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Is there anyone who was thinking of buying an iPad, PlayBook, or Honeycomb tablet who bought a TouchPad instead?
I ask because it seems like most people buying these super cheap TouchPads either already have a tablet or weren't really in the market for one anyway. Seems like relatively few people are buying one instead of another tablet that they were intending to purchase (though obviously that must be the case for at least some people).
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I picked up the touchpad 32GB because you can't beat the price with a stick and for what it does, it is essentially a chrome OS WIFI tablet. Look at it as a means to: browse the web, take notes, track your calendar, email (client is awesome), and so forth.
The display is beautiful and it punches out multimedia like a champ. Paying $149 for a $499 device - hell yeah - and the sound quality is fantastic!
The display is beautiful and it punches out multimedia like a champ. Paying $149 for a $499 device - hell yeah - and the sound quality is fantastic!
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Definitely. I have a few loaners tablets provided by companies for review, but I never bought one for myself yet. This is simply because there is no tablet that offers all the productivity capabilities I need to justify a price of $400-600.
But with a $99 price tag, I bought a TouchPad on Amazon instantly. I wonder if going about a super-subsidized business model might work for someone trying to take on an iPad. Sony succeeded with taking losses on the PS2 for several years and made up for it with licences thought it hasn't work as well for the PS3. Anyways, it is still amazing to see how much profit margins Apple is making and the mere fact that no one can compare.
On that note, I wonder if the HP TouchPad is possibly the #2 best selling tablet of all time after this massive liquidation sale.
But with a $99 price tag, I bought a TouchPad on Amazon instantly. I wonder if going about a super-subsidized business model might work for someone trying to take on an iPad. Sony succeeded with taking losses on the PS2 for several years and made up for it with licences thought it hasn't work as well for the PS3. Anyways, it is still amazing to see how much profit margins Apple is making and the mere fact that no one can compare.
On that note, I wonder if the HP TouchPad is possibly the #2 best selling tablet of all time after this massive liquidation sale.
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i like th ipad2 quite a bit. The android 7" tablets are a very compelling form factor to me, i'd love to see apple release a smaller ipad, though they've indicated they won't. i don't like the screen on the ipad2, i want the retina display. so months ago i decided to wait for the next iteration of the ipad, but $99 for a touchpad was too good to pass up, so i pulled the trigger.
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Over the past few months I have been pricing out different Android tablet options. I've been looking at the cheaper end of the spectrum specifically the Vizio tablet. If I was going to spend the money for a Xoom or Galaxy Tab I might as well go with an iPad. I have an iPhone 4 and many apps are universal, so I would already have a good starting base. But I also wanted to move away from the iOS platform and experience what else is out there. I was holding off on buying anything until I saw what Amazon might bring to the table.
Of course I don't have a Touchpad yet. I have two pending orders out, we'll see if either takes. I hope they do because I'd really like to have an internet device that I can use in the living room that has a bigger screen than the iPhone.
I believe that if I do get a Touchpad, that will be enough for the next year. Then I can see what Amazon brings out and see what the iPad 3 offers.
TL; DR - I was looking for a tablet, and a Touchpad would stop me from buying another tablet.
Of course I don't have a Touchpad yet. I have two pending orders out, we'll see if either takes. I hope they do because I'd really like to have an internet device that I can use in the living room that has a bigger screen than the iPhone.
I believe that if I do get a Touchpad, that will be enough for the next year. Then I can see what Amazon brings out and see what the iPad 3 offers.
TL; DR - I was looking for a tablet, and a Touchpad would stop me from buying another tablet.
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I wanted to buy a iPad in the future. But the touchpad was too good of a deal to pass up, picked up the last 32GB model at my Best buy and only paid $62 out of pocket after using a gift card. And so far I'm loving it, typing this up right now on it.
Minus the mega app support compared to iOS, this does the job in every aspect. And TBH this is as close as it gets to an iPad. I still would like and iPad but this will do for now.
Minus the mega app support compared to iOS, this does the job in every aspect. And TBH this is as close as it gets to an iPad. I still would like and iPad but this will do for now.
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Instead? No. As well? Absolutely. Already have a Xoom (and previously an iPad 1) but I couldn't resist having a $98 web browser/social networking device kicking around my lounge room. I hold some hope that the tablet hacking community jump onboard and do some fun stuff with it too.
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I wasn't intending to buy a tablet this year (waiting for Ice Cream Sandwich). Then HP dropped the bomb. I bought 4 TouchPads (32GB) to replace the ereaders (Sony PRS-505 and PRS-700, Kindle 2 and Kindle DX) in my home.
My sisters are in university and they wanted something like the iPad because it does color and good PDF rendering (unlike the e-ink ereaders). Unfortunately, 3 iPads cost a lot of money. A 32GB TouchPad @ $149.99 was a no-brainer compared to the competition! The fourth one is for my Mum. She wanted a simple device with Skype for video chat (that's how we stay in touch in the family).
