HP's newest all-in-one PC, the Slate 21, runs on Android
I’ve mentioned on a few different occasions that I believe Android could be a decent desktop operating system if given the chance, and it seems the same idea is starting to catch on with PC manufacturers. The latest entrant into the world of Android-powered PCs is the HP Slate 21, an all-in-one that tosses out Windows and large storage drives in favor of Android 4.2.2 and 8 GB of flash storage (expandable through the use of SD cards).
The first thing you might notice about the HP Slate 21 is its blinding white exterior. I haven’t seen many all-in-ones in this color, so in that respect, the Slate 21 already stands out visually. As far as hardware goes, the machine packs an Nvidia Tegra 4 and a 21.5-inch 1080p IPS touchscreen display. You can adjust the Slate 21 to sit at any angle between 15 and 75 degrees, though it isn’t designed to lay flat like you might expect a normal tablet to do.
Android is already running on higher resolution displays than 1080p, but it remains to be seen how HP will adjust the operating system to be most effective on such a large display. The HP Slate 21 isn’t the first PC to run Android — the Acer AIO we covered recently does, too — but it’s one of the first I’ve seen that’s being shown off not as a large standing tablet, but as an all-in-one desktop PC, complete with keyboard and mouse.
The HP Slate 21 is set to go on sale sometime in September at a price that could be competitive, should the experience of using an Android-powered PC come anywhere close to the experience on a Windows or Mac desktop — $399. We’ll have more for you on on the HP Slate 21 as we get closer to September. Maybe we’ll even track one down to try out.
What do you think of Android-powered desktop PCs like the HP Slate 21 and Acer AIO? Drop us a line with your thoughts below.