HP TouchPad 16GB

Zitat: The HP TouchPad did not stand up to expectations, so much that it died before getting a chance to be improved. We express our deepest condolences to the Palm team who invented the brilliant webOS user interface. Besides a less sexy design than the competition, the major roadblock for consumers to purchase it (at a $500 price point) is the severe lack of applications, and we all know that now, the value is in the software. The PlayBook is facing a similar challenge, that is why RIM recently decided to unify its mobile offering under one single Operating System . Unfortunately, Palm has never been able to grow a developer community that produces great apps in quantity. The theory under which using “web technology” (HTLM+Javascript) would do just that has failed with a loud bang. In fact, native technologies now dominate the mobile app landscape.

Zitat: Pro: + Nowhere else will you get a tablet of this calibre for £89. Contra: - You´re unlikely to find one, as hordes of bargain-hungry consumers have snapped up much of the UK´s stock.

Zitat: Pro: + Palm´s unique WebOS interface + Adobe Flash-enabled web browsing + Beats audio enhancement + Impressive compatibility with third-party calendar, messaging and email services Contra: - Thick, smudgy physical design - No rear camera or HD video capture - Includes a limited app selection - Cards system isn´t as fully utilised as it could be The TouchPad would have made a great competitor for the original iPad, but its design, features and speed put it behind today´s crop of tablet heavyweights.

Zitat: Pro: + Luscious 9.7″ screen has beautiful colours and excellent viewing angles + Wonderful speaker quality makes mincemeat of its competitors + Robust native apps + Excellent service integration with Synergy + Best multitasking in the business + Great battery life + webOS 3.0 is truly an upgrade, a stunning piece of architecture… Contra: -… with crumbling bricks that don’t always cohere - Heavy, belligerent design - Plastic is a magnet for fingerprints - Lack of third-party apps or developer interest - At times slow The road to TouchPad has been paved with rocks and shards of glass. While we are finally here, nestling the portly device in our weak arms, we cannot help but feel a mixture of resentment and disappointment, with a hint of impatient exasperation, at the finished product. What could have been the first true contender to the iPad’s dominance is instead a fat, bald beta, clearly a first-generation product that, like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 did, should have gone back to the drawing board and be re-designed, optimized and, ultimately, finished, before it was released. As it is, the TouchPad, even with the 3.0.2 update, is a mess of beautiful contradictions its operating system is one of the finest examples of touchscreen modality we have on the market, an artist’s rendition of a bright future in which we swipe, type and scroll our way to content consumption and productivity. Perhaps this is what the next-generation TouchPad will be, and we await it as eagerly and impatiently as we did the first. Until then, even at the sizeable discounts currently being offered by HP and its affiliated retailers, we are reticent to recommend it. If you are set on it, however, be patient, be thoughtful, and for goodness sakes, write an app or two. Gosh knows HP could use the numbers. The HP TouchPad is available for as low as $399.99 for the 16GB version and $499.99 for the 32GB version. A 4G-capable version will be coming to select carriers later in the year.