Updated!

*UPDATE*

After about a week with this tablet, I had to return it. I think the problems were about equally split between the hardware and Vista, but in the time I had it, I had to reinstall the OS 4 times. I am used to things going on with computers, though so far with XP usually after researching on the internet I've always been able to find a solution. In contrast, after extensive searching, every time I had a problem with Vista, the only recommendation I could ever find was re-installing from scratch. This was simply ridiculous.

The other big problem was the touch screen, which after several days start becoming unresponsive. Again the only solution was restoring Vista to the original state. I'd have to say, it's been a very disappointing experience.

Oh! One more thing, the built in microphones are of terrible quality, with the volume all the way up and boost to the max people could barely hear me during VOIP calls.











It's been about a week since I bought the TX2510 and I still can't decide if I like it enough to keep it. It's a good deal on paper, and there are no alternatives in the same price range, but many things about this tablet worry me.

First let's start with the design - the picture on Epinions is as usual not the right product. The TX2500 series are convertable tablet PCs with entertainment features in mind and dual active/passive screen that supports both Wacom pens and fingure input. This is the most important feature to me and the one that is very rare and hard to find.

My configuration is a retail model with a Turion X2 Processor working at 2.1GHz speed, 3MB DDR2 memory, built in WiFiBGN, Bluetooth 2.0, Vista home premium, remote control, infraredsensor, DVD-WR with lightscribe, fingerprint reader, and ATI Radeon Graphics. I'd say not too bad for $799 (sale price on back to school tax free weekend).

So here are my problems so far:

No. 1 has to be Vista. This is my first notebook with this OS and I have to say I understand now why people are complaining about it so much. I spent two days trying to set up the computer to my liking, and it still takes vista over 3 minutes to start up and about a minute to shut down. I had to restore the machine to its original state once, because I must had turned off some important services, which made it almost unusable.

It really bums me out that I can't get it with XP, since I had just figured out how to completely personalize my old computer with it and it looked really sharp, I'd have to say better than Vista.

I don't feel like getting too deep into the OS though, it's probably the focus of an entirely different review. Let's get back to the computer itself.

There are two significant problems with this machine - noise, and heat. The fan is set to always run as default, and though it can be changed in the BIOS screen, the processor runs hot enough that even after that the fan is still on most of the time. In its low setting it's not noticable, but with any more intense task (like watching a video for instance), the fan goes into a medium speed, which is already loud enough to be heard. The high speed kicks in during heavy use like video encoding and is right down nasty.

The heat is a big problem too. The fan vent is in the back right corner curving to both the right side and the back of the computer, while also blowing hot air straight down to your leg. After about an hour holding this computer on your lap becomes a problem.

Several other design decissions really bother me. The biggest one is the battery, which for reasons beyond my comprehension sticks out from the back (yes, even the standard 6 cell battery sticks out and looks ugly). Not only does it look ugly, but it doesn't fit very well and wabbles a little in its slot, while removing requires squeezing two buttons, which are set a good deal way from each other and could be hard to reach for people with smaller hands.

Another unsightly part is the screen. How do I put this delicately? It looks like a Lego creation for 5 year olds. I hate the modular design with so many gaps and holes, which are constantly getting filled with dust and dirt and are almost impossible to clean. On top of that there are 7 different LEDs constantly flashing and blinking in a completely disjointed and unsightly fashion. The 7 LEDs on the screen are joined by another 6 on various parts of the computer's body, which at night looks like a Christmas tree. Several of the screen's LEDs are built into some of the tablet mode buttons, which I must say are completely useless and should've been entirely omited for a cleaner look. Most of these buttons are for the so called "direct media access". Some laptops can justify buttons like those because they allow you to play a DVD for instance without booting up windows. Not so on the TX2500 series. Pressing one of the instant media buttons simply turns on the computer, and once Vista boots up (in about 5 minutes!) then it automatically starts HP's own media player software WooHoo! Since there's nothing that software does that Windows Media Player doesn't do, it was one of the first things I uninstalled, along with the quick button drivers. Besides serving no real purpose, those buttons are a frequent annoyance otherwise, since they're very easy to push accidentally while handling the computer, and once turned on you have a lot of waiting to do before you can turn it back off.

Other than the "quick access" buttons, everything on the computer seems difficult to operate. The on/off slider-type switch is hard and unresponsive, the DVD tray open button equally difficult to push, most ports and slots are stuck on the sides (including the power cord). The only things on the back (dominated by the protruding battery) are 2 USB ports, mashed very close on top of each other, and the phone modem jack.

I really feel like the designers of this notebook intentionally created it to be as ugly as possible and that's the compromise you have to make for the low price and all the features.

I've said it before but I'll repeated again: it surealy must be equally unexpensive to mold plastic into a relatively attractive shape as it is to an ugly one.

I am sure I will miss a lot of things about the computer so here are some more random ones that come to mind.

The WiFi indicator only tells me if I am connected or not, it doesn't show Mb number. I have yet to figure out an easy way to turn on and off the bluetooth radio, by default it's always on. The fingerprint reader is great for tablet use, but not very easy in laptop mode. The volume buttons cannot be accessed in tablet mode and will not work while Vista is booting on or shutting down. Though the processor is dual core and relatively new (I assume) it doesn't feel any faster or more efficient than my 2 year old Pentium M single core laptop. WiFi utility is confusing to me, seemed much easier on XP. Built in microphones did not pic up loud enough for the voice recognition set up utility to recognize them, but seem to work just fine in Skype. Screen is much grainier than my Toshiba tablet, very reflective, with poor off angle viewing (especially in tablet mode). Resolution seems to high for this screen size - fonts are very small. Task bar is exessively large to me compared to the fonts, simply feels disproportionate.


Now let's talk a little bit about the positive.

The biggest thing is the dual touch/pen screen. I absolutely must have that. It is very responsive in both modes and a pleasure to use.

Touch pad is also very good. Keyboard is fine, but the top row buttons are small and hard to see.

All the included features are hard to beat. There are two headphone jacks, one of which doubles as a digital audio out (haven't tried that, not sure what formats it supports).

Finger print reader is lots of fun to use, and generally recognizes me from the first time.

The built in webcam

As it is I have a huge dilema on my hands:

The only other alternative that has the touch screen in this price range is Samsung's Q1 (honestly I really want it).

My problem is that for a $100 more the Samsung has much lower specs and I am worried that it might not be able to do everything I need it to do (though I still have another desktop computer for heavier tasks).

If anyone has tried both please share your thoughts in the comments! Thanks.