The HP TouchPad Review: webOS on the Big Screen
by Anand Lal Shimpi on July 17, 2011 11:11 PM ESTTouchstone - Wireless Charging but no Wireless Sync
I suspect this bothers me more than most because I tend to have several tablets on my desk at any given time and I'm constantly having to move data onto them, but I can't believe we don't have WiFi media sync across all mobile devices by now. This isn't just a problem with the TouchPad, it's an issue with all Honeycomb tablets and the iPad (the latter gets WiFi sync this fall). RIM was the first to do it right with the PlayBook and I'm very disappointed that HP didn't enable it with the TouchPad.
Instead syncing is done via a standard USB cable. The TouchPad appears as a removable storage device under both Windows and OS X. You also can't use the TouchPad while it's in USB drive mode. Unplugging it without first ejecting it from your Mac/PC makes the TouchPad very unhappy.
The reason I'm so disappointed in HP here is because the TouchPad has the most elegant charging solution of any tablet on the market today - the $80 Touchstone charging dock:
Like the Pre before it, the TouchPad supports inductive charging. Run current through a wire (or coil) and you generate an electromagnetic field around the wire. Put another wire (or coil) in the generated field and you'll induce a voltage across that wire, which in turn can be used to power a device or charge a battery. Put the first wire in a charging dock and the second wire in a tablet and you get a basic idea for how the TouchPad's Touchstone inductive charger works.
The dock itself is really quite simple. It acts as a stand but since there's no physical connection to the TouchPad you just lay it in the cradle to begin charging. You can set the TouchPad in the Touchstone charger either portrait or landscape (but only one way for each orientation) and it will still charge.
Charge time takes about 25% longer on the Touchstone than when plugged in directly to a wall outlet:
| HP TouchPad Charge Time Comparison | ||||
| Plugged in to Wall Adapter | Touchstone | |||
| Charge Time | 3 hours 20 minutes | 4 hours 9 minutes | ||
Four hours for a complete charge isn't bad, especially when you don't need to worry about fumbling with wires or connectors.
When in the dock the TouchPad automatically enters Exhibition Mode, a fancy name for a lock screen with data on it.
In Exhibition mode you can display a nice clock, today's agenda (taken from the Calendar app), a slideshow of all of the photos on your TouchPad or a neat Facebook screen with the latest status updates from your friends:
I like the Touchstone dock a lot, I like convenient ways to charge things and I'm not a fan of adding even more wires to my desk (again I'm a bit more sensitive here than most given how many wires I've got on my desk at any given time). It is expensive, which is the only drawback in my mind. I must mention one more time, that it's a bit absurd to have wireless charging without wireless media syncing in 2011.
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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?