My sisters are in university and they wanted something like the iPad because it does color and good PDF rendering (unlike the e-ink ereaders). Unfortunately, 3 iPads cost a lot of money. A 32GB TouchPad @ $149.99 was a no-brainer compared to the competition! The fourth one is for my Mum. She wanted a simple device with Skype for video chat (that's how we stay in touch in the family).
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I thought about getting a cheaper android tablet, still honeycomb etc, maybe an acer or asus, NO LONGER.
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I was always interested in tablets but the prices were higher then I was willing to pay for. It was hard to justify spending $500 on tablet when I have a Macbook Air and a smartphone that are able to meet most of my needs. For $100 I can see if a tablet is really useful for me and if I do find them useful the TouchPad will hold me off till the next generation of tablets comes out.
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I tried and couldn't. Next item I will have look at will be the Lenove Touch whatever they call it I lost track for business people. I want a decent note taking item that easily recognizes my hand writing and I can do project work on as well.
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hmmm, I do still plan to get a better tablet next year after getting a Touchpad. I had a 7" Galaxy Tab before this. I got the Touchpad because of the price and a few developers planning to add android to it. For now, the Touchpad is pretty sufficient for what I needed it to be.
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I was planning to get an iPad in the future although I don't feel comfortable with Apple's control-freakiness and approach to developers.
The $99 trumped all of the advantages of market leadership for me, if worst comes to worst, that's the price of a lot of other cheap internet appliances it can do the tasks of quite well even with the limited WebOS tablet ecosystem.
The $99 trumped all of the advantages of market leadership for me, if worst comes to worst, that's the price of a lot of other cheap internet appliances it can do the tasks of quite well even with the limited WebOS tablet ecosystem.
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I am loaning my iPad 2 to a friend for a weeklong test drive. She's not a techie, but she heard about the fire sale on TouchPads and is considering one as an alternative. I think she'll get one if she can find one easily. If not, she's already pretty much sold on the iPad.
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my wife has been nosing around for me to upgrade my iPad 1 to an iPad 2 just so she could get the hand me down. Thing is, after playing with several at work i decided i wasn't going to get the value from an upgrade for now (especially given that i have a macbook air 11") so I've held off. but for $149 for the 32gb, i've gone for the touchpad and she'll get the iPad 1.
worse case i hate it and use it less until the next pad comes out and then i load it with kid stuff for my 1 year old to play with it.
worse case i hate it and use it less until the next pad comes out and then i load it with kid stuff for my 1 year old to play with it.
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I bought one, but not "instead of another device". I would bet only about 5-10% of the folks who are among the ones to actually find this thing have iPad, Android or even PlayBook like expectations. And if they do, they really shouldn't. I think at the end of the day, what makes a device like any of these tablets attractive beyond the first month of ownership is the extensibility created by the app ecosystem. I sometimes think about my iPad and wonder if it would get as much action as it does in my house if it had just those base applications.
I suspect many are buying either because it's cheap or because it will be a collector's item or even perhaps to try and flip it on eBay in a few years unboxed. This will be a great "around the house web browser-kinda tablet". (Kinda like I once used my Nokia 770.) But with a dead community and a dead app ecosystem, there's not much more one can expect.
At 1/5th the cost, based on price psychology alone, I don't think these are substitutes for the other devices. (But I'm following this question, because I'd like to hear what people think.)
I suspect many are buying either because it's cheap or because it will be a collector's item or even perhaps to try and flip it on eBay in a few years unboxed. This will be a great "around the house web browser-kinda tablet". (Kinda like I once used my Nokia 770.) But with a dead community and a dead app ecosystem, there's not much more one can expect.
At 1/5th the cost, based on price psychology alone, I don't think these are substitutes for the other devices. (But I'm following this question, because I'd like to hear what people think.)
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$99 tempting. Just doesn't seem prudent to take a chance on the platform which I think was quite good! Hopefully a prospective suitor could make a go of it. Hate to see webOS go extinct.
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Not a tablet per se, but I was considering getting a Kindle before school started since I had a little extra cash on me at the moment and I thought it would come in handy for buying books for classes. The digital ink would have been easier on my eyes, but since the Touchpad has a Kindle app and I was on the verge of punting my 4 year old laptop because I hate it so much, it made sense to get a super-cheap tablet.
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I was thinking about picking up an iPad2 but held back because of the price and the fact that I don't NEED it. For this price even if the touchpad never gets another software update or the android port never materializes I don't care. It's current capabilities are enough for the firesale price.
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I had been considering an ipad 2, but then decided to wait for ipad 3.
On further consideration of my use case (prompted by the price drop), I decided that the touchpad would meet my couch surfing needs just fine. A crazy sharp screen (like rumored on ipad 3) would be nice, but I do not think I could justify paying 400 extra (or more) for it over the HP fire sale price.
