2.0MP)

_ Power: 20W AC power adapter; Slate: 2-cell (25WHr) Li-Ion polymer; Base: 2-cell (21WHr) Li-Ion polymer

_ Dimensions: 19.38 x 25.8 x 2.05 cm; Slate only: 18.22 x 25.8 x 0.96 cm

_ Weight: 1.27 kg; Slate only: 0.61 kg