Windows and touch-operation - with this combination we haven't exactly had the greatest experiences in the past. First we want to try to operate the Slate 2 exclusively with the finger.

Touchscreen

From the start: These input methods should be better avoided. Even if Microsoft strove to optimize Windows 7 for touchscreens, the usefulness lags far behind that of Android or iOS. The problems start right off with tiny size of the icons and drop-down menus, which can only be hit with difficulty, despite the lower pixel density of the display. Some everyday Windows functions, like changing the size of a window, are practically impossible to do with a finger. Thanks to the support of multi-touch gestures, surfing the internet is a little easier, but all in all we must say: Windows 7 is and remains an operating system that is conceptualized for laptops or PCs and is best used there. The touchscreen, which in principal reacts with precision, is not at fault for that.

Stylus

Under these limitations, of course, the manufacturer HP can do very little, but they try to make the best of it. Remedy is provided first by the enclosed active stylus, which fulfills two functions. First, with it the mouse can be precisely positioned almost down to the pixel, and right-clicks are made possible with the help of a key on the stylus itself. Further, any input field can be filled out with the help of Windows' handwriting recognition, which has an astoundingly low rate of error, even when you're writing fast. Unfortunately, as is true with the Fujitsus Q550 as well, the stylus cannot be stored in the device itself.

Distinctive features

As an alternative to Windows 7's on-screen keyboard, HP also installed a so-called Swype keyboard. Using this keyboard, words can be written by scanning over the letters, rather than having to individually select each one - a solution you might be familiar with on your smart phone. Unfortunately, when we started Swype on our test model it showed an error message and quit - and an update to the newest version didn't solve the problem.