Wow, HP Doesn't Suck (at least not that bad... for a little while)

I love technology, although for as much as I'm interested in it, I'm really out of the loop on a lot of things and have no idea what to expect (or want, or be told I will want in the future).  Tablet computers are one of these areas that confuse me.  When Apple first announced the iPad, I felt like many others that it was just an oversized iPod touch (which I still think it is).  I couldn't have imagined the popularity of such a device.  I actually held off a year (which is tough being an Apple fan boy) to purchase one, which I finally did once the iPad 2 was announced.

I purchased my iPad used off of Craigslist.  The announcement of the iPad 2 had driven the used tablet prices down enough that I could now justify purchasing one;  although for what really I didn't know.  The used market was hot, so finding a good deal that hadn't already sold was difficult.  I did find one and I left work mid-day to go pick it up.

The guy I picked it up from worked from home.  He had the iPad in a Skadoosh stand on his kitchen island where he read his news every morning.  He was selling it because he planned on purchasing an iPad 2 and couldn't wait.  When I told him that I wasn't really sure what I'd use it for, he related and told me that he was the same way when he bought it but now found it indispensable.  I thanked him and took it home.

I was so excited to dive in to it, I almost wanted to just pull over and start playing with it.  When I finally did get it set up and began trying to figure out what I would use it for, I kept having to hold back thoughts that I'd rather just be on a laptop.  Having a real keyboard seemed to make more sense, especially since I'd seen keyboard stands for the iPad.  I mean, if you want to sit at a table with the iPad on a stand, typing on a real keyboard, wouldn't it just be easier on a real, full function laptop?

Well I eventually did find some apps that I liked.  News360, eBay, Craigslist and ABC player were a few of my most commonly used.  I still sort of preferred just using my laptop though, as I didn't have to worry about what would and would not work correctly on the iPad.  Not long after my purchase of the tablet (maybe 3 months?) I decided that I'd rather just have an 11' MacBook Air (I'd always wanted a small laptop running OSX as you may have seen in my earlier post where I created a Dell 'Hackintosh').  It was about the same size of the IPad but was much more powerful once opened.  I sold the iPad and bought the Air.  I haven't wanted an iPad since.

This didn't end my interest in tablets though.  Android was getting a lot of attention and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.  Although I wasn't giving up my iPhone anytime soon, I bought a few other smartphones;  a Dell Streak and a few Android based phones.  I also tried some Android tablets and even bought a Nook Color just to root Android on it.  It's currently a triple boot running Gingerbread, Honeycomb and the original Nook software.  What I learned about Android was that it feels a whole lot like Windows, and battery life sucks.  Android is not for me.

At this point, my feeling (and response when asked) is that tablets are a nice novelty, and great for consuming media, but not a replacement for my daily needs on a laptop.

I knew that HP had come out with a tablet, I think I even briefly played with it once in a Staples store.  The sales rep knew nothing about it, recommending the Samsung Galaxy or Motorola Xoom instead.  I also knew that RIM had a Playbook although I knew (and still know) nothing about it.  The blackberry has always been too business oriented for me and didn't fit my 'iOS' lifestyle.  At $600, the HP tablet was just another Android tablet from another non Apple manufacturer.  You see, I assumed that there was iOS and Android, Android being what all the 'Windows' brands had united together to develop and compete with Apple.  Then the fire sale happened.

I heard about it late, I believe on Dealnews.com.  Apparently prices had dropped Friday night and were already long sold out by the time I discovered it on Sunday morning.  I was able to scurry and place a few orders with different retailers that were all eventually cancelled due to insufficient inventory.  At $99 and $149, the HP TouchPad was quickly becoming the best deal in the world.

I kept watching, holding out for the promised second coming, following the HP employees that were supposed to have updates on Twitter and checking the blogs and random Google searches, but eventually decided that purchasing one off of eBay or Craigslist at an inflated cost was still a great deal.  I purchased a 32GB off Craigslist a few weeks ago.

All I knew about HP was that they were another PC manufacturer that used Windows, and the PC's that they did sell had so much manufacturer junk on them that if given an option, I would choose another brand just to save the time from trying to delete all the junk to get back to a stock Windows machine.  I also wasn't a big fan of their recent laptops, the ones that have the same material for the palm rest and trackpad, making it so you can't really tell where one starts and the other ends.  I've also had poor experiences with their support division recently, having a horrible online representative followed by a stuttering phone rep, neither of which resolved my problem.

