So, just an idea here, but I read that some Best Buys are getting a second shipment of HP Touchpads this coming week. (this could be entirely wrong, so don't hold me to it) Not all of us live in areas with Best Buys, but also don't want to pay ridiculous Craigslist markups. Anybody with some extra time interested in helping one (or more) fellow Subaru lovers out?
They are cheap for a reason. Not fast and have a crappy OS on them. Android has been put on them, but the hardware is the equivalent to something made 1.5 years ago.
I know they're not great, but for roughly $100, I thought it wouldn't be too bad. (cheap tablet for basic browsing, some movies, some books) Equivalent to 1.5 years ago huh? I guess I hadn't read that much. At a glance the specs seemed decent.
Late to market. Failed miserably... Not saying it's not worth getting, just don't expect incredible performance.
Alright I hear what you're saying. Yeah I wouldn't have ever dreamed of paying $550 for what it offered, but I feel like I could do worse for $100. I figure if I go in with average expectations I would be satisfied with it as a basic tablet. Anyway, I was hoping this thread would just bring out anyone that might be able to acquire one. I appreciate your input though.
According to my buddy who works for bb corporate, last weeks shipment only went out to 3 stores in mn. The one location i tried to get one from took delivery of 113 devices according to the system and they were sold out within an hour and a half. I was about half an hour too late lol. My suggestion would be to find out when the shipment is coming then find out what time that particular location typically receives their shipments. Anyway i actually like the os quite a bit. The app market sucks but thats not what i would get one for. It beats the **** out of a nook color for the price. That said, i dont need one and wont be upset if i dont get a hold of one. Hardware is pretty decent, especially for $100... at the original price, not so much.
Not a bad idea, but my issue is that I don't live near a Best Buy. Not even remotely. Did your buddy tell you which 3 stores the first shipments went to? (or maybe that's sensitive info you shouldn't share?) I plan on looking in to where might get them but any info you might have could help too. I sort of have a similar view on the whole thing, I'd like one but won't be crushed if I don't get one. I figured I would try my luck on here and see if there's anyone willing to help.
Yeah he did tell me where they went and how many each store was getting of each model. Im not sure if there really will be another batch going out or if theyll go to the same stores. Ill be asking him throughout the week though lol How far are you from a bb? The next closest locations he could find were eau claire (or maybe he said lax... too far for me so i dont remember) and somewhere in iowa (des moines maybe? Again, didnt listen too closely lol)
I'm in Bemidji. (it's ok, I'll wait whie you google it, haha) Well if he can help you get the drop on somewhere that has them near you (or just any info) I'd be interested in working something out if possible
Really? 1.5 years ago... http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/02/ipad-2-vs-motorola-xoom-vs-hp-touchpad-vs-blackberry-playbook/
Lol! ive been up there a few times for the ojibwe forest rally. Ill have him search that region (south dakota is close?). Otherwise pm me and lmk what youre thinking. Assuming another batch will ship, im willing to put a little more effort into getting one this time around.
Yeah, spec for spec it spanks an iPad. EL OH EL. Dude, sometimes you say some of the dumbest **** with regards to technology. There isn't a single tablet on the market with a 1.2GHz dual core processor, and the iPad has less ram. I got one during the fire sale from HP Small Business. The reason they are slow, and there are tutorials to fix it, is because HP was monitoring the **** out of it so it logs nearly every action it makes, and sends a ton of that info to Palm for webOS development. All of which can be quickly turned off (took me 30 minutes to turn all the logging off, remove some of the unnecessary eye candy, etc...) and then you can easily overclock the unit to 1.5GHz. I bashed tablets because I vewed them as silly toys, but for 100 bucks, this thing has thus far replaced my laptop for daily computer use. The app dept. is lacking for sure, but the dev team over at rootzwiki is closing in on an Android port (no, retard, they haven't ported Android to it, at least not in the wild, Qualcomm had some working builds but right now they are just file dumps from test units). You wont be disappointed. I actually really like webOS, the interfaces make sense for the most part. So far I haven't noticed anything I'd consider "slow." The only snag I've run into so far is the Facebook app, but that was more of an administrative problem as my account is locked down so that new devices accessing it need to be verified before they can be used, so it kept saying invalid request when I'd log in. Otherwise, I've had this thing in my hands and in use for about 24 total hours this week. You aren't going to find a toy this cool for 99 bucks, and it is totally worth every penny. For those of you that aren't thinking of porting Android over when they release it, the apps it does have work very well. There's the requisite "angry birds" game, the webOS chat system covers Gtalk, AIM, and a host of other favorites. There are IRC clients, the Facebook app was designed specificly by HP for the device and it is very nice. The web browser is really good and it has no issues running Flash. Everything blends together well too, the "Just Type" feature is really pretty slick once you figure out how to abuse it. Took me a few hours to figure it out, but there's no need to open browsers once you do. It does all the thinking for you. Great little toy for 99 bucks. You wont be disappointed.
