HP Announces Two Hybrid Tablets Models With A Potential Game-Changing Design

 Gadgets  

If you have bought a laptop or tablet in the last few months, you probably thought long and hard about your decision one way or another.  Now with its Split X2 hybrid design, HP might have come up with the ideal solution.  The device functions well as a tablet, but attached to the heavy-duty keyboard dock, the Split X2 becomes a powerful productivity solution too.

Making up for their slow start in the tablet market, HP released two impressive new mobile devices that could shake up the industry.

The Split X2 joins the Windows 8-equipped Envy X2 line and Android-equipped SlateBook X2 line to give the users three choices in hybrid detachable devices.

Both tablets come with their keyboard docks included in the price. This fact, alongside HP’s reputation for build quality, should help them to stand out amid the clamor of rival hybrids from the likes of Samsung, Lenovo, ASUS and Acer , which often charge extra for keyboards. For instance the keyboard covers for the Microsoft Surface cost at least $120 and may actually push customers to just purchasing a better-powered notebook or ultrabook.

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HP designers seem to have come to this conclusion too, including the heavier-duty keyboard dock which allows the tablet to look and function like a productivity device, not just a tablet.

The total weight of the Split x2 with its keyboard is nearly five pounds — double the heft of the Surface Pro. The tradeoff though is that the dock has a lot going for it, on top of its general rigidity: extra ports (including HDMI and USB 3.0), an SD card expansion slot, a 500GB hard drive to complement the fast solid state drive within the tablet itself, and a second battery to increase running time.

This makes the Split x2 a threat not so much to Surface Pro and other tablet devices, but to the hordes of mainstream Windows laptops that do not function as hybrids, or that don’t even have touchscreens.

The Split X2 is a 13.3-inch Windows 8 tablet PC with the detachable keyboard base unit. The Split X2 can function either as a clamshell-style notebook or as a slate tablet, since the system's processor, main storage, and primary battery are all located behind the screen.

Powered by an Intel Core i3 or i5 processor, the Split X2 more processing power than the Intel Atom-powered Envy X2. The Split X2 is just under an inch thick with the keyboard base, and weighs in at a pound heavier than the X2 with a total system weight of 4.12 pounds.

The Split X2 has a 128GB SSD built into the screen, with an optional 500GB spinning hard drive in the keyboard base. This combo lets you carry your apps and critical files with you, while giving you extra storage for media files when you're connected to the keyboard base. Like the Envy X2, the Split X2 comes with an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1080p HD webcam.

The Split X2 runs Windows 8, for a fluid multi-touch screen user experience. This allows the user to use the system as a traditional laptop or as a slate tablet. The keyboard base also gives the user extra battery life and I/O ports like USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and HDMI.

The Split X2 starts at $799 and will be available in August.

HP needs these latest products to sell, and that urgency is happily apparent in the their pricing and design.

By 33rd Square

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