Laptop Thoughts: News & Reviews on Laptops, Netbooks, Slates, and More.

"Oh, hello. A trusted tipster just sent in these internal renders of HP / Palm's "Topaz" webOS tablet, which is one of two tablets currently being developed in Sunnyvale. That's right, two tablets: the 9-inch Topaz and a 7-inch model codnamed Opal -- a lineup that fits nicely into Palm's "Something big, Something small, Something beyond" tagline for its upcoming February 9th event."

The tablet space is getting crowded, but with the brand muscle of both HP and Palm, I think they can make some magic happen here - assuming that the specs and price point of the products are in line. There's going to be a 7" and a 9" tablet, and it looks like a button-less design. Engadget has a few more details - looks quite interesting! I wonder though if HP has the muscle to get developers on board with apps? That's the real secret sauce in the tablet race in my opinion - having nice hardware isn't quite enough.

"The last few days have seen a succession of leaked photos and ads for the Dell Streak 7, the company's upcoming tablet. Engadget first published stills from an upcoming ad for the 7-inch tablet, and according to the images, you can expect a similar design to the 5-inch Dell Streak and the same Dell Stage UI running the latest version of Android 2.2."

Dell's five-inch Streak has garnered a few decent reviews, but in the end I think five inches isn't big enough for an ideal tablet experience. Despite what Mr. Jobs might think about seven inch slates, I think it's an ideal size that blends a fairly portable size (think jacket pocket) with a reasonable screen size. I personally think a seven inch slate is the ideal size for my needs; I'm hoping something will catch my eye at CES!