I've only been playing with this device for about a day now and I can safely say I'm going to be using it very heavily for the next few years. I don't regret my decision to buy this over the iPad 2 one bit, even though I was tempted to go over to the iPad since it has more apps.
However, my review will be on the TouchPad's hardware and software. While apps are a very big part of a tablets value and quality, this tablet is still new and it's app catalog landscape can change very rapidly. So I'll get the apps issue out of the way first. Does this OS lack apps? Yes, gravely. Does this mean it's not as good as the iPad? Not at all. I do admit that a lot of HP's promised features are disappointingly absent from the shipped product, as of this review the Kindle app and the Video store are not functional(however you can download a placeholder app that tells you to wait). But HP is not wasting anytime fixing this issue.
Let's get on to the hardware. The unit itself is very solid feeling, the screen is made of guerrilla glass but the case itself is plastic, so I would buy the case for this asap. It is a bit heavy but not enough to cause discomfort from light to moderate use. The hardware buttons on the unit are fairly minimal, you get the power button and the volume rocker and that's it. the lock rotation switch and the mute button are in the OS's drop down menu(very quick and easy to access, but they are still in the OS and not actual buttons). It's a very sleek and beautiful device, my only complaint worth noting is the plastic body. Handle with care. Another thing worth mentioning is that the device does not have a rear facing camera, I never understood why it was necessary since the majority of smartphones already have great cameras, I won't be missing it, but some people may.
Software on the other hand is not mediocre, in my opinion it is the best operating system on a tablet device. Built from the ground up for multitasking and behind-the-scenes synchronizing, HP WebOS will spoil you and make it a tough decision to switch to android or iOS. I'm an original Palm Pre owner, I still have it and I'm not interested in switching until Sprint gets the Pre 3. The OS on this device is magnificent and a breakthrough for mobile computing. However, I'm not saying that this OS is perfect, for one thing it's very resource hungry, the device can start to chug or even freeze for a second or too when too many cards are open(or even if you just have one really complex card open). The OS obviously runs at 60 fps only when there are no cards open, and can slow to a very low fps when things get busy. Apps take a bit to open and the some touches may go unregistered and you'll have to poke it again, only to have it register both presses after it's done chugging. This is by no means a deal breaker, software can be fixed by OTA updates. The OS is still incredibly fast at switching cards and it's notification system is still the best there is. Got a text? It'll politely tap you on the shoulder instead of rudely interrupting you with a screen hogging box.
I would recommend this device to people who want to multitask with their device, webOS allows you to effortlessly switch between tasks. This device is catered toward professionals, students and just plain busy people. HP has a lot of catching up to do but I still have a lot of faith and love for webOS, and I will do my part in helping it succeed.
Things I love about this device:
- Ability to multitask
- Awesome notification system
- Synergy collects all of your contacts and photos from many sources with very little effort from you
- The Enyo SDK allows for very intuitive and streamlined apps
- All of it's apps integrate with each other, when one app needs another to do a task it is opened automatically
- Can connect to other webOS devices and share information semi-seamlessly
- HP has a great developer program, I plan on developing apps and games exclusively for webOS
- Simple and streamlined interface, if you're looking for something it will either be exactly were you think it should be or it will be very easy to find with Just Type
Things I'm not so loving: (Most can be remedied by OTA updates)
- The device can be slow at times
- Built in apps are still a bit buggy
- The app store is a bit empty at the moment
- The device is made of plastic, not good for people who accidentally drop it
- A security vulnerability has already been discovered in webOS 3.0(nothing to panic about, but still worth mentioning)
- The removal of the gesture area is a let down but not a big deal
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