HP SlateBook Puts Android on 14-inch Laptop

HP has Chrome on a 14-inch laptop, so why not Android? Aimed at millenials who want to supersize their Android experience, the SlateBook sports a 14-inch 1080p touchscreen and an Nvidia Tegra 4 processor wrapped in a bright yellow design. The notebook will be available on August 6 for $429, but is Android really ready for the big screen?




PRICE : $399/ 29925 TAKA



Like the smaller HP SlateBook x2, the 14-inch Slatebook will be powered by an Nvidia Tera 4 processor with 2GB of RAM. It will only have 64GB of onboard storage, but the notebook has an SD Card slot, as well as two USB ports, HDMI, and a microSIM card slot. At just 0.6 inches thick and weighing 3.71 pounds, the SlateBook is on the lighter side for 14-inch notebooks, no doubt owing to the lightweight components inside.

As it has a large deck, the SlateBook has a full-size island-style keyboard, as well as a spacious touchpad beneath with integrated mouse buttons. We also like the top row of keys, which let you control brightness, volume, search and Airplane mode. Above the keyboard is a large speaker grille; we’re interested to hear how loud the SlateBook gets.

HP estimates that the Slatebook will last up to 9.25 hours on a charge. That runtime would be longer than most Chromebooks, as well as most most Windows machines of this size (at least in this size and price range).

The idea of a large-screen Android notebook is certainly intriguing, and could make consumers think twice before purchasing, say, the HP Chromebook 14. After all, you’ll get access to a lot more apps than the Chrome store. However, we’ve found the desktop computing experience awkward on other Android-powered laptops and all-in-ones we’ve tested. Perhaps Google will announce some optimizations during its Google I/O event in late June.
One thing’s for sure: Students have yet another option to consider when shopping for a back-to-school notebook.
Editor’s Note: This post originally stated the price of the SlateBook as $399.