Techcitement Review: The HP TouchPad, A Postmortem

Why in the world am I reviewing a product that has been discontinued, you ask? Partly because you can likely expect lots of close out deals on the TouchPad now. I still feel strongly that WebOS is a great operating system and hope HP finds a role for it,  What about the hardware though? That’s the rub.

Part I: Look and Feel
Right away, the TouchPad looks dated. The “single center button” is very Apple, but that’s all of the design elements they nicked, which is actually a shame. While the TouchPad is on par with the original iPad in terms of weight, it feels significantly heavier than the current crop of tablets. While this isn’t noticeable unless you handle both, that’s exactly what consumers do when they’re in stores- try the heft out.
The plastic body manages to not feel as slick as the iPad2 and I don’t feel like I’m going to scratch it up like I do with metal cases, but it also feels cheap. Really cheap. Off-brand cheap.

Seems legit.

The actual screen looks great. Viewing angles are good, and glare issues are minimal. Sadly, I don’t think people are getting to this stage to try it out. By the time you handle the thing a few times, you move on to something that doesn’t feel dated.

Then there are the speakers. HP put these on the “bottom” in landscape mode, meaning they’re off to the side in portrait mode – meaning you’re hearing everything out the left side. I know most people hold a tablet sideways for video, but it’s a tad off-putting.

"Adjust the balance. I'm not hearing anything out the right side."

Finally, there’s the lack of a rear camera. I don’t think tablets need a camera at all,  but when you’re pricing your tablet against ones that do, you should probably include it.

Part II: Getting Started
I don’t usually mention this, but boy is the box for the TouchPad a pain in the neck to open. It’s like they’re discouraging you from taking it out.

If the slider for the Pre had been this secure, it might have actually taken off.

Once you do have it out, you need to set up your Palm Profile. Even if you’ve never done this before, it’s quick and easy. There are just a few catches.

First off, you’re going to need a wireless internet connection. Most of us have those, but for some, it’s going to mean a trip to a local Starbucks. Then there’s fact that syncing your Palm Profile (which uses a tech called Synergy to connect your life in the cloud) takes time. Assuming you just set up the connections I did – Gmail, Google Contacts, LinkedIn, Photobucket and Facebook – your device is going to need time to sync. If you already had a Palm profile it’s going to need time to pull down your existing apps. This is not a quick process, and there’s no real heads-up about it for the unwary.

Part III: What I Liked About WebOS 3.x
Part of that is the shipping OS, WebOS 3.0. While great for having more Synergy options and tablet-tweaked versions of existing WebOS apps, it’s also slow. I knew there was already an update, but if you don’t know, you’re going to be cheesed.

The 3.0.2 update makes the tablet feel much more usable. Multi-tasking is as smooth as always, and grouping cards is a great feature. I didn’t like the way HP sectioned the App pages into Apps/Downloads/Favorites/Settings at first, but after about a day I adjusted. My only quibbles are that I think your favorites page should be first, and that you should have the ability to rename and add pages.

I might not do it, but I want the option.

I mentioned that some of the apps were tweaked for tablets, and they did a great job.The Facebook client is better than the actual web site. Image browsing in particular is great. On that topic, the built-in Photo app is much more robust than the phone version, and includes the ability to view your cloud-based image hosts right in the app. It even sorted out my Photobucket albums.

What I really need is an app that'll sort my laundry.

The other tablet tweak existing apps are great too. The E-mail app is simple and functional, and Contacts is nice and clear. I’d actually rate both apps on par with Apple’s solutions for iOS. Indeed, I’d rate Calender and Messaging a big higher. In Calender’s case because of the ability to juggle multiple sources, but for Messaging it’s due to a feature that we’ll get to in Part V. Oh, and the Memo app is tweaked and renamed “Notes”, but it’s still just a Memo app.

"I was hoping the paper would be lined".

JustType, HP’s universal search, works perfectly. Typing gives you prompts for your apps, contacts, maps, Wikipedia, Twiter and Google. Others have similar solutions, but I really think WebOS does this best. Same goes for Notifications. They’ve been moved to the top ala Android, but they’re still slick and unobtrusive. The notification area is also where you can control music apps when not in them, a feature Android badly needs.

Part IV: What I Didn’t Like About WebOS 3x
One of my favorite things about WebOS is the gesture interface. Swiping to delete, swiping to move back in a page,  swiping at gestures, etc. WebOS 3.x on the TouchPad drops that for a simple center button and back key. We still have the ability to “throw away” app cards, but it’s a lot less unique of an experience now.

