Specification Review of HP ELITEPAD 900

Full Featured Review of HP ELITEPAD 900

One of the most affordable and robust Windows 8 tablets around

Windows 8 tablets and hybrid devices powered by Intel's Atom processors score over premium models powered by Core i5 and i7 processors when it comes to battery life. Moreover, they cost half as much and are equally versatile. I already saw some great examples of hybrid devices, such as the HP Envy X2 and Acer Iconia W5, both of which feature detachable designs. The HP ElitePad 900, however, uses a different approach and targets office users.

         The ElitePad 900 resembles an elongated iPad—when held in portrait mode, it’s about an inch taller and a few millimetres narrower. The aspect ratio of the display disappointed us a bit: the display has a resolution of 1280 x 800 pixels which translates to an aspect ratio of 16:10 unlike most laptops and tablets, which have 1366 x 768-pixel displays and aspect ratios of 16:9. The display is vibrant and is protected by Gorilla Glass 2, but a Full HD panel would've been better. The core of the HP ElitePad 900 isn’t much different from that of the HP Envy x2, Acer Iconia W5 and Dell Latitude 10 ST. The Intel Atom Z2760 processor ticks away at 1.8GHz alongside the 2GB of RAM. The variant we received offers 32GB of onboard storage (eMMC SSD type) and comes with Windows 8. 

       An almost invisible 8-megapixel camera is also present at the top right corner of the black patch, accompanied by an LED flash. Below that you have the volumerocker, and the other side houses the microSD and SIM card slots under a plastic flap. 

                                                         

 With Windows Media Player at hand and the option to install a host of third-party media players, you shouldn’t have any problem playing any file on the ElitePad 900. I didn't face any issues when playing MPEG, MP4 and DivX files but you'll need a compatible third-party media player if you want to play MKV or FLV files. The ElitePad 900 easily handles Full HD videos without any any stutter or lag. As for Viewing photos, I recommend using freeware photo viewers such as Google Picasa or IrfanView, that’s more versatile than the built-in photo viewer in Windows.

PERFORMANCE

The Intel Atom Z2760 is best at running basic everyday apps such as the media player, office suite applications, web browser, email client and Windows’ own native apps. Anything heavier will cause the tablet stutter and lag. So don’t expect this tablet to ace at video trans coding or heavy photo editing. However, I particularly impressed by the quality of pictures taken by the 8-megapixel camera. Shoot indoors or in shade, and you’ll get great looking photos with good detailing and colours. However, the camera struggles when it comes to strong back light and high contrast scenes—the highlights are blown and the colours and details go for a toss.

                                                      

BATTERY LIFE

On a single charge, the ElitePad 900 survived for 6 hours and 10 minutes, which is very impressive With light usage you can easily expect the battery to last more than 10 hours. With light usage you can easily expect the ElitePad 900's battery to last for more than 10 hours.

VERDICT AND PRICE IN INDIA

The HP ElitePad 900 is available in two variants 32GB storage with Windows 8 and 64GB storage with Windows 8 Pro. These are priced at Rs 42,200 and Rs 46,600 respectively, which is not quite bad for an Atom-powered Windows 8 tablet with 3G SIM support. If the device had built-in USB 2.0 and HDMI ports, along with a Full HD display, it would have been good bang for the buck.  

     If you have a budget of up to Rs 45,000 for a 3G tablet, then I suggest you go in for the Apple iPad (32GB with Wi-Fi and cellular support). The ElitePad 900 is a worthy consideration only if Windows 8 is a necessity for you.