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HP TouchPad vs iPad
- Thread starter Bigmacduck
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Unfortunately, even this won't matter as far as the Touchpad since it is an orphaned device.
At $100, even if the iPad2 is faster by 50%, the Touchpad now is 5 times better at multitasking than the iPad2. Just buy 5 of them for the price of one iPad2. Heck, you can even set each of them up with different users. Try making 5 user accounts on an iPad2 without jailbreaking.
I tease of course, but the economy of tablets sure gets skewed during fire sales. Just bought a 32gb Touchpad through HPs business site. Couldn't get through yesterday, but made it all the way down to a printable purchase receipt with order number today. We'll see if they actually send me one.
I tease of course, but the economy of tablets sure gets skewed during fire sales. Just bought a 32gb Touchpad through HPs business site. Couldn't get through yesterday, but made it all the way down to a printable purchase receipt with order number today. We'll see if they actually send me one.
Ah yes. The TouchPad has the dubious distinction of being able to simultaneously multitask every single Application that ever was (or will be) written for it.
In case you haven't figured this out yet: People have no interest in multi-tasking on a Tablet.
Damn good point!
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Honestly I don't think we can call what is happening with the TouchPad a fire sale. Wouldn't it be more of a liquidation? Or just a colossal screwup?
How to speed up a TouchPad
Ok, I've had a few requests for this info in private messages, so I thought I'd post it for all of those who got or are getting TouchPads in this sale. These steps will pretty significantly speed up the tablet, and make it very nice to use (I am really enjoying it).
When you get your device, the first thing to do is go into the System Updates app and update to 3.0.2. Then go to the official app catalog and download the Preware Homebrew Documentation. It's a $0.99 app and will guide you through installation of Preware and how to use it. Once Preware is installed, everything can be done from your tablet (though you'll need your computer to get Preware on the Touchpad).
From Preware you can install UberKernel and Govnah to overclock your tablet if you wish. This is detailed in the Documentation app and is pretty safe to do from what I've read (and I've had no problems...and the tablet is running quite cool). I guess the actual processor speed is binned at 1.5GHz, but they have set it to 1.2 to save power...in my experience battery life is still excellent at 1.5GHz, but you get a pretty good speed bump. Some other people have used a still experimental kernel that will run it at 1.7GHz...I have not done that (and likely won't).
The key patches to install are detailed in this post at PreCentral...installing these will pretty dramatically decrease lag and increase overall tablet speed. Go through the steps in this linked post (using the information from your Homebrew Documentation to access the patches). Start with the ##LOGS# thing and go through the rest. I did not do the MaxBlocker, though, as it can break some things (though ALL Preware patches are very easily uninstalled and reversed). http://forums.precentral.net/hp-tou...hpad-seems-running-so-fast-2.html#post3027858
Good luck and enjoy! Once you use WebOS for a while, you'll start to like it. Key interface things: Swipe up on a card that's minimized to close it (toss it off screen). Swipe up from the bottom of the screen when an app is open to send it to the card and minimize it. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen with two fingers to have quick access to the app launcher when you are in an app.
Ok, I've had a few requests for this info in private messages, so I thought I'd post it for all of those who got or are getting TouchPads in this sale. These steps will pretty significantly speed up the tablet, and make it very nice to use (I am really enjoying it).
When you get your device, the first thing to do is go into the System Updates app and update to 3.0.2. Then go to the official app catalog and download the Preware Homebrew Documentation. It's a $0.99 app and will guide you through installation of Preware and how to use it. Once Preware is installed, everything can be done from your tablet (though you'll need your computer to get Preware on the Touchpad).
From Preware you can install UberKernel and Govnah to overclock your tablet if you wish. This is detailed in the Documentation app and is pretty safe to do from what I've read (and I've had no problems...and the tablet is running quite cool). I guess the actual processor speed is binned at 1.5GHz, but they have set it to 1.2 to save power...in my experience battery life is still excellent at 1.5GHz, but you get a pretty good speed bump. Some other people have used a still experimental kernel that will run it at 1.7GHz...I have not done that (and likely won't).
