HP TouchPad has recently made its debut in the market with lot of hype and hoopla, so expectations will naturally be there. Some see it as the challenger to the iPad 2 and others described it as part of a chain of products coming from HP, and the TouchPad is just the beginning.
With Flash support, an elegant interface, and a dual core processor, the TouchPad looks as a worthy opponent of the Apple iPad 2. In the case of Apple device, the hardware and software work really well together, which is doubtful here.
TouchPad has a nice interface, with good multitasking capabilities. Users just have to hit the home button to minimise the apps and to go to the home screen. As an alternative, they can also swipe up any screen to minimise working apps, and stack related apps together by pressing on one side of the screen. The method of notification is also user friendly; the messages drop down from the top right corner.
The HP TouchPad also comes armed with Beats Audio to improve the sound quality of the tablet. The positioning of speakers on the left side of the tablet is also innovative, as the audio can be heard from a distance as well.
At the top of the home screen there is just type bar as well, which enables users to search anything from Google, to Wikipedia to Maps or even apps. Whatever is typed there can be easily converted into a Facebook message, calendar event or just a new message — users will have to look for this option by scrolling down. One big plus for the HP TouchPad is there are no sites that come with dead ends, since the tablet supports Flash too.
HP decided to develop its own Facebook app, in which users can see their friends in a nice grid view. The company has also worked with Skype so the users can make video calls through it as well.
There are many things that HP got right the first time itself, such as managing apps like a stack of cards, but then it doesn’t provide shortcut for double space for period.
On the tablet, a website, CrunchGear, says, “The TouchPad performance leaves a lot to be desired when under pressure. Even when performing standard tasks, the TouchPad gets bogged down. When users are browsing images, the user interface slows down and responds to the tap after some time, and viewing photos is critical for a tablet. While the site looks impressed with the software, the lack of apps for TouchPad may end up tilting the scales against it.