HP ElitePad 900

In Xataka Windows we continue testing more gadgets with Windows 8, and this time it was the turn of the HP ElitePad 900, the HP tablet aimed at companies and professionals.

The ElitePad 900 comes with Windows 8 Pro and a powerful 1.8GHz Intel Atom processor for a tablet. It loads a 2 GB RAM and a 64 GB disk (of which more than 20 are already occupied). As good points we have the design and the battery life. Its biggest disadvantages are poor connectivity and dependence on external accessories.

Design and construction

The HP ElitePad 900 is a very well designed tablet. The back is made of aluminum, very pleasant to the touch and resistant. The curved shape and sloping edges make it very comfortable to handle with one or two hands.

The front is all Gorilla Glass, with the advantage that fingerprints are removed with just one wipe of a cloth. The bad thing is that the framework takes up too much space that could have been used better. Like all Windows tablets, we also have the Start button, this time physical and quite flimsy. Probably a tactile button would have been better .

The slot for SIM and microSD cards.

When it comes to buttons and slots, the ElitePad is pretty sparing. At the top of the tablet we have the on/off button, the rotation lock button and the headphone jack.The volume buttons are on the left side of the back, and on the right side we have the microSD and SIM slots.

The connection for the charger, dock and other accessories is at the bottom. There are no more connections: neither USB, nor HDMI nor anything.

The accessories of the HP ElitePad 900, too necessary

HP has lent us this tablet with a jacket and a dock, two very good accessories that add more features to the tablet.

The dock is considerably well designed and quite complete: audio output, four USB ports, Ethernet, HDMI, VGA and power. As a docking station it's perfect, but don't expect to take it for a walk: it weighs an awful lot, much more than the tablet in fact.

On the other hand we have the jacket, a cover for the tablet that adds an additional battery and two USB ports, an HDMI and an SD/MMC card reader. In return, it nearly doubles the weight of the tablet and makes it considerably more uncomfortable to hold in your hand.

The main problem is that they are too necessary. You miss a direct USB connection on the tablet, or a miniHDMI port. There is also no possibility of keeping it tilted if it is not with the dock, a total failure from my point of view.

Display, audio and camera

The ElitePad 900 has a pretty good screen. It's not amazing or anything revolutionary, but it does the job. The tactile response is very fast, comfortable to the touch and does not pick up too much dirt. The resolution (1280x768) could be a bit higher, but otherwise it's sufficient, especially considering that Windows 8 and the Modern UI interface don't demand too high a resolution.

The audio is not bad: the speakers reach sufficient volume although with a little distortion, and as expected with non-existent bass. I also have no quality complaints with the headphones.

The camera, as in any tablet, is rather mediocre. It will save us from trouble and it will be useful for making video calls, but the quality is not for recording a video or for taking vacation photos.

Performance and battery life quite good

The ElitePad's battery life is pretty good. With sporadic use it has lasted a day perfectly. It hasn't left me stranded in the middle of the movie either, and with a more or less intensive use it has been lasting about 8 hours.

The extra battery in the jacket almost doubles the life, but I haven't tried it much either because of how uncomfortable it is.

When it comes to the performance of Windows 8, it is magnificent as we are used to. I have not encountered any lag when working with Modern UI applications or browsing the Internet.

Heresy!

Being Windows 8 Pro, the HP ElitePad 900 seamlessly supports traditional desktop programs, be it Office, Photoshop or even VirtualBox. In the latter case, the virtual machine was not working at all well, but it is still entertaining to press a button and another operating system appears on the tablet.

The only problem is that the processor is 32-bit, so some programs don't work. Of course, this is not usually too serious since most programs work without problems for 32 bits (in my case I only realized it when the installation of the Windows Phone SDK rejected me).

There are not many problems when it comes to connecting it to a second screen either. It only has the limitations of Windows 8 on multi-monitor, such as the impossibility of putting a Modern UI application on each screen.For the rest, it has been as simple as plug it in and go. It even played HD videos (with VLC) on the second screen smoothly.

HP ElitePad 900, conclusions: a good tablet, but…

The HP ElitePad 900 is a good tablet. Well designed, good performance… However, there are some buts. It is a tablet aimed at professional use rather than leisure, and this is precisely the reason why it has Windows 8 and not RT.

However, if we want to use it for work we will need at least the keyboard jacket to be able to recline it and write quietly. Either that or buy the dock and use an additional keyboard. Not to mention that either the dock or the expansion jacket are mandatory if we want to use something as common as USB.

In the end, for the 720 euros it costs we have a tablet that yes, it has Windows 8, but without connections or a keyboard we won't be able to exploit it to the fullest.In that sense, I don't know to what extent it will be worth it compared to other more complete options, such as the Surface Pro itself.

The HP ElitePad 900, by itself and considering its price, does not offer anything that makes it stand out from the rest, no clear advantage that makes us decide for it and not for another. Perhaps adding the keyboard jacket would be a more attractive option, but in this way it would distance us in price from similar tablets, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Lynx. As the market stands, it takes more than a good tablet to compete.