The key patches to install are detailed in this post at PreCentral...installing these will pretty dramatically decrease lag and increase overall tablet speed. Go through the steps in this linked post (using the information from your Homebrew Documentation to access the patches). Start with the ##LOGS# thing and go through the rest. I did not do the MaxBlocker, though, as it can break some things (though ALL Preware patches are very easily uninstalled and reversed). http://forums.precentral.net/hp-tou...hpad-seems-running-so-fast-2.html#post3027858
Good luck and enjoy! Once you use WebOS for a while, you'll start to like it. Key interface things: Swipe up on a card that's minimized to close it (toss it off screen). Swipe up from the bottom of the screen when an app is open to send it to the card and minimize it. Swipe up from the bottom of the screen with two fingers to have quick access to the app launcher when you are in an app.
Huh? It is ridiculous to say that tablets ARE in demand because HP is dumping their inventory at firesale prices. This is totally separate from what is happening with the iPad or any other viable device. The Touch may be a good product, but it is ultimately a dead end, throwaway device.
Not at all. Look at how many products die and get clearanced off the shelves. SEveral incarnations of flip type cameras. Logitech Revue. Various Netbooks every week. They all get huge discounts on their way out but how many have people lining outside of stores or driving around town hunting down the product?
The reason why we have so many non-techies eager to get their hands on a product they KNOW is dead is because they are curious about a tablet but don't want to pay premium prices. So for them then this is their transition product that is recruiting a whole new group of future tablet enthusiasts (and haters).
What it all boils down to has absolutely nothing to do with WebOS, HP's new CEO is an enterprise software guy and that is all he is interested in. He is trying to follow IBM's lead and turn HP around, which I think is a huge mistake especially as the enterprise software market is long overdue to be turned on it's head. The amount of money involved in the likes of a SAP rollout in a corporation is just ridiculous, it is only a matter of time until someone enters the market and forces the big boys to go home sulking with their tails between their legs.
I was not looking to buy a pad at IPad or Touchpad any pad at $500 I just couldn't justify it for me. However ay $99 I sure can HP made a few pad decisions IMO. HP should have never priced it with the IPAD for starters maybe $250-$300. next mistake drop and give up after a few weeks. Should have at least tried dropping the price. However a $99 I just got a new toy. there is also talk of a Android honeycomb port in the works.
HAHAHA
Let me correct you. You have no interest in multitasking on ipad not people. Try using WebOS multitasking then use Ipad's. I for one love and use WebOS multitasking every day and it works great.
Only because they can't. I personally enjoy having music playing while I check my email, and often check out the provided links using the web browser on my android tablets. A quick jump between them makes cut/paste worthwhile, and when the market app is done downloading an update (in the background) I may open that app too to see what changed, then close it but jump back to my still running email/browser and my notepad app to assemble info/links for a response.
As for the Touchpad tease, all the 5-for-$500 Touchpads need to do is run one app at a time to be 5 times better at multitasking than an iPad running one app.
100% of what you list can be done on an iPad. Stock with no jail breaking it does exactly what you describe.
Have you actually used an iPad? I'm actually doing, right at this moment, exactly what you're claiming the iPad can't.
webOS multitasking is multitudes better than iOS4 multitasking. Unless you've tried both, you can't knock it. My phone previous to my current iPhone4 was a Palm Pixi. It multi-tasked like a dream when it wasn't slow (only had 256mb of ram). The reason I switched was I didn't like the new HP phones and was tired of breaking my Pixi+ (I just broke my 4th). It also didn't help that they had a small App market.
The only thing I miss is the multitasking and the Touchstone charger. The charging is not that much of an issue anymore since the battery lasts way longer, but the iOS4 multitasking is a joke.
The only thing I miss is the multitasking and the Touchstone charger. The charging is not that much of an issue anymore since the battery lasts way longer, but the iOS4 multitasking is a joke.
And why do you think multitasking works like it does on iOS? The only issue I have with multitasking on iOS is that mobileSafari is too aggressive in clearing memory for pages in the background.
Admittedly app switching (probably what most people complain about when saying multi tasking) on iOS is a bit of a joke and I'm surprised that Apple haven't addressed that yet.
Netbooks and flip type cameras I can understand. You can get substantial use out of these devices even though they may be orphans. HP is abandoning this device before it had much of a chance to show its value.
But you raise an interesting point. It may be interesting to see how many people jump from HP to Amazon, if Amazon releases a tablet this year and it costs less than the iPad.