On further consideration of my use case (prompted by the price drop), I decided that the touchpad would meet my couch surfing needs just fine. A crazy sharp screen (like rumored on ipad 3) would be nice, but I do not think I could justify paying 400 extra (or more) for it over the HP fire sale price.
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I was curiously looking at cheap Android tablets just to, as a geek, get familiar with Android (I have an iPad 1 and a WP7 phone). However the prices were still in the hundreds, and then there's this supposed Amazon tablet coming out that really has my attention. Not to mention Windows 8 tablets next year. Anyway, this fire sale comes across my Twitter timeline Friday night, and I hop on my PC. I went for the HP sale of the 32GB Touchpad Friday night, then got another 32GB and 16GB from Best Buy online yesterday morning. The 16GB will be for my mother-in-law so she could connect to the Internet from free WiFi spots where she lives across the country, and it'd be cool if my kids can video chat with her. The 32GB will be loaded with movies for long car trips, and there will be less fighting over the iPad, which is primarily a movie streamer/player. I might end up with a 32GB Touchpad too many, so it will probably be sold on Cragislist or eBay. As you can probably tell, I'm not in need of many apps. Don't use many on the iPad, either. As long as we can get on the Web, watch videos, maybe a little email and a little Facebook/Twitter, we're good. So, with the Touchpad at that price, why not? Hopefully I'll get a couple of years out of them.
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I own a iPad 2 but I was just thinking about buying a touchpad. Although I already have a tablet, that makes me realize that it works in my lifestyle and workflow so I know that utility of one, and for that price I would just use it as a utility, doing things like dumping my d-slr to it. It could be very useful as a secondary device.
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I was saving up for a honeycomb tablet or ipad3 but I bought a touchpad instead to hold me off until windows 8 tablets show up.
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I have a Windows 7 HP TouchSmart TM2 Tablet that I love. I use it for Adobe CS 5.5 HD video editing, RAW photo editing, InDesign page layout, DVD design, and of course web/email, OneNote, full Office 2010 stuff. Gotta have a Wacom stylus on all of my computers! Previously I had zero interest in the MP3 player with a big-screen type of tablets, but I ordered a $99 TouchPad anyway. I'm not expecting it to be terribly useful, but maybe I can use it for email/web while my real tablet's battery is charging (or it's rendering something in AfterEffects).
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I'm seriously close to picking up a Nook Color and throwing Cyanogen Mod onto it. I'm just waiting for a price drop or a big sale as it's completely non-essential. It's main use would be entertainment for my son (1.7 yrs old atm) I figure I'll rig up a little in-car sleeve for when a video is the only thing that will work. tbh this is what I would have done with the Touchpad @$99, but I missed out.
For the lot listed above none of them interest me at their current prices (TP excluded). I understand why they cost that much (for the most part), but until the prices drop it will remain a bit niche.
For the lot listed above none of them interest me at their current prices (TP excluded). I understand why they cost that much (for the most part), but until the prices drop it will remain a bit niche.
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I ordered two online (hoping for one, but placed an extra order just in case). I've wanted an iPad since they were announced, but haven't had the money for one. We're far enough into the iPad 2's life that I'd rather wait for an iPad 3, but I also don't want to use my MacBook Pro on the couch every day, with its failing battery. For $100, especially with my past fondness for webOS on my Pre Plus, this was an easy decision. I'm just hoping one of my orders is shipped, so I can cancel the other.
Also - I've been thinking about an e-reader. My girlfriend has an original Nook, and my sister has the new Nook. I've been considering a Nook for myself, but thought it would be redundant with my plans for an iPad. This will take over that role, also, and let me use the free Kindle books I already have.
Also - I've been thinking about an e-reader. My girlfriend has an original Nook, and my sister has the new Nook. I've been considering a Nook for myself, but thought it would be redundant with my plans for an iPad. This will take over that role, also, and let me use the free Kindle books I already have.
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Maybe I shouldn't answer this question because I did not buy a TouchPad but if I can find a TouchPad for $100-$150 I will definitively buy one despite not having an ecosystem. I don't feel an ecosystem is as import on a tablet as it is on a phone.
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I have an iPad, iPad2, XOOM and Playbook.. Sold my Galaxy Tab 7 and ended up buying the TouchPad as well for kicks...
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Curious why you own 5 tablets? Developer?
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I'm a webOS guy so not a fair question, I still carry an Original Sprint Pre-. However I am switching to an iPhone as soon as sprint releases one. That said I assumed my first tablet would be an iPad. However HP firesaling the touchpad made me want one right away. I have spent much time and money on apps, relationships and community related to webOS. A $100 touchpad which is good but not great (and plays flash) it worth it to me to keep that going. Still trying to get my hands on one, if HP would release the remaining stock that would help (I don't roll on SHABBOS).
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