HP Slate 21

Hewlett-Packard launches a truckload of new computers very soon. While my favorite tablet among these newcomers is clearly HP Slate 7 Extreme, there are several more quite interesting tablets and convertibles that deserve some additional attention. One of them is HP Slate 21 AIO, which is, on the first glance, is this apparatus:

Unlike other recent offerings from HP that may show as pre-orders now at best, you can alredy get this one for about $405.

On the specs side of a deal, it looks like nobody outside HP and ever-obliging retailers handled the device just yet, to prove, or disprove some HP claims about this 21.5-incher. So, here's one very uncritical description by a UK retailer:

HP Slate 21 is a revolutionary all-purpose Android tablet and comes with the biggest screen any tablet has ever seen. Boasting a mammoth 21.5-inch IPS capacitive touchscreen, the device is ideal to be used as a full-blown computer or a primary multimedia platform. Its display offers Full HD 1920 x 1080p resolution with the brightest of colors. Stereo surround sound DTS speakers are provided on the bottom front side and deliver rich & loud audio. 
The huge tablet is pre-loaded with Google's Android OS v4.2 Jelly Bean and features NVIDIA's powerful Quad-core Tegra 4 chipset, built for top notch multimedia use specifically Android gaming. The device allows you to configure up to 5 user profiles for separate users. This allows personalized settings/preferences for all kinds of apps/games as well as a unique user experience. Parents can also limit access to apps, files and documents for their kids' profiles. 
Slate 21 includes KingSoft Office software (word processor, spreadsheet, presentation) for free and convenient day-to-day office automation. The device features advanced USB drivers that recognize a regular computer keyboard when plugged in one of the provided USB ports.
The device models a multimedia-focused design. It consists of a standard VESA mount so you can place it on a wall with 15-degree to 70-degree adjustable angle. Moreover, there's a rear kickstand that allows the tablet to be placed at a 30-degree angle on any level surface. 
HP Slate 21 sports an HD TrueVision webcam for video calling. Other prominent specs are - multiple keyboard language support, TV streaming, Wi-Fi, Wireless Direct, Bluetooth v3.0, 8GB storage, microSD memory card slot, support for external Hard Disk Drive/Solid State Drive (via USB port), 3 USB 2.0 ports, access to cloud content, volume control/power buttons on the side and pre-loaded Splashtop2 HD software that allows connection with your Windows based devices. 

More detailed if only for UK specs can be found at HP UK retail site. UK retail price of £349 also doean't include keyboard and mouse. Expect to cough up about $150 for these, too.

This 2.63 inch thick mammoth tablet doesn't have a battery inside, so all the NVIDIA efforts (power-saving 5th core, for example) are wasted with this AIO. Yet the screen back could easily hold a battery big enough to drive this AIO for days on one charge.Then, when you don't care about power consumption, why don't you clock this Tegra 4 up to 1.9...2.2 GHz? Anyway, 2.63 inches of thickness of the slate are full of nothing now.

Nearly stock Android 4.2.2 on this 21.5 incher's bedspread of a screen looks very ridiculous with its tiny icons. Certainly an Android 5 with better scaling/layout is needed here. Then, while 1 GB of RAM sounds good enough to swish those icons around, or do some angrybirding, whereas a serious gaming or 3D modelling would crave for at least 2 GB of RAM.

With 2 GB of RAM, this slab could comfortably run a better/newer Windows RT 2. Sure, it may take Tegra 5 to run full Windows 8 or a good hardware accelerated Linaro.

Last, but not least, is the sad, sad lack of Direct Stylus functionality in this 21.5-incher. The feature is available for HP Slate Extreme from the start. Hopefully, it will be back ported to the HP Slate 21, as actually it's a feature that is in much more demand among large slates/AIOs than for any 7-inchers.

Even with Direct Stylus, if and when it will be available, this HP Slate 21 is nowhere a replacement for Wacom Cintiq 21, but it's roughly 5 times cheaper, so Christmas sales may bring the Slate in the hands of casual doodlers. $299 at fire sale, anyone? Sure beats this Dell touch 21.5 screen for $399 to which you should add a $100 Tegra 4 HDMI stick which doesn't exist yet.