Day 5 with the HP TouchPad
July 5th, 2011, 11:42pm by JakeMan, I mean man, there are so many things to like about this device, compared to a laptop or an iPad. I doubt any other product with this many bugs could’ve hoped to get 7.5 stars from This Is My Next. And if HP squashes them, it’d be a 9.5 in my book, if only the App Catalog could solve the problem that the Chiefs running game never did quite do during DT’s heyday.
So what’s so great? Well, my 3 accessories arrived. I’m typing this post on the Bluetooth keyboard, solid Chicklet keys for sure. Meanwhile the TouchPad is strudily propped up on the HP case. Could even leave the case and use Touchstone charging right through it, and use the keyboard in much the same way. It’s really quite snappy, the random bouts of epic sluggishness are far fewer and further between compared to that which I became accustomed on the Pre. The screen is great, not just for photos but text rendering as well… Why don’t laptops render text so artfully as tablets?
Ah, but it’s a Palm 1.0 product, and what would that be without its share of bugs.Unlike the Pre, at least this sucker is genuinely finished. And polished. But persnickety bits persist in their own fashion. Random reboots are a few a day, although I now have gathered they’re more like interface resets rather than a few cycle. Thankfully, the former takes well under a minute while the latter takes not much more. When that’s happened, it took some Flickr Mundo settings with it, a couple or 3 times so far. Exhibition or Mundo with exhibition is not quite working, as it keeps beginning with the clock displayed instead of my Flickr wallpaper as it should. Exhibition is just a screen saver, for those not in the know, that works while it’s charging on the Touchstone dock.
Surprising to me even though it shouldn’t be, is the mystery of the jumping screen focus. Happens whilst typing in the browser, suddenly I’m magically transported across the page where I can no longer see the form field. Day 1 Pre bug, discouraging it’s still not solved. Bugs with many other apps too, not sure who’s to blame but doesn’t much matter to the user. Typing with the screen propped and the keyboard on my lap works quite well, better than it has any right. Flash settings aren’t sticking properly– either nothing plays or everything plays automatic, even when I’ve selected the option to disable. My Yahoo! Mail magically appeared after a 2 day absence. Rumors are the big bug fix is coming in less than a month, and once it does I would readily recommend it to anyone looking for a great web browsing tablet, social networking tablet or someone that wants a non-Apple tablet.
For now, only true gadget geeks, those with a faith that HP will plug holes in due course, and disillusioned fanboys with a glutton for punishment should bother picking one up. Luckily for HP, I fit neatly into 2 of those categories. Hmmm…. Looks like my shift key might be unintentionally sticky, through hardware or software. Keep an eye on that one. While apps are sparse, there are some gems. I believe that if HP pushes and pushes, and fixes the bugs and supports their devices better, the apps will arrive, though never in iPad quantities.
July 6th, 2011 at 1:32 am
The Ouchpad resolves 5 out of my 6 gripes with the iPad, so that’s a good start :). Of course, you get a whole new set of gripes. Guess you make your bet and you take your chances in this crazy tech world. At first, it seems silly to use a keyboard with a tablet, but I used my friend’s iPad keyboard dock the other day and the typing experience is so much better. Especially the arrow keys; is it true that the Touchpad has no way to accurately place the cursor otherwise? “Trackball mode” sucked compared to the competition, but it was better than nothing.
Are you still seeing the standard Flickr webpage? The html5 version is so much better, you should call your peeps and let them know.
July 6th, 2011 at 2:11 am
The Ouchpad. I hope THAT doesn’t catch on as well as #hpveer.
July 7th, 2011 at 11:18 am
OuchPad — that’s a great Freudian slip typo.
Sure you’ve seen Peter Rojas’s take on the TouchPad, and what HP should do to rescue themselves, from the gdgt newsletter (that I for some reason still receive, and that I often skim, despite not really thinking the site is useful at all).
July 7th, 2011 at 11:58 am
I think July is for Beta testers, I’ll reserve final judgment until HP starts advertising and rolls out the first bug fix, or August 1, whichever comes first. Outside the tech universe, no one knows what the TouchPad is, so it’s a bit much to act as if the underwhelming launch doomed the device. I mean, it’s not like they were running Super Bowl ads (Motorola) or claiming that tablets are finally grown up (RIM).
Much of what PR says is true, but keep in mind that as far as pricing goes, MSRP doesn’t mean the same thing to Apple as the rest of the world. I expect that the TouchPad will be bundled with some high-end devices and available for $100 until MSRP well before Christmas. I expect the bugs will be worked out. I expect that the tent pole apps (movies, Kindle) will be downloaded by the end of summer. If those expectations aren’t met, HP won’t be 2nd in the tablet race, let alone 1 plus.
July 7th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I disagree that only the techies have read about the Touchpad… the terrible reviews are in all sorts of crossover publications. In fact, the techie reviews are the ones that have been most forgiving, because they’re the ones enamored by its “potential.” Sure, HP can turn things around, but how will anyone know if and when HP fixes the bugs? The print publications aren’t going to give it a second review. There’s definitely damage that has already been done. HP should have put on the brakes on the launch once they knew it wasn’t ready for prime time. What were they thinking sending a beta product out for review?
July 7th, 2011 at 1:46 pm
Yeah, they botched the launch. But they didn’t bomb it a la RIM.
July 7th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
That’s pretty small consolation, right? Last I checked, the Playbook is currently tied for last place in tablet sales, along with all the other tablets.
August 5th, 2011 at 1:32 pm
HP Touchpad cheap this weekend (8/6-8/7)!
August 5th, 2011 at 1:33 pm
sorry… it’s at Staples (via Engadget)
August 17th, 2011 at 1:26 am
“Ouchpad” IS catching on… Yikes
http://allthingsd.com/20110816/ouchpad-best-buy-sitting-on-a-pile-of-unsold-hp-tablets/
August 17th, 2011 at 11:16 pm
So what percent of the consumer electronics sales does Best Buy make in the US? According to one source it’s 21%, which seems high. http://www.marketthoughts.com/zs20081113.html That would suggest total sales of only 125,000. I would guess it’s closer to 10% including all outlets, which would still yield sales of only 250,000. Of course, Staples & RadioShack were absolutely burning through stock during their promotions. Wonder if the issue might be that retail is full mostly of the 32GB model?
August 18th, 2011 at 8:40 am
I read some report a few days ago saying that the Transformer was shipping at about 300k per month and selling through at about 250k per month, so if you believe the Amazon best seller rankings at all, those represents ceilings to the first month Touchpad sales. Touchpad has been anywhere from 1 to 15 slots behind the Transformer, so it’s got to be closer to 125K than 250K. Either way, those numbers don’t sound that bad, in a vacuum.
The most implausible part of the wsj article is that Best Buy would order 250 Touchpads per store up front. In the cell phone world, I know BB takes daily drop shipments rather than keep much inventory in store; maybe with other products, they keep more stock in their warehouses.
August 18th, 2011 at 11:44 am
yeah, the 250K at Best Buy sounded odd here as well, surely after their experience w/ PlayBook, Xooom and others should have led Best Buy to set realistic expectations.
August 18th, 2011 at 6:21 pm
Well, that was fun. I find HP’s lack of faith disturbing. [link].