I have a Palm Pre and the only thing I have to complain about are the crap-@ss applications you can get. When I got my iPad I was constantly using it wondering why it didn't match up to WebOS. The multitasking on WebOS is a dream, I can switch from one website to the other without the page having to reload. I can have as many apps open as I need (if they were any good). And I can go back and forth looking at my email, photos, webpages without any lag whatsoever. I love the iPad, don't get me wrong, but I always thought that Apple would be a million times better if it took a hint at what Palm/HP created.
I would never buy HP again. After being stuck with the Palm Pre for two years, I'm comfortable never buying anything hardware made by HP again. If you set that thing down on the table wrong, you had more software problems than imaginable . I had to get 4 replacements before I switched to an iPhone.
You haven't used an iPad, have you?
Only the required api's run in the background, when required. It's a harder way to implement, but it's by far the most efficient way.
'True multitasking', as some would say, is a very lazy way of doing it. This method is fine with desktops and laptops, where plugging it into a wall is a large part(or only part, in the desktop's case) of the equation.
With mobile devices though, battery life is king. Apple put the work in, with their fast-app switching framework, where the end result to the end-user is indistinguishable from the 'lazy' method, only they benefit from better battery life too, which in turn, enriches the overall experience.
Microsoft realised this with Windows Phone, and added fast-app switching too, in the latest major update release.
The Palm Pre's hardware was developed and made by Palm, years before HP acquired them.
That's a wonderful thought, but the reality is that Apple uses their extra margins to build up their huge cash hoard, not to plow back into R&D.
Apple has just about the lowest ratio of R&D to revenue in the business.
On the good side, they manage to do a lot with the little they spend.
Wait a minute. Are you trying to say Apple's multitasking is a more "enriching user experience" and better method than WebOS?!?!
Can't speak for him/her but I suspect that is what he/she is saying. But try to back away from such "partisan" perspectives (on either side) and the picture is a little clearer.
First, some (I hope) non-controversial points. WebOS and Android each support "true multi-tasking." It's not "lazy;" it's a particular design choice that puts almost no limits on the ability to run multiple applications simultaneously. Apple's implementation of "multi-tasking" on the other hand involves (a) designation of specific "favored" apps (e.g. Pandora and other music apps) that are allowed to run while other apps are running and (b) "app switching" that speeds up shifting from one app to another for those apps that are not "favored." This conceals the disadvantages of killing an app and then restarting it when "true multi-tasking" is not available.
Apple's design choice is based on several factors. First, on a device with a small form factor there is an inherent limit on how a user would use multiple apps simultaneously. One might edit a spreadsheet and a document at the same time on a 20" monitor. It's doubtful that you would do so on a tablet sized (much less a phone size) screen.
Second, as the poster noted, "true multi-tasking" if left unchecked can be both a performance killer and a battery drain. Apple places a major priority on consistent performance, not necessarily the fastest performance, but predictable and consistent. Users tend to identify variability in performance as a problem. They're willing to sacrifice speed in the interest of consistency. Likewise, with a battery that cannot be replaced, long charge life is a very high priority for Apple. Anything that reduces charge life (or makes it unpredictable) is a major problem as far as Apple is concerned.
So while "true multitasking" has a theoretical advantage in allowing many more combinations of apps running simultaneously and requires less engineering in the OS, (what I suppose the poster means by "lazy"), its performance is also more dependent on processor power and a strong battery.
All in all, Apple's approach is completely satisfactory for the vast majority of users. (And this comes from an Android/WebOS fan, by the way.) They can listen to music while checking their email or taking notes. They cannot have the same level of inter-app communication as a true multitasking approach, but with a 9.7" screen, they don't need it most of the time. On the other hand, apps that depend on real-time background processing are problematic in the Apple approach. This underlies some of the weaknesses in Apple's notification infrastructure. And as new apps are developed, Apple's approach, unlike that of WebOS and Android, may require additional OS modifications to enable those apps to take advantage of the limited multi-tasking Apple offers.
Different design decisions based on different priorities and analysis of user needs. Neither is inherently superior. Apple makes it decisions with specific hardware limitations and priorities in mind. Android (and to some extent WebOS) developers are free to assume that hardware manufacturers will provide the horsepower needed to take advantage of a more flexible approach.