The $99 HP TouchPad might be cheap, but it's not necessarily a great deal. There is a very good reason why Hewlett Packard is practically giving them away, and it's not because they want to give consumers a great deal. It's because the TouchPad is a failed piece of hardware that did not have the specs behind it to make webOS shine. That same reason makes it a lackluster proposition when it comes to scoring a deal this holiday season.
It should be made clear that webOS was not the reason the TouchPad failed. Honestly, there was a lot of potential in the software. After seeing the demos run at CES last year, most people came away impressed and hopeful for a webOS-driven future. Sure, it needed some work but people thought that surely HP would be able to leverage the OS and make it something interesting. That sentiment, sadly enough, was dead wrong. It's a shame really, but there is hope for fans of the operating system: HP has announced today that it's open-sourcing webOS. This could mean some pretty interesting development from a crowd-sourced effort, but it's no guarantee.
HP's tablet failed for a number of reasons, including its price and use of lackluster hardware. Even at $99, the TouchPad is a bulky device that is going to take up a lot of your time and energy making it into something that's halfway decent to use. Don't believe me? Here are some facts to consider, especially if you have heard that you can hack the device and put an alternate OS on it :
- You will need a working knowledge of how to flash hardware, which is not for casual users.
- If you brick the device during the mod process, you are out of luck. There will be no help from HP; the division has been shut down. Besides, modifying the unit will void any kind of warranty.
- If you physically break the hardware, you are also out of luck. There are no more of these tablets being made.
- If you were hoping to put Android on the device in the form of CyanogenMod 7, you will be waiting. All development of that port is on hold due to the upcoming release of ICS-based CM9.
- All further sales of the TouchPad will be refurbished units. You could get lucky and get one that has just been returned, but you could get a less-than-perfect (or even defective) one as well.
- There will be no returns, unless if you can prove that your unit was defective when it arrived.
- If you were to pay yourself for the time it will take you to modify the software on the device, you could justify scrapping the whole idea and getting a Kindle Fire at $200 that works out of the box.