The lack of any kind of word processor would be a complete and utter deal-breaker were I not already invested in the OS. QuickOffice has a viewer, but has yet to come out with an editor. On my Pre I use an app called Scratch, but that runs in a small window on the TouchPad thanks to the switch in programming rules. I’ve written articles on my Pre and on my iPad- I’d like to do it on my Touchpad. It’s a waste of an otherwise wonderful on-screen keyboard.

That’s another gripe right there – a real lack of tablet ready apps. Contrary to what some think, there really are enough apps for WebOS to get by. The problem is that HP did not give an easy way to scale to the larger screen. To be blunt, it looks like crap. The fact that it impacts Pandora, an app that is expected on a mobile device’s “bare minimum” is almost inexcusable.

Seriously, are they kidding with this junk?

Resized apps are better than no apps though. For reasons that escape me, there is no dedicated “Tasks” app (despite on existing since WebOS 1.x). I know you can just use the Calendar, but considering Apple is finally adding a Tasks app in iOS5, the lack here is baffling.

Then there’s the lack of information. Unless you did a Google Search, you’re not going to know that there’s an update for WebOS out, or that Box.net is giving TouchPad users 50 GB of storage free. Basically, HP seems to have assumed that the users knew this. Considering that WebOS users tend to be very passionate, that’s well and good, but that doesn’t help you reach the masses.

It's like they hired the marketing staff of a comic book company.

Part V: Unexpected Delights
I honestly wasn’t expecting much from the TouchPad’s battery, and was happily surprised. No, it’s not as good as the iPad2, which you can get away with charging once a day. Still, I was able to make it about eight hours on average use (watching videos, reading comics, checking mail and wifi). I’m sure if I was sitting at it all day it would last a bit less, but that’s really quite good.

One of my favorite features of WebOS is the strong Homebrew community.  The TouchPad doesn’t disappoint in that area either. In about fifteen minutes of use, I had my TouchPad overclocked to 1.5 Ghz thanks to Preware and Govnah.

The fate of projects like Preware is up in the air now.

The very best feature of the TouchPad is one that might not work for everyone – phone integration. You can pair your Pre to your TouchPad. Once you do this you’ll get your text messages on your TouchPad. If you’re running a phone running Web OS 2.1 (like I am on my hacked FrankenPre), then you can also answer calls on your TouchPad. This is great. It basically means that when I’m using the TouchPad someone can call me and I don’t even have to pull my phone out of my pocket.  To me, that’s a killer app and one that HP should have been promoting the hell out of. Except that they couldn’t, because they didn’t have the phones out. If HP really does want to license WebOS, then this could be a huge selling feature. Hell, if HP doesn’t, someone else needs to pick up on  this functionality. RIM may want to consider it as a logical extension of the Blackberry Bridge solution for their Playbook.

"Please don't hurt me again."

Part VI: Stuff That I Didn’t Test
I’m not all that  musical, so HP’s Beats Audio didn’t get much of a run-through. I wish HTC luck with that solution though.

Seriously, I haven't even added any music.

Also, one of the most touted features of the TouchPad, Tap-To-Share, was completely untestable, thanks to HP not releasing the Pre3. I’m ok with that, since the feature seemed neat but not all that useful. I’d have far rather seen them put the effort into making the device faster or slimmer.

Part VII: Wrap it Up Already! Geeze!
As you may have noticed, three parts of this review have a decidedly negative slant. No matter how much of a WebOS devotee I may be, I can’t escape the fact that the TouchPad makes a heck of a bad first impression. it comes off as slow, bulky, and chintzy. If you’re already invested in the ecosystem or know how to tweak it, then you can see past that. Except most people have no idea what WebOS is. Add in the fact that there is a paucity of pair-able phones, and the TouchPad simply was not going to sell at their asking price of $499, or even the reduced $399.

The thing is, HP clearly  knew that.  As you’ll see in that article, Devs were able to get WebOS on an iPad2 and it ran over twice as fast as on the TouchPad. This just brings home that the TouchPad was not a device that was ready, and not only was HP right to pull it, they never should have brought it to market as is. Instead, they damaged any existing casual interest. I personally believe the purchase was aimed at Palm’s software (HP still alleges that they intend to use WebOS in some capacity), and at patents (fun fact – Palm owns a patent on hybrid phone/PDAs. I imagine that could come in handy to someone).

Would I advise buying the a TouchPad at closeout prices? I want to, I really do. However, until HP clearly states what sort of support existing users are going, the goals for the OS, and if they’ll even keep the App Market running, I suggest you buy a Nook Color and root it for a good deal.

UPDATE – 8/22: I need to take that back. If you manage to snag the TouchPad for $99, go for it. I honestly didn’t think it would go that low.

The 4G model? Don't expect that to make it into stores.