HP's efforts in the Android tablet space haven't been all that inspiring so far, but they're hoping to change that with the late 2013 line. If you've been waiting on the HP Slate 8 Pro or the Slate 7 Extreme, it looks like Best Buy is the first American retailer to get its hands on the new tablets. You can pick them up for 9.99 and 9.99, respectively.

The Slate 8 Pro is HP's imitation of an iPad Mini. Its 8-inch, 4:3 ratio screen has a resolution of 1600x1200 - odd for an Android tablet, and right in between the original iPad Mini and the newer "retina" model. Under the hood it's got a Tegra 4 processor, a disappointing 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage space and an open MicroSD card slot, a MicroHDMI port, and a 720p/8MP front and rear camera setup with flash. The battery is a respectable 5680mAh, and the Android version is 4.2.

The Slate 7 Extreme is a Tegra Note machine, built on NVIDIA's whitebox hardware. That means that aside from a few case details it's identical to other Tegra Note tablets like the EVGA Note 7. Aside from the 7-inch 1280x800 screen, 5MP rear camera, integrated stylus, and 4100mAh battery, the specs are identical to the Slate 8 Pro. Software is Android 4.2.2, but NVIDIA will be handling the over-the-air updates, so you can expect it to be updated faster and more often than your typical Android tablet.

Best Buy seems to be the only retailer selling these tablets at the moment, including HP's own web store, which shows both as out of stock at the time of writing. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Slate 8 Pro and the Slate 7 Extreme pop up on Amazon, Newegg, and the rest of the usual subjects later this week. There's no sign of the Slate 7 HD or Slate 10 HD tablets, which HP announced at the same time back in September. 

Source: Best Buy - Slate 8 Pro, Slate 7 Extreme