New HP BrickPad now only 99.99.

[Sigz]

It's HP, it's not like they've ever been that great of a company.

[XJDenton]

I think the main problem with most companies is that they are trying to make an ipad competitor, whereas they should be trying to make something that would make the ipad completely irrelevant.

That is a hard thing to do...

Word. It's like trying to make a beer that'd make Budweiser irrelevant in the American market. Sure it's very possible to make a product of higher quality than iPad or Bud but both are so deeply entrenched in our marketplace that the real challenge becomes getting folks to judge your product on its own merits as opposed to being brushed off "cuz mah frands ain't got it."

Apple have only come to this position in the last decade. Theres no reason another company can't make the same jump if the product is good enough and marketed well enough.

[black_biff_stadler]

A decade is a virtual eternity in the fast-moving market of today. Also time isn't the only factor, market saturation is a huge factor. Look at how effectively reality television has aided in America's social decay and it's only been prominent since the late-90s at the absolute earliest. Before that reality television was mainly Real World, Road Rules and Cops. The average mouth-breathing consumer puts a lot of stock in being like their peers so the initial discomfort in purchasing something that costs a fair bit of money and not getting the satisfaction of their peers fawning over it probably is a legit factor.

[cramx3]

Just got to work a bit ago and some coworkers were raving about how they found some website that was still selling them for 100 and he bought like 5 for different people and as soon as I walked in they thought id be interested in getting in on one. I said hell no, even for a great price, I have no use for a device that isnt going to be updated and supported. I think those guys are idiots.

[Dimitrius]

I have 2 friends that are hunting for one just so they can put Android Honeycomb on it... I'd do the same.

[Cable]

Ok i'll bite on this... Here is what i use it for... (Now other people use it for loads of other things of course.)

I do almost all of my school work on it. I take it to school and I have my text books inside. I take notes with it and even write code on it!

I surf the web with it on the couch. It's much lighter and nicer to use than a laptop for surfing (and i have a mbpro.)

Streaming to the AppleTv is fantastic. Any music or videos i'm looking at instantly get streamed to my 50 inch plasma. Also it now does OTA mirroring so i can mirror my screen with my TV which is really awesome for surfing or presenting things like presentations.

A mobile gaming device. There are some fantastic and innovative games in the App store and for very cheap.

I trade stock with it on the go.

I don't use it as a musical device but that's because i've been out of the musical loop for a little bit or else I would.

IT's a great eReader. I have tons of books on it including fiction, non fiction, school work and stock trading books. My wife also stores all her books in a different collection and she uses it more than me!

Video conferencing is great because i always have it near me so it's very convenient. Now the've including iMessaging in iOS 5 which is one of my favorite features. Basically you can text message for FREE to any iOS device or Mac.

Having all my emails, contacts, to do lists, music, calendars, and more on it is very convenient. What i love about iCloud is the instant updating. So if i update a calendar event on my phone it automatically updates on the ipad and mac instantly . And vice versa. The same goes for contacts, email, messaging and documents. The integration across all devices with iCloud is superb.

It's a great cookbook. I have a bunch of cookbooks and recipes on it  and it's very convenient to use around the kitchen.

Here are some other cool uses...

lang lang playing flight of the bumblebee...on an iPad
https://youtu.be/HvplGbCBaLA

Expensive Cat Toy
https://youtu.be/Q9NP-AeKX40

Kitchen Entertainment System
https://youtu.be/Cq6My3kEqqk

etc.... There are a million of these!

I will bite the other side.

As a preface, I understand that tablets have a huge piece of the future. I also understand as media devices, and in field work jobs, they are wonderful and make more sense than a laptop or desktop. And the convenience factor is incredible However, replacing a traditional computer for traditional computer tasks is not here yet.

