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HP unveils a 12-inch Android tablet that looks like a giant HTC One

Plus a ton of others running Android and Windows 8

HP wants to sell tablets that range from cheap and accessible to high-end and business-ready, and today it's unveiling a number of new ones that fill in some of the more interesting gaps along that spectrum. Among those are two of the most powerful Android tablets that HP has yet introduced, a pair of Android and Windows tablets that are designed with stylus support, and a stylish new Windows convertible.

The two Android tablets are the headline of HP's announcements today. There's the 12.3-inch Pro Slate 12 and the 7.9-inch Pro Slate 8. Both look nice — almost like blown-up, tablet-sized versions of HTC's One M8 — and both have relatively but not-quite-entirely modern specs, including a Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB of RAM. The really big difference between the two tablets is their resolutions: the Slate 8 matches the iPad with a 4:3 aspect ratio and a 2048 x 1536 resolution, but the Slate 12 has a resolution of just 1600 x 1200 (for a pixel density of 163 ppi, compared to 264 ppi on the iPad). The Slate 12 is pictured in the photo above in an optional folio case.

Both the Slate 8 and Slate 12 are running KitKat and include a handful of pre-installed HP apps. Though HP is marketing them as business-ready tablets, that's primarily because HP is ready to sell you an entire ecosystem of business accessories if you want them — otherwise, they're fairly standard tablets. The other standout feature of these tablets is that they're bundled with HP's new Duet Pen, which allows you to write on any surface and have that writing automatically appear on your tablet. The two tablets are fairly expensive for the Android world, with the Slate 8 selling for $449 and the Slate 12 for $569. You're definitely paying for the bonus of getting a handwriting pen, but that could be a big selling point for students or anyone taking extensive notes at meetings. Both tablets are being made available today.

HP has options for Android and Windows 8

Though it looks a lot different, HP is also introducing an 8-inch Windows tablet today. It's a far more generic, tall, black tablet called the Pro Tablet 408, which runs on a 1.33Ghz Intel Atom processor. It has a 1280 x 800 resolution, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of internal storage. It's coming out today but at a lower price than the new Android models — $299.

HP is also introducing two tablets with stylus support, though that support won't come from the Duet Pen. Those two tablets are the Pro Tablet 10 EE and the Pro Slate 10 EE, which run Windows 8 and Android, respectively. Both tablets are meant for the classroom and appear to be targeted more at schools than students. Each runs on a 1.33 GHz Atom processor, includes 1GB of RAM, and has a 10.1-inch, 1280 x 800 display. Though HP has specifically designed these tablets for use with a stylus (they even have a built-in slot for it), the stylus is sold separately. Still, few tablets are actually designed with a stylus in mind, so HP is at least providing some new options here. The Android tablet will be available starting today for $279, while the Windows model will sell for $299 to HP's education customers and $349 to everyone else.

The final big announcement from HP is the Elite x2 1011, which is a mouthful of a name that translates to a business-grade tablet/laptop convertible with an 11.6-inch display. It has an option of several different Core M processors (ranging from 800 MHz to 1.2GHz), a minimum 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and a choice of resolution between 1366 x 768 and the far nicer 1920 x 1080. The keyboard dock is included with the tablet and adds on additional battery capacity (2-cell, 33WHr in the tablet and 6-cell, 21WHr in the dock). It's a sleek tablet, but you may be taking some power trade-offs because of the Core M processor. It'll be available later this month for $899.

Aside from that, HP is also introducing a tablet for healthcare professionals and a new version of its ElitePad 1000 rugged Windows tablet. None of these immediately stand out as all-stars, but HP's tablet lineup is still getting a lot bigger and a bit nicer after all of these announcements today.

HP Windows 8 and Android tablets

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Pro Slate 12
HP's giant Android tablet from behind. It's available for $569.