HP touchpad tablet $99

[Lucifer Lost]

I don't get it, isn't this discontinued because it was a lemon?

It's fair to say that it lacks a lot of functionality of newer Android tablets:

No memory card slot.
No Rear facing Camera.
Slow Processor.
Poorly supported OS.
Cheap case.
Average screen.

At $500 it's a joke.
At $300-$400 you're better off with a number of Android tablets out than can be had in this range.
At $200-$250 it starts to be interesting, but now that it's discontinued so early in it's life that leaves...
The $100 price point that has created all of the hoopla.

$100 is about what it's worth, imo.

 

[Bryf50]

Slow Processor.

This is a myth brought about by some clueless blog article that made rounds on some tech sites. A 1.2ghz dual-core Snapdragon + the latest Adreno 220 gpu is not a slow processor compared to any tablet currently on the market.

 

[deaner]

I walked into Best Buy, McKinney TX at approx. 7.20pm tonight and got me the 16gb version. They just started selling their Inventory. Love dumb luck...

 

[Doboji]

It's fair to say that it lacks a lot of functionality of newer Android tablets:

No memory card slot.
No Rear facing Camera.
Slow Processor.
Poorly supported OS.
Cheap case.
Average screen.

At $500 it's a joke.
At $300-$400 you're better off with a number of Android tablets out than can be had in this range.
At $200-$250 it starts to be interesting, but now that it's discontinued so early in it's life that leaves...
The $100 price point that has created all of the hoopla.

$100 is about what it's worth, imo.

For $100 this is an absolute steal... It fills 95% of the functionality of all the other tablets 5x the cost. What this thing really lacks is just adoption, and thereby support. It will be interesting to see what happens now... I actually think a well designed Touchpad 2 would sell pretty well in the 300-400 range with all these people now having a taste. Probably won't happen though...

 

[MagickMan]

I'm surprised they let you buy 2, more surprised there wasn't an angry mob ready to beat you down for buying 2 . Both BB's near me were limit 1 per.

I just walked in and asked the guy if they had any, he said, "I think so". He then walked back with a pair and I bought them. /shrug

No one said anything.

 

[batmanuel]

It's fair to say that it lacks a lot of functionality of newer Android tablets:

No memory card slot.
No Rear facing Camera.
Slow Processor.
Poorly supported OS.
Cheap case.
Average screen.

At $500 it's a joke.
At $300-$400 you're better off with a number of Android tablets out than can be had in this range.
At $200-$250 it starts to be interesting, but now that it's discontinued so early in it's life that leaves...
The $100 price point that has created all of the hoopla.

$100 is about what it's worth, imo.

To be fair, the processor really isn't that slow. As the article on the front page of this site demonstrates, it is pretty much on par with the rest of the tablets out there in terms of performance. The only reason it seems laggy is because the OS was poorly optimized compared to iOS or Honeycomb.

 

[lupi]

It's fair to say that it lacks a lot of functionality of newer Android tablets:

No memory card slot.

which not all have, oops to that argument[quote[
No Rear facing Camera.
[/quote]
other than those that want to video conference, I could care less if it had no cameras

Slow Processor.

people seem to say it runs quite buttery once you do novice capable tweaks

Poorly supported OS.

ok, we'll give you one to keep things interesting

Cheap case.

it comes with a case?

Average screen.

other than a couple with subpar screens, I'd call most of them average.

At $500 it's a joke.

just about any is that don't have a cult following

At $300-$400 you're better off with a number of Android tablets out than can be had in this range.

well duh, you pay more for something with a higher expected upside

At $200-$250 it starts to be interesting, but now that it's discontinued so early in it's life that leaves...

if they brought it out, even without android on it, at about $200 you'd have seen almost the same amount of attention on it.

The $100 price point that has created all of the hoopla.

$100 is about what it's worth, imo.

and that's how we know you've lost your knickers. there are items that do nothing other than act as a digital picture frame or just an ebook reader that cost nearly the same or more, and even with the lesser OS install, it's still going to be a much better item than those.

 

[ponyo]

I was at Target and looked at digital picture frame. 10" HP with 800x480 resolution was $100. "10 Sony was $134.

I paid $85 for my 10" Touchpad with 1024x768 IPS screen. Another $40 for Touchstone charging dock. $125 total for kickass picture frame.

 

[iahk]

For additional perspective, the only android tablets you'll see at $99 are some scary chinese 7" tablets with crappy touchscreens and shitty processors.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

the kindle app blows on this thing.

 

[Spike]

loving mine so far. Seems to be very responsive and quick. Even though I paid $160 for my 32gb model it still seems like a great deal to me.

 

[roadrunner2600]

Anyone heard anything on HP possibly adding more to sell online?

 

[trasixes]

It's fair to say that it lacks a lot of functionality of newer Android tablets:

No memory card slot.

True, but it does have USB.

No Rear facing Camera.

I'll give you this one.

Slow Processor.

False. From Anand himself "In most situations I think it's safe to say that the A5 [iPad2] and the APQ8060 [Touchpad] have equally performing CPUs." The touchpad has a killer GPU though.

Poorly supported OS.

Agreed, but really, if you aren't buying the Touchpad for an impending Android port, then you are missing the real potential.

Cheap case.

I can't comment on this one.

Average screen.

Actually, most Android tablets have a lower resolution screen, and are not IPS. This screen is actually quite good.

At $500 it's a joke.

I agree, but I feel the same about the iPad.

At $300-$400 you're better off with a number of Android tablets out than can be had in this range.

I agree. If you are paying that price for the Touchpad, you are indeed a fool.