As do I, but odds are that it won't happen, at least not from Apple or its competitors. The HP hardware cost was like 315 dollars If I remember correctly. For profit purposes, 500 and 550 was reasonable. You won't see a device with the Touchpad's specs for 99 dollars for a long while. There are some decent Chinese knockoffs but they arent reliable.
Glad to hear you know everything. Most people who want a tab but can't afford one aren't doing themselves any justice by buying something that is being dumped off and not supported. Good luck with that. You said yourself there are snags. There will be more without support and updates.
Yeah, there was a snag...and as I explained, it was a user error. And yeah, support is going to be an issue for hardware related issues. But as far as software problems, if things go southbound, HP has a tool that can be readily downloaded from them that allows you to easily wipe your device and reload the OS factory fresh. I'm not all that worried.
I'm happy to try to grab one for you if someone gets a tip on where stock is showing up. It is just impossible to get a straight answer out of BB employees. One store I stopped in, this customer had some kid looking up all kinds of stores, how many there were getting and roughly when. Manager type walked by and shut him down - "we don't have any, and we aren't getting any more." The information seems to be in their system, they are just (understandably) sick of getting asked about it, and they don't want to be held responsible if the info they give out isn't 100% accurate. (won't get into the employee hoarding theories...) Pretty sure they only allow one per customer, or maybe one each 16GB and 32GB. Anyway, a couple of my online orders actually went through, so I'm covered but I still want to track down a few accessories. Hopefully they get more of those as well if/when there are more touchpad shipments. For the price, totally worth it. As metioned, turn off logging, overclock it if you want, my only complaint is that it's a bit heavier than I expected. As far as hardware support, I don't really expect much for a $100 device. But HP isn't going anywhere... the warranty is 1 year, put it on MC or AMEX and that doubles to two years. At that point anything you buy now will be obsolete anyway.
A couple of your online orders? How many did you place? I'm also never sure how much I should trust some of the employees at places like that, for every honest one there's a bunch that just want you to leave them alone so they can go back to texting.
We'll just have to see what Amazon comes out with. The Lenovo unit we got last week looked great and actually had a USB host connector <gasp!> Too much money though.
From what I've heard, they may be leaving the consumer and small business realm all together. They might be selling off the laptop and PC business to focus on their data center and enterprise products.
HP TouchPad Becomes #2 Selling Tablet and Will Get Updates Click to read. The H in HP must stand for Highlander because the TouchPad cannot freaking die! Even when HP cut off its oxygen, what happens? It becomes the second-best selling tablet in the world! Now HP says they have some updates planned. Let's not get too carried away here. First off, the article at Fast Company about the TouchPad reaching number two is somewhat speculative, as exact sales figures are hard to come by. Companies boast about how many they shipped, but tend to plead the 5th with it comes to how many they've actually sold. The article claims that the TouchPad will be the first non-Apple tablet to sell more than 500,000 units. It must be noted that 2nd place is miles away from first place. Apple has sold approximately 27.7 million iPads. While progress amongst the competition is definitely a good thing, it's important to note that the only way HP managed to sell these things was by knocking it down to $99. While yes, of course, tablet-makers must find the sweet spot between price and features in order to compete with Apple's 800-pound gorilla, but getting rid of your inventory by selling it at an 80% discount is not a practical business model. It's just trying to minimize blood-loss a little. Elsewhere on the interwebs, an HP representative told CNET, "We expect that HP TouchPad owners can look forward to an over-the-air update that will enhance the platform and add functionality and a growing applications catalog." There were no details about exactly what this update would do, or when it would be, but still, it's an update. This is great news for current TouchPad owners, of course, but it raises the question: if HP is going to keep updating the software for this thing, why the hell are they going to stop making them!? Oh, wait, maybe they won't. Now an HP exec is claiming that they could potentially resurrect the TouchPad. Say whaaaaat? I mean, the concept is exciting, but what's the plan here? Nobody buys them for $500 or $400, then everybody buys them at $99. How about, sayyyyy $300? What do you guys think? People are paying $300 on eBay for TouchPads, wouldn't you pay $300 for the TouchPad 2? [Fast Company and CNET via Ubergizmo]
Click for Story Why Is HP Going to Keep Making TouchPads Through October? After killing the TouchPad and fire sale-ing them at a $100 to get rid of them, HP has announced that they'll still make TouchPads through October. What in the deepest depths of hell is going on? Couple theories: According to analyst Shaw Wu of Strene Agee, HP's deal with Taiwanese manufacturer, Compal, was for between 500,000 and one million TouchPads. Maybe HP hasn't sold enough TouchPads to finish that contract and opting out of the contract would cost more than just building dead dead dead tablets. Or maybe they've paid for parts and figured they might as well use them. Or maybe the HP exec who said the Touchpad will make a comeback was right. BUT WHAT IF it's the greatest bait and switch in technology history and HP ISN'T REALLY GOING TO KILL THE TOUCHPAD AND WEBOS. Yeah, um, probably not that. A boy can dream, though. Either way, if you've been itching to land the TouchPad for a 100 spot, more will be on its way. [HP via AllThingsD]