Applications
Keyword maybe is applications, as now they are called apps. But maybe there is a distinction here. Apps are cute little games, and recipe for the day crap. In the computer world, that is what websites are for.
I would not be caught dead using productivity applications on a tablet. Why? Well, take basic word processing. Maybe some can lick it, but I still can type faster on a physical keyboard. And I reckon this will be the case for many, many years. That is until touch typing + voice input gets much better. I will always prefer manipulating spreadsheets with a mouse and keyboard. Why? Speed. I can use keyboard shortcuts and commands while clicking around. The same goes for powerpoint presentation creation.
That is great you like to take notes with it, if you are talking touch alone. I would not, and prefer the physical keyboard still. I have seen people at work use them at meetings, and always have a keyboard attached.

Peripherals/Storage
Next, take my music program. Will Logic Express work on a tablet? More importantly, will a tablet support all of the peripherals without a massive daisy chained hub? When I record, or even do massive powerpoints, I have an extra monitor plugged in, a mouse, a USB interface and a headphone jack. Oh, while being plugged in too. Can a tablet do all of this (which I far as I know, professional quality music applications are non existent)
This is also beside the point. I have all of these peripherals, but if I could daisy chain on a tablet, I would need to buy all sorts of extra things to actually plug all of this in at once. Oh yeah, and a keyboard too. Oh, and I forgot storage too. I will need to plug a hard drive/SSD into the iPad most likely to store my music output.
So we are talking about all these add ons, all these extras. Are we not reaching the price point of a high end PC laptop, and Macbook prices then?

Internet speeds
True 4G is not here yet. And it will not be for a while. Verizon is the only carrier that hits close to what the ITC defined as true 4G speed, and it is half of the speed or something. Even at that, is the service available all over? No, WiFi or 3G is used. And 3G cannot be depended on for great cloud computing.
How can I justify taking forever to upload stuff to the cloud when the affordable option for my home WiFi is slow.
And then we have 3 out of 4 US cell carriers now using some form of data caps. This is not cloud friendly, and thus not 100% tablet friendly.

I will agree that right now, tablets do some things better, or at the least more easily. As you said, video conferencing, syncing with a TV, and e-mails (on one hand). Browsing is also made easier.
But the key points of productivity applications, storage and peripheral usage, and speed are too far off.

Do I expect tablets to get better in some or all of these three? For sure. But not right now, and with cloud services and internet speed & availabilty, not for at least 5 years. With U.S carriers going backwards with internet availability, this future is getting delayed. Or at least until what they call 4G is more viable.

[Sigz]

I never understood how people can take notes on a computer, regardless of whether its a tablet. I hate not having my notes in a physical form.

[orcus116]

People who are buying the HP TouchPad for $99 need to realize that you're buying a $99 brick. No support from devs, no updates, AS-IS.

How does no dev support make it a brick?

Yeah, tjan is totally missing the point here. Probably cause this thread isn't really about the product, it's just another thread about how awesome Apple is and damned be all if anyone disagrees.

lol. No it's a brick. If you buy a product knowing there is going to be no support for it... no updates no fixes no APPS. What do you have?

HP is discontinuing their hardware line. They claim they aren't going to do that with webOs but really who the hell is going to buy it from them? Not apple, not motorola, not nokia. That leaves samsung and HTC both of whom are using Android. This OS is DOA and there will be no support for it. It's a brick.

I thought bricked meant the product was completely unusable, which is different from simply not having any support.

[Sigz]

It does: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brick_(electronics)

[Nigerius Rex]

Yeah but not being usable on Xbox live or another unique identifier service is the same as a banned computer. It still has internet access and a workable platform to function with, just no access to those services.

I don't doubt some savvy owners of current pads will release their own software and updates for it.

[Dimitrius]

Well, a friend of mine bought the 32GB model for $150 at Sam's.

[Scrub206]

Some one should sell me a 16gb one imo :3

EDIT: dont need one anymore 8D. my girlfriend and I just ordered 2 from barnes and nobles !

[XJDenton]

https://www.geek.com/articles/mobile/hp-touchpad-running-android-20110822/