I absolutely love the new hp slate 8 pro! The aspect ratio is perfect on this size tablet. I became interested in this tablet because i had recently purchased an acer a1-810 and loved the viewing area. I liked the size so much i bought one for my sister for christmas. Then i saw the new slate 8 pro, had to get it. I do not regret it one bit! This tablet is great, with a better display than the ipad mini! The 1600x1200 display is crisp and sharp. The tegra 4 processor is smooth and fast. I even downloaded a few nvidia tegra 4 games for testing and they all run smooth as butter. Not to mention it currently is running the android 4.2.2 jelly bean operating system, with updates eventually to android 4.4 kitkat HOPEFULLY!!!!!! Updates are supposed to be coming more often and faster, because they are going to be sent via Nvidia...thanks to the included tegra 4 processor, instead of being sent by HP. Its supposed to be the same with the slate 7 extreme that comes with the tegra 4.
I am very impressed with the whole package on this tablet. In the past 5 years i have owned over a dozen tablets, and this is one of my favorites. It ranks in the top three along with the acer a700 and the a1-810, the acer a1 is in the mix because of its quad cores and it was so awesome for such a cheap price.
In the end, i highly recommend this tablet, from my experience, you would be hard pressed to find another high end 8 inch tablet
I love the 8" 4:3 aspect ratio on tablets. It makes viewing web pages perfect, especially at this size. I also have the 8 inch lenovo yoga but its just too difficult to view webpages on such a thin viewing screen.
The miracast wifi direct works great, it connected to my lenovo wd100 dongle on the first try, without any issues at all. It also connected flawlessly via bluetooth to my new hardon karmon bluetooth over the ear headphones.
You also get 25gb of cloud storage for free via box, curtousy of hp, it also works great. The cloud storage via acer cloud works great too. Sound is really great with the included beats audio.
No problems connecting at all via wi-fi, it connects via dual bands at 2.4ghz and at 5ghz without any issues whatsoever.
The tablet also has an hdmi port, even though most sites dont even list it as a available port. I like the way hp enclosed the sd card slot also, just seems to keep it safer from dust and debree. I also like the way the volume rocker is flush with the back so there isnt any accidental pressing...same as the power button too.
The slate 8 also has an included internal app for controlling the processor speed and power. There are three levels, maximum, balanced and power saver, on the power saver mode the processor only utilizes only 2 of the 4 available processors. On balanced it uses all four but limits the frames per second and at maximum it uses all 4 and lifts the frames per second limit. If you arent playing games or multi-tasking i have found that cutting back on the processor really saves your battery.
I do agree that the speakers would be better seperated on each side, not together as they are, when using tablet face up the speakers are both on bottom, but when you turn the tablet on its side both speakers are located on the right. But they do have really good sound for an 8 inch tablet. I dont use them that often though because i usually have bluetooth headphones on or have it connected to one of my soundfreaq sound step speakers i have situated throughout my house.
The hp brand case works real nice, but it does collect dirt real easy. I havent purchased the docking station for the slate line yet, i will ad to this feedback when i do.
Overall i really enjoy this tablet and feel that for the most part,hp did an excellent job. I really hope they give it the kitkat update. I was buying acer tablets but quite that because they never gave any of their tablets any decent updates. They did with earlier/oldr models but not on any of their newer tabs. So now i am giving hp a chance, and from the looks of this tablet, i am glad i did.
In the end, i highly recommend this tablet, from my experience, you would be hard pressed to find another high end 8 inch tablet with these specs at this price, that runs this smoothly, and from a name like hp. My amd a10 quad core gaming laptop is an hp, but my all in one is an acer. Those are currently my 2 favorite brands.
Sorryif my review is a little jumbled and short in areas, currently i am writing this while exercising on my stationary bike and watching supernatural on tv....lol. guess my resolution this year was to multi-task more, lol. If you are thinking about buying this tablet, do it, i guarantee you wont regret it! Good luck....and happy shopping!
P.S. when you first setup you new tablet you might find a few apps that seem to run a little slow, don't fret. This happens with all new tablets, it usually takes a few months for them to get the bugs out of their new model. It's normal, it even happens with the way over priced apple products. When I first bought the lenovo s6000, it took 4 months before the Netflix app would even work. Just remember, as long as the tablet is getting updates, then it is getting faster and more improved. Honestly, I don't think this tablet can get much faster, it's a little speedy Gonzalese...Lol!