The TouchPad came with it's own initial issues.  For one, the USB cable that was included in the box didn't work, not allowing me to charge or sync the device.  HP took care of that, sending a replacement cable at no charge.  There was (is) also a small grid of light towards the upper left of the screen which I thought was a defect, but it turns out it's an internal part that can be seen through the screen, just an unrefined detail.  The speakers sounded blown the first time I tried them but apparently that's an intermittent issue after upgrading the WebOS software which I'm hoping gets fixed soon.

Wait...   WebOS?!?

I had no idea that HP didn't use Android on their tablet.  I didn't know (or care to pay attention) to the fact that HP bought Palm and acquired their WebOS software.  Admittedly, had I known I probably wouldn't have cared because the last time I had experienced Palm was back when they made the Palm Pilot, some folks left and created Handspring, and I think I tried a pre-WebOS Palm based phone once
in a pre iPhone time.  Each of those experiences left Palm outside of my field of vision, even further than the Blackberry.  This all changed when I turned on my Touchpad for the first time.

This definitely wasn't Android, or iOS... and for the first time, that was a GOOD thing.  A GREAT thing!  The software worked so well.  A little sluggish at first but like nothing I had experienced before.  There were things called cards which were so easy to navigate and allowed simple multi-tasking, the slide option on many of the screens was so easy to figure out it seemed as though I'd been using it for years and I immediately couldn't figure out how I had lived without it for all that time.  Everything on the screen just looked really good.  Working with it longer I discovered a great battery life, nice online community, easy browsing and then one day... notifications!  I won't get into the notification system but it's very well thought out.  Showing you what you want to know and giving you an option to dismiss it without disrupting what you already may be doing.  I've heard many others describe WebOS as intuitive.  We'll just go with that.
  
I love this Touchpad and WebOS.  In fact, one day I said to my girlfriend that the only things that weren't so great about the Touchpad were the limited app selection and fact that they didn't have a 3G version.  Then I found out that there was a 4G version that had never been released but was available on eBay; mine is coming in a few days.  I love that WebOS looks great, that it doesn't remind me of Windows and that not every screen looks the same with a bunch of app icons all lined up like on iOS.  But I may have fallen in love too late.

Of course buying the Touchpad after the company had 'given up on it', I expected limited support.  This didn't matter initially as I didn't think I'd own it long, or like it as much as I do.  Now that's a big issue.  Now I'm mad that HP mis-handled WebOS.  I feel that if WebOS were put in consumers hands, if retail employees were more familiar with the product and were able to demo it correctly, it could really give iOS a run for it's money.  Had HP made commercials that distinguished themselves from all the other Android tablets and let me know that they weren't Android, I may have been more interested in trying one out sooner.  Despite what the Staples employee was pushing me towards.

I'm pretty easy to please.  I'm not a huge app user, most of the time I just want to browse where I want to go, but at least give me the big players.  Twitter, eBay, Craigslist, Nook, Netflix, Hulu, ABC Player...  I like my News360 too (I'm not even a Netflix subscriber but at least give me the option).  But these may never be.  Rumors are rampant, and I can't keep myself from searching for the latest news every few hours, which makes it even worse.  The future of WebOS is supposedly up in the air.  One article has the new CEO Meg Whitman mentioning the future of HP tablets in Windows 8.  Another has her saying that they haven't given up on WebOS and that she really likes the software.  As with the many others that I've seen post their feelings online, I'm pulling for WebOS.  I think that it destroys Android, maybe even iOS.  Owning this Touchpad has made me want to swap my iPhone for a Pre 3 (although I'm waiting to hear the future of the software before I commit to losing my grandfathered unlimited data plan on my iPhone to do that) and maybe even purchase an HP laptop if WebOS integrates into that too.

I know nothing about how HP operates, or about business on a large scale such as theirs, but as an end user, I know a great product.  I hope that HP's decision allows WebOS to continue to grow and compete.  It would be great if that future were with the powerhouse that is HP but if it's not in the cards (no pun intended), at least don't just kill it off.  Like everyone else, I'll just have to wait and see, although at this point I'm not very optimistic.

BTW...  I typed this on my Touchpad, using the HP Bluetooth keyboard, with my MacBook air in it's case under my coffee table.  Oh how things change.