The HP TouchPad Review: webOS on the Big Screen
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 17, 2011 11:11 PM ESTDisplay
With the exception of Samsung's forthcoming Galaxy Tab 8.9, most tablets these days seem to either fall in the 7-inch or 10-inch camp. The former offers portability while the latter is better suited for more productive environments. Given everything I've said about webOS thus far, it makes sense that HP would choose a 9.7-inch form factor for the TouchPad.
For a device whose primary method of interaction is its screen, having a good display is very important. Thankfully HP did a good job with the TouchPad's IPS panel. The TouchPad's 9.7-inch display is near identical to what Apple used in the iPad 2.
At its highest setting the TouchPad delivers 92% of the brightness of the iPad 2. The loss is noticeable but not the end of the world.
Black levels are also competitive with the iPad 2.
Color calibration of the panel is very good. My review sample had its white point set at 6600K. There are definitely multiple panel vendors used in TouchPads, which is to be expected. I had another TouchPad for a short while and it was even dimmer and had a different white point (~6000K). I would prefer it if tablet makers had tighter tolerances for variance in display panels, but I guess there are bigger problems to solve first.
Ignore the black brightness value at 0%, the colorimeter wouldn't read values that low
Brightness is pretty linear and the white level remains constant regardless of brightness setting. There is a toggle for auto dimming, which I assumed meant dimming based on ambient light but the toggle didn't seem to do much in my testing. I shined an LED flash light all over the TouchPad but couldn't get the display brightness to change at all. Looking around the bezel I don't see any evidence of an ambient light sensor so I'm not entirely sure the purpose of the toggle. Just to be safe I tested in a bright room and disabled the auto dimming toggle for both display and battery life tests.
The webOS UI is generally pretty light so outdoor use is a bit better than Honeycomb, but at max brightness the TouchPad is still not quite bright enough to comfortably deal with direct sunlight. The other problem is how easily the glass picks up grease from your hands. Once you've got a lot of finger prints on the surface it becomes even more difficult to read outside. These aren't TouchPad specific issues, nearly every tablet other than the PlayBook is tough to use in very bright conditions. Seeking shelter or being a hermit with your new tablet are the only present day solutions.
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Saraandy - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
I loved the Comparison table, the most comfortable way to select the best! Thanks for the wonderful write-up on HP touch pad.Inspiring Designs; Creative Excellence!!!Oscarcharliezulu - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Thx Anand, great review I live the extent and depth compared to even print magazines.Web-OS looks good, but I have to say it's a damn shame that really it's missed the market share and Apps boat. HP should use it's expertise to produce great hardware and merge it's webos features with android and become the premier blue-chip tablet maker that way. There is some evidence that developers are even favoring iOS over android as iOS users actually buy apps. What hope does webos have - wouldnt you develop for iOS, android or win8 tablet first way before this or playbook?
We've seen this type of wishful thinking before in the tech world. Perhaps IBM will bring out a tablet with os2 warp on it?
audemars02 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
wow,just like your veer review, this was a very fair and complete review. You clearly get what HP is going for and how great this tablet can be. A few quick comments for you on the review:Keyboard - are you that you can resize the keyboard? just hold down the keyboard key on the bottom right and you get 4 size options. Also, you can press-and-hold on most keys to get additional symbols/characters
SMS forwarding - the Pre2 will be able to forward text messages as well once it gets a future software update as well. So the pre2, pre3 and veer will be able to do that
call forwarding - you can actually register the touchpad as a Bluetooth headset for any phone, not just webOS phones...this can be cool for people who dont have a webOS phone yet
app loading times - while it may be slower to load up apps at first, it really needs to be said that once loaded up as a card, app loading times become instantaneous due to webOS's awesome multitasking
touchstone - you may want to mention that you can still charge the touchpad on the touchstone, even when it is in the HP touchpad case. Its so convienent!
again, great job with your review. I cant wait to see how things get better after the OTA update we will be getting at the end of the month. Should fix a lot of the issues you mentioned
adam
@audemars02
jamawass - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Great review as usual. However call logs for cell phones and skype are logged in the phone application.Also a mention about printing to hp printers ( I have printed succesfully to my network connected mfc-6310, touchpad autodiscovered it effortlessly) would've rounded up your review. Thanks
bobharp - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
The review content and method was clear concise and informative.Great work. I wish I felt I needed a tablet.
Will take a serious look at the Pre3.
Thanks!
randinspace - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
When I read this sentence: "There's tons of room for innovation and we're seeing its competitors offer clear examples of that innovation," I started to wonder how long it would be before Apple sued HP if the TouchPad actually managed to take off.Conner_36 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
i think they wont, because surprise surprise... Palm has patents! Most of these killer features are probably protected by patents and some of the obvious UI holes might be there to avoid law suites.Apple isn't an 'evil' entity, its a business. They got pissed at google when they blatantly changed their andriod os from looking like rims to looking like ios. Android innovation is a step forward two steps backwards. Notice how apple tore the phone away from the carrier and googles fine with handing the market back?
StormyParis - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Thanks for a very complete and informative review. Which casts this tablet under a better light than other reviews, and nicely highlights some strengths (speakers ! yes, watching movies requires good speakers !) and weaknesses.dagamer34 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
The UI for the TouchPad is there, the performance expected of it is not.steven75 - Monday, July 18, 2011 - link
Why buy this over an iPad 2?