$99 Touchpad is back in stock :O

[dragonbong]

I actually have a 32gb touchpad on the way at the moment but am considering selling it to a friend and buying an iPad 2. The cost was $200 for the 32gb with case and the dock.

Usage:
Browsing, videos, email etc. but a key component is reading PDF articles for work. From what I understand, based on reviews, is that the Touchpad is not very good at handling large PDF files and the rendering of pages is extremely slow. The epub reader also doesn't seem very polished.

I've flipped through the precentral forum boards and am now losing interest in keeping it. On top of this I still have a $100 iTunes gift card sitting in my drawer gathering dust. (I do have an iPhone that could use some apps)

Just wondering what other peoples experiences have been so far with the Touchpad vs the iPad in regards to things such as PDF reading, transfer of media to the device and overall enjoyment.

 

[Skika]

I really dont get what this thread has to do with the iPad section.

I think some moderating should be done. This is totaly off. This isnt "the tablet section".

 

[hitekalex]

I really dont get what this thread has to do with the iPad section.

I think some moderating should be done. This is totaly off. This isnt "the tablet section".

Doing a search for "iPad" within this thread returns 22 hits. So clearly, it has SOMETHING to do with the iPad

 

[fertilized-egg]

I really dont get what this thread has to do with the iPad section.

It's a ritual at Macrumors. Everytime a major product occupying the same product space as an Apple product is announced, someone opens up a thread and states why that person will buy the product in question instead of the Apple equivalent, followed by a proclamation that Apple is in grave danger and how things are stale in the Apple world. Soon the threads get busy with Apple fans denigrating the product and the anti-Apple people chiding Apple supporters for being cult brainwashed to buy the inferior product only because it has an Apple logo.

Most major tablet announcement here has been somewhat like that to varying extent, including with Xoom, PlayBook, TouchPad, Transformer, various Galaxy Tabs, etc, etc. Over in the iPhone section, numerous posters right now can't wait to buy the Samsung Note 5.3" phone instead of the iPhone 5 - never mind that the Samsung phone won't be released here until the early-mid 2012, and some wonder if other Android phones are so much better than iPhone. Then there are people in the news section telling how the Dell monitor is a much better buy over the new Apple Cinema display, etc.

Macrumors is a magnet for both Apple fans and anti-Apple alike but then again other large Apple forums tend to be like that to some extent. It's an odd phenomenon not usually observed in forums of other platforms.

 

[ABTsportsline]

Anybody here ever watch CNBC or read the WSJ? They talked about this all over the financial news over a month ago describing why and how HP was doing all this.

It started with Best Buy - they were sitting on something like 270k+ of inventory of HP Touchpads, and they were not selling at all. Other major retailers (Amazon, Walmart, Target, etc) reported the same issues. Best Buy actually threatened to pull future orders of products if HP didn't buy BACK the Touchpads:
http://www.slashgear.com/hp-touchpad-unsold-stock-mountain-prompts-best-buy-ire-17172319/

HP, not wanting to buy 270k+ Touchpads back, agreed to offer a limited-time discount & promotion to help move existing inventories only, and it was for a limited time. This was prompted by Best Buy strong-arming HP into doing something about it. It probably didn't help that HP just announced they were spinning off their computer business. Initially, HP only dropped the price by $100 on all devices:
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ent_in_bid_for_no_2_spot_in_tablet_space.html

When that still didn't boost sales, the fire-sale idea of selling the 32/64s for 99/150 was issued, and not surprisingly this firesale idea helped move everyone's inventory in record time:
http://www.arbitragemagazine.com/general/hptablet1-best3-4seller/

The theories of market saturation by selling at a loss are valid concepts, but not true in this case. It was simply HP's biggest retailer threatening over sluggish sales combined with HP's desire to expedite the process of exiting the tablet market.

The $99 prices are gone and won't come back, however the $100 price reduction from the original asking price will stay in place. This is actually an interesting economic study - a product which was thought to be left for dead somehow becomes the second most-popular tablet in the market after a huge firesale. I don't know if HP can continue such market domination when it returns to normal prices, as history has shown people don't want to pay full retail for the Touchpad.

Also keep in mind the original plan for HP was to exit the tablet business and spin off their PC arm of the company. They determined this because they were losing money from their computer division. I don't think some increased Touchpad sales at $100 a clip would change that business decision, even though it does cast favorable light in market share.

If you're an economic theorist, this whole case study is like porn.

 

[urkel]

I really dont get what this thread has to do with the iPad section.

I think some moderating should be done. This is totaly off. This isnt "the tablet section".

Yet you clicked on it anyway...

Anyway, the common assumption is that Mac\iOS users live in a bubble but that's only because the ones who do live in the bubble tend to be the loudest. The rest of us are pretty open minded and are more fans of technology than brand name so topics can stray in slow moving forums without offending everyone else.

 

[fertilized-egg]

The rest of us are pretty open minded and are more fans of technology than brand name .

Not really. Weren't you one of the people who insisted the iPad is just a big iPod Touch and that description carries no negative connotation whatsoever? I think by "open minded" you mean "I like to go against grain unlike the rest of the Apple fans and enjoy playing the role of contrarian."

But this shows my earlier point. Other forums dealing with a specific platform/brand doesn't get so many posters who actively proclaim how neutral and open minded they are and how the other posters are all closed minded and cult-like. Apple forums do get a lot of posters like you who seem to be participating just to be "the voice of reason."

 

[urkel]

If you're an economic theorist, this whole case study is like porn.

Seems like a fitting statement considering this whole mess started with their CEO and a sex scandal.

Maybe HP is on the right path but as a former Palm fan then I think its a tragedy to see WebOS turn into a garage sale product. Especially because the gameplay that Hurd had set out really did envision HP a solid competitor to Apple with a single basic OS that spanned across their desktop computers to tablets to smartphones.

The theories of market saturation by selling at a loss are valid concepts, but not true in this case. It was simply HP's biggest retailer threatening over sluggish sales combined with HP's desire to expedite the process of exiting the tablet market.

I used to feel that way, but now I'm thinking that this is actually good for WebOS. Most people understand the firesale was for a rushed/unfinished product but the ones that scored understand how future forward the OS is and those who didn't have a strong desire to get one someday. Obviously HP is taking an enormous hit but in the end WebOS has more value now than ever.

----------

Not really. Weren't you one of the people who insisted the iPad is just a big iPod Touch and that description carries no negative connotation whatsoever? I think by "open minded" you mean "I like to go against grain unlike the rest of the Apple fans and enjoy playing the role of contrarian."

I don't get that point. How does describing the iPad as a big iPod Touch get interpreted as a negative? And how does it go with OR against the grain when most people don't really care about HOW one chooses to describe the iPad because the reasoning behind the comparisons are obvious.

Bringing that up here is just odd.

 

[burana]

Was live again for a few minutes around 3 pm EST today!

 

[Phil22]

Apple TV preset films

Hey guys,

Dad just managed to bag himself a 32GB version through a HP raffle. Just wondering, I've got a load of films ripped using handbrake with the apple TV preset. Will the touchpad play these? Or is there an app that will play them?

Cheers

Phil

 

[Mac.World]

Hey guys,

Dad just managed to bag himself a 32GB version through a HP raffle. Just wondering, I've got a load of films ripped using handbrake with the apple TV preset. Will the touchpad play these? Or is there an app that will play them?

Cheers

Phil

Yes, they will play. Both tp and iPad use the same file format. Or you can doenload kalemsoft video player and play any file format.