After Hewlett-Packard CEO Meg Whitman announced that their PC division will not be spun-off, their HP TouchPad made an effort for a last hurrah and partnered with Best Buy offering the tablet for only $149 if they buy any HP computer.  Some thought that this is finally the end of HP’s effort to make a mark on the tablet market but you are all wrong. HP’s out for more.

The PC-maker seems to think that the operating system is the problem, so they dropped webOS, leaving their new tablet to feature Microsoft’s Windows platform.  The new HP Slate 2 is kind of like a revamped model of the Slate 500, a tablet they launched last year which, like the TouchPad, didn’t bid well in the tablet race.

The new HP Slate 2 has an 8.9 inch multitouch screen with its keyboard equipped with Swype technology.  Powered by an Intel Atom Z670 processor, the Slate runs Windows 7 OS, features mSATA-based solid state flash storage, a TPM embedded security chip and Computrace Pro support in BIOS.  There’s also a front-facing VGA camera, a rear-facing 3 megapixel camera, SRS Premium sound, two USB ports, an SD card slot and HDMI support, and it supports the use of the HP Digital Pen.  Not to mention, it only weighs 1.5 pounds.

The HP Slate 2 will be available later this month for $699.  So if you’re a Windows PC type of person, this tablet will probably entice you.  Save for some lag of course, it’s actually much better than its predecessor.