Updated: HP TouchPad Reduced to $99 and $149 (16GB & 32GB)
by Anand Lal Shimpi on August 20, 2011 1:37 PM ESTIf you haven't heard by now, HP is significantly reducing the price of the WiFi TouchPad in order to clear all inventories of the tablet. The 16GB WiFi TouchPad will sell for $99, while the 32GB version will be reduced to $149.
The price reduction is supposed to go into effect tomorrow, however a number of etailers jumped the gun yesterday. At this point I don't believe there is a way to order a TouchPad online at either of those prices - nearly all of the online sources that listed the reduced prices are now out of stock.
If you missed the opportunity yesterday, there's always the brick and mortar stores as soon as they open tomorrow.
As we've already reported, HP will cease all webOS device operations by Q4 2011. The TouchPad and Veer won't be made anymore and the Pre 3 has been canceled entirely. HP hasn't announced what it's going to do with webOS, although at this point we're hearing the rights to the OS aren't up for sale.
Given the lack of support going forward, why even consider a $99 TouchPad? The tablet does work reasonably well as an email/browser client, and it's likely that we'll continue to see 3rd party apps developed for it. The big hope is that the homebrew community will keep at it and perhaps someone will come along and actually do something with webOS one of these days. There's also the option that someone will eventually port Android 3.x to it. If that happens, you'd have a high end Honeycomb tablet for $99. Admittedly porting Android 3.x to the TouchPad could take a while.
At $99 I feel like the TouchPad is a good buy if you're fine with taking a risk on a platform that has no guaranteed support going forward. In other words, if you can part with the money and forget about it, it's not a bad idea.
Update: BestBuy in the US isn't discounting the TouchPad in stores. For everyone who bought one at the higher price, BestBuy isn't matching prices but it has extended the return window to 60-days.
Update 2: BestBuy has reversed its decision and will be discounting the TouchPad in stores.
Source: Slickdeals.net
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
35 Comments
View All Comments
DanNeely - Sunday, August 21, 2011 - link
Do you know if it's classic ASP inside? I know a few sites that operated for years with a URL rewrite layer to keep from breaking external links even though they were using a newer platform internally.BSMonitor - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
B&N online has 16GB version still for $99.geforce912 - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Thanks BSMonitor, you are a lifesaver.Belard - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
Thoughts...1 - Warranty. Since its a discontinued product, expect the device to have a refurbish warranty - which is usually 30 days. This should be common sense - imagine thousands of these things dying in 3-5 months, then demanding people wanting HP to repair or replace defective units.
2 - Imagine if HP debuted this product at $400 with 32GB storage... that would have helped sales... the only major brand tablet at $400! With its cheap feeling back and lack of 2nd camera (Hey, my iPad doesn't have ANY cameras) - it would have been competitive.
3 - Today, on the 22nd early morning - I saw a TV AD for the All NEW TouchPad for $399... LOL!!
4 - At $100~150, its a good deal. Its a chance for people to try out a tablet who might have never bought one, or at least yet. The funny thing is.... HP will most likely convert these 500,000+ TouchPad users into a million+ iPad and Android users. As family and friends play with these devices and decide they want to get one... well, those are the remaining choices.
5 - I think most TouchPad owners will keep the WebOS. Hackers will expand on it, maybe fix some bugs. I doubt HP is going to release their $1.2+ Billion dollar purchase go away for free. Who knows, its most likely a complete loss for the WebOS platform. At best, Google buys it for a few hundred million... The FUBAR handling by HP totally devalued WebOS and the Palm devices.
6 - Quality. Talking to a Pre Owner... who in the past 4-5 months, is on her 3rd Pre... the Touch function of the screens keep dying. This is a defect issue. A lot of people are having problems with hardware failures - not so much WebOS itself.
7 - Too bad RIM didn't buy WebOS/Palm back when it was up for sale. WebOS on RIM hardware... would have been yummy and a bit faster to market. The weakness of RIM's Playbook is the software, but RIM can be trusted to fix the problems as time goes on (maybe). HP's Touchpad weakness is the hardware. But it had some software issues like the mostly useless CAM.
8 - Wonder how long it takes Best Buy to sell out. Anyone guessing about 5 days? I saw 5 people buying TouchPads in Walmart back to back... sold out.
9 - Check out the review here on the TouchPad: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4508/hp-touchpad-rev... I totally 100% agree, WebOS has the BEST, hands down - tablet on-screen keyboard. I wish and HOPE both Android and Apple will do the same.... after all, a keyboard is a keyboard.
(The keys are not quite as tall and there is the NUMBER row added - Do you know HOW MUCH of a pain it is to enter passwords that are Alpha-numeric?!)
10 - For those who like the TouchPad, launching apps and functions are usually much faster on Android tablet and iPad devices.... like 3 times. Battery life on Touch pad is horrible. (Read review above) - these things will most likely never ever be fixed by HP... but who knows what HP will do to WebOS. Still, for $100 - you can't beat the price and the next generation tablets in 2012 will be even faster than todays current units.
vailr - Monday, August 22, 2011 - link
What about WebOS smart phone prices?Any "deep discounts" available for these?
Current price @ HP: $449.99
Google search showing a few "brand new" prices between ~$194 & ~$240.