HP Slate7 and Slate8 Pro tablets square off against Nexus 7

It's not often that a single tablet is able to contend with the whole entire rest of the gadget universe, but that's exactly what's happening with the likes of the Nexus 7 – as proven once again with the release of HP's newest set of slates. The HP Slate7 Plus and Slate7 Extreme join the Slate8 Pro in Android tablet releases just in time for the holiday season, NVIDIA Tegra processors in the lot of them. They've all got a bone to pick with Google's own ASUS-made Nexus 7, of course, with this generation rocking Qualcomm Snapdragon silicon rather than last year's Tegra 3.

The biggest draw for most users on these three HP tablets will be their price point matched with their relatively high-quality builds. You'll find the Slate7 Plus appearing for $150, bringing a (tiny) 8GB of space and NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor under the hood. That's quad-core and the same amount of power that last year's (still excellent) Nexus 7 brought to the planet. This machine also has a 1280 x 800 pixel display.

With the Slate7 Extreme you've got 16GB of internal storage and an NVIDIA Tegra 4, the newest and best NVIDIA processor on the market. This slightly more excellent device works with a $200 USD price point, still well inside the value range of the rest of the Android environment. This device also rolls with a 1280 x 800 pixel display (IPS LCD, at that) and an integrated stylus pen that makes use of the Tegra 4's stylus abilities!

Finally there's the HP Slate8 Pro appearing for $330 USD. This machine will be rolling with 16GB of internal storage as well as the NVIDIA Tegra 4 processor and an 8-inch display rather than a 7-inch display. This machine has a 1600 x 1200 pixel display and comes in Snow White while the Slate7 Extreme comes in "Slate silver" and the Slate7 Plus comes in regular ol' Silver.

They're all appearing right up with HP itself this week, and they're (apparently) going fast. Have a peek and see if you're drawn in!