If you want to join in on the tablet action but refuse to give Big Brother Apple any of your hard earned moolah, your alternatives might be slim at the moment.

According to Wired Gadget Lab, a Mexican blog got some hands on time with HP’s iPad competitor — called the Slate — and was underwhelmed. The Slate’s features aim squarely at the iPad’s main weaknesses. It will run Windows 7, have a camera with video recording, USB ports and an SD card slot. It will also — drumroll please — run Adobe Flash. Despite what sounds like a solid product, Conecti.ca said that the OS takes too long to load and competes more with netbooks than the iPad. In a word, I quote: “meh.”

This echoes the less than flattering words that Engadget had for the Fusion Garage JooJoo earlier this month. It seems that the iPad is sitting squarely atop the category Steve created for it. For now. With Google and Nokia rallying the troops, this battle has only just begun.

UPDATE: Conecti.ca has taken down its post after a request from HP Mexico.