ZTE owners, views on HP TouchPad?

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Hi Guys,

As I cant seem to find a Touchpad section/forum on Modaco, wondered those of us who have the ZTE Blades, do any of you have the HP Touchpad? And if so, what are your views on it??

Hardware? Good / Bad / Ok

Software: Good / Bad / OK

WebOS: Good / Bad / OK

Android Port(s): Good / Bad / OK

What else do you do with them? Is there a lot of support, or is it as dead as the company gave up on them...??

Cheers, Lister

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Can anyone comment on your experiences...? Need to reach an answer on whether its worth it by tomorrow...

Many thanks, Lister

[Guest Maringer]

Can anyone comment on your experiences...? Need to reach an answer on whether its worth it by tomorrow...

Many thanks, Lister

No experience of using one myself, I'm afraid, but I understand that CM9 alphas are now running on the device so you shouldn't need to worry so much about a lack of support for WebOS.

The hardware is reportedly very good (I was disappointed to miss out on one last year when HP decided to sell them off cheap) so it may be worth a look if you can get one at a good price.

As a disclaimer, I'm not sure how stable or, indeed, how buggy the current CM9 alphas are for this device.

I suppose it all really depends if you want something stable and reliable or enjoy fiddling around with your devices, installing experimental software!

[Guest Stuart_f]

I have both the ZTE Blade and HP Touchpad.

Hardware? Good / Bad / Ok

Good - My biggest gripe is that the back of the device is shiny plastic, there's not much grip! This is easily solved with the official case that I have fitted to it but, IMHO, it wouldn't have taken much to texture the back in the first place. Some say the front camera isn't that great but it's perfectly adequate for Skype, you aren't going to be taking landscape shots with a front facing camera anyway.

The TouchStone charger is total genius, you just drop the charger onto a stand on your desk, it charges and is held up at the right angle for you to use as a web TV, news feed reader, photo frame or, if you are really feeling flush, an overpriced clock. Why no other tablets have this feature I will never know - probably some strange patent thing. If you get a TP, look around for a touchstone to go with it, you'll be glad you did.

Software: Good / Bad / OK

Not sure what you mean by this since you ask about WebOS and Android in other questions.

WebOS: Good / Bad / OK

OK - great interface, poor app support. I think WebOS is way ahead of Gingerbread but ICS has definitely closed the gap. The 'card' interface system is just brilliant but the stock browser is utterly terrible. It won't remember password for instance which makes logging into social network sites a chore rather than a pleasure. The main issue is a lack of apps. With WebOS being released as opensource these software issues may well get fixed in time.

Android Port(s): Good / Bad / OK

CM9 Alpha 2 is running on mine so my opinions are based on that. Some issues may have been fixed in later nightlies. The camera and microphone don't work yet. There's hope that this will be fixed with the release of the new kernel that's coming soon . Other than that the wifi can be a little temperamental, if the access point is on a channel above 6 the default wifi driver seems to disconnect after a random period. A whole new driver is available (search for ath6kl, compat-wireless) and can be flashed to the current rom and seems to fix the issue once and for all.

What else do you do with them? Is there a lot of support, or is it as dead as the company gave up on them...??

Now that it runs ICS, you have all the software support in the world with access to Google, Amazon, getJar and a hundred other app stores.

Having said how good it is, I'm now looking to part ways with my TouchPad. Why? Well, when the great firesale was happening my wife and I deceided we wanted an eBook reader each as we travel and read a lot. Wife wanted a kindle (£89) and I decided I needed something a bit more manly so I went for the 32Gb TouchPad (£112 at the time). My thinking was that with the kindle app, I got everything she did but with a massive colour screen, no need for an external light to read in the dark, ability to run other apps and watch videos while on a flight I was onto a winner at the expense of adequate (9 hour) battery life where she would get several weeks.

Unfortunately, I was wrong.

The TouchPad does have a kindle app but it is NOT an eBook! Not unless you have wrists like a powerlifter. The device isn't exactly heavy but when you are lying on your side trying to read for a prolonged period it puts quite a strain on your wrist, add in that the TouchPad is also just that bit too big to be comfortably held in 1 hand - you can, but it's hard when lying in bed. The final nail in the coffin was reading in sunlight. The screen on the TouchPad is good, really good. There's no problem with reading on it during sun, the issue is what happens when the sun is behind you and you manage to catch it's reflection is the giant, glossy screen. Arghhhhh!! My eyes still burn at the thought of the white heat that went through them! :P

To sum up, the TP is a great tablet. For £112 it's by far the best tablet for the price. Even in the sub £200 range where it now seems to trade hands on eBay I'd struggle to find something to replace it as a tablet - certainly nothing out there with such well designed accessories like the touchstone but for my use case as an eBook, I hate to admit it; the wife was right. Get a kindle.

[Guest Lister Of Smeg]

Hi Maringer and Stuart_F,

First of all, thank you both so much for taking the time to read my post and reply to it, all comments gratefully recieved!!

Thank you for you input, and views shared... I will mainly be using it as an Android Tablet I think rather than WebOS, although as you point out too, I do like the design/look of WebOS....

I was looking to get a Tablet at somepoint (esp Android, as I love the little green robot, and is certainly the fairer system... compared to the likes of nasty Apple... grrr) And so was offered one of these for £100, and just wanted to see if they were any good, and if there is support for them. Originally I too wanted to get one when they were sold for £99, but was unlucky to get my hands on one... :( However as said, this came up at only a £1 more... lol. I tried WebOS, and true, as you say... some bits just dont work well on it... :( Streaming seemed to be a bit laggy??

I certainly share the view on that it is too darn heavy to hold in one hand, and is also slipper little (well, LARGE) fella... However, the hardware is good... and it will do for some fun times!! :) I am also travelling soon, to see a mate and so would be good for Flight and WiFi once get there...

How long I keep it for is another matter, depends on support I guess and whether I see a neat Android Tablet later on...?? ;) Its being sold "as new" and comes with all box/packaging.... and so wondered, given the price they sell for on eBay, would I be able to get my money back if I do decide to part with?? And £100 (or better), not planning to profit from it, but if it holds value and worth it, perhaps could go in my favour...?

Thank you so much for your reply Stuart_F, it certainly covered all aspects I was concerned about really... and has totally helped me out!!! :)

I shall pay for it tomorrow, and have fun with it for a few months, and see how it goes... :)

ps: I installed Android on it tonight also ;) fun fun fun..... :)

Cheers, Lister

[Guest Stuart_f]

As far as holding it's value, I think so. There was a spike right after the firesale where they were going for £250 but then some more reasonable alternatives hit the market showing that the TP'ss initial £450 RRP was fantasy land pricing and the public wouldn't pay that much.

PS. Red Dwarf episodes look great on the TP's screen :D