At $200-$250 it starts to be interesting, but now that it's discontinued so early in it's life that leaves...

At $200-$250 it's an awesome tablet, IF/WHEN an android port is released.

The $100 price point that has created all of the hoopla.

$100 is about what it's worth, imo.

I'd actually put it's worth in the $150 range, as it stands with WebOS. With Android, $200-$225.

 

[mikeford]

How much developer attention is the HP likely to get from the Android community, what is 350k potential tablets in terms of level of attraction? From say cobble together a port that mostly works, to factory supported insight and drivers?

 

[Wyndru]

Anyone heard anything on HP possibly adding more to sell online?

I don't know, but wave 2 might already be over, last night before I went to bed the page said "coming soon" and this morning, less than 6 hours later it says "out of stock" :\

I figured that would happen though considering everyone was probably refreshing the page all night long.

 

[RagingBITCH]

I don't know, but wave 2 might already be over, last night before I went to bed the page said "coming soon" and this morning, less than 6 hours later it says "out of stock" :\

I figured that would happen though considering everyone was probably refreshing the page all night long.

Rumor was it was 3AM EST...but it never happened. I think the change was direct to OOS...and that'll change to Add to Cart at sometime in the next X hours/days. No one really knows though.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

To be fair, the processor really isn't that slow. As the article on the front page of this site demonstrates, it is pretty much on par with the rest of the tablets out there in terms of performance. The only reason it seems laggy is because the OS was poorly optimized compared to iOS or Honeycomb.

The main reason it is laggy is because HP enabled maximum logging on it by default. If you follow the directions found on many sites, you can disable the logging and the tablet is much, much faster than before and solves many of these issues. Why HP shipped it this way boggles the mind and if you guys haven't disabled that stuff, see my link earlier and disable it for a much better experience. Also load Preware and install Uberkernal and Govnah, which will allow you to overclock the CPU (it is a 1.5 Ghz CPU which HP only runs at 1.2 Ghz by default).

The biggest problem with the tablet, IMO, is the lack of OS support. I've played with my Touchpad since I got it yesterday and as my first exposure to webOS, I will say that I am impressed and find it unfortunate that it wasn't given more of a chance. However, HP has said that webOS development will continue and they're going to try to license it to others; IMO, that was the reason they got rid of these so cheaply -- they wanted to get a larger installed base out there and fuel some level of adoption and third-party development so it would be easier and more lucrative to license webOS.

And besides all of that, you guys who are bashing the Touchpad and are saying "I wouldn't even buy one for $100!!" are missing one very important point. An Android flavor of some sort is going to end up on this tablet eventually (some have already done it). The hardware is fine -- no issue there; I just wish they would've added a card slot of some sort (of course, you get 50 GB of online storage free, so that helps). So even if development doesn't take off enough on webOS to save it, there is an extremely high probability that we'll be able to load Android and access those apps. If/when that happens, those of us who did buy the tablets for $100/$150 will be the ones laughing.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

For those of you mentioning the lack of a card slot -- I do wish it had one, but keep in mind that you get 50 GB of FREE online storage accessible from anywhere from box.net. That should be one of the first things you sign up for when you get your Touchpad because who knows when/if that offer will go away.

Also, remember, it also has a working Kindle app so you're getting something better than the Nook at less price even if Android never shows up for it.

 

[Rocket321]

Rumor was it was 3AM EST...but it never happened. I think the change was direct to OOS...and that'll change to Add to Cart at sometime in the next X hours/days. No one really knows though.

I pray that you are right. I was on the mailing list to be notified when stock returns and never got an email, so maybe (fingers crossed).

Damn near broke my heart when I woke up and saw out of stock rather than coming soon.

 

[Fritzo]

This is a myth brought about by some clueless blog article that made rounds on some tech sites. A 1.2ghz dual-core Snapdragon + the latest Adreno 220 gpu is not a slow processor compared to any tablet currently on the market.

It's actually pretty snappy, and overclockable to 1.7ghz.

The myth about slowness came about because by default error logging is turned on for every function, stealing a lot of processing power. Turning logging off brings it to life.

 

[Fritzo]

How much developer attention is the HP likely to get from the Android community, what is 350k potential tablets in terms of level of attraction? From say cobble together a port that mostly works, to factory supported insight and drivers?

It runs on Snapdragon, and that chipset is already developed for. 350K tablets is a pretty sizable base compared to smartphone models, so an Android port is virtually guaranteed.

The first version will probably be Gingerbread, not Honeycomb, but even so it will be an awesome port. WebOS itself isn't too shabby.

 

[allisolm]

the kindle app blows on this thing.

I downloaded it, installed it, ran it, downloaded a book from Amazon and brought it up to read all with no problems at all. Book downloaded in the same blink of an eye as it does with my nook. Not sure what all else it's supposed to do that makes it "blow."

 

[SZLiao214]

My order was one of the ones canceled by OnSale. FUUUU no more bathroom computer.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Anyone figure out a way to perform a screen gesture to get back to the top of a webpage? Lame if there isn't one.

 

[fatpat268]

I'm not so sure I'll even install Android if it ever comes out. How is multitasking done on Android? Because it's freaking buttery smooth on WebOS, and I don't think I can go to something worse.

Also, I'm loving the fact that flash displays natively in the browser... not sure if that's possible with android.

I downloaded it, installed it, ran it, downloaded a book from Amazon and brought it up to read all with no problems at all. Book downloaded in the same blink of an eye as it does with my nook. Not sure what all else it's supposed to do that makes it "blow."

Yea, I don't understand this either. It displayed all my preexisting kindle books and displayed them without an issue. What else is it supposed to do?