It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that with the iPad selling so well over its opening weekend that we will have loads of competing tablet computers coming to market very soon. One of the tablet machines that we heard about back at CES in January was the HP Slate.

The first glimpse we caught of the Slate is when Microsoft's Steve Ballmer showed the device off during his CES keynote speech. Some are already calling the Slate an iPad killer and whether or not that turns out to be true remains to be seen. InformationWeek reports that some of the key features that users are bemoaning the lack of on the iPad are front and center on the Slate. Things like support for Flash, a camera, SD card slot, and USB connectivity are all featured on the Slate.

InformationWeek also reports that HP released a video of the Slate in action this week that was a scant 30 seconds, but offered enough details to stoke some geek lust in many. The video of the device emphasizes the Windows 7 operating system, which makes the HP Slate much more extendable and open than the iPad. HP is still mum on when we might expect the Slate to hit the market, though it is widely expected to land this fall.

Engadget has a slick chart that shows the difference between the key features of the HP tablet and the iPad. On paper at least it appears that the Slate has the muscle to defeat the iPad. The HP Slate will reportedly cost $549, run a 1.63 GHz Atom Z530 processor, and have five hours of battery life. That is about half the run time that the iPad promises. The Slate also has a smaller 8.9-inch screen compared to the iPad's 9.7-inch screen and a 1024 x 768 screen resolution. 

The base iPad 16GB model is also about $50 cheaper than the entry-level HP Slate. The main ingredient that the HP Slate lacks is the might of the Apple marketing machine and the hoards of fanatically loyal users that Apple boasts.