Were you actually in the market for an HP Touch Pad before the $99 markdown?

[Yoshi]

I wasn't in the market for a tablet. The iPad looks nice but no way would I spend hundreds of dollars on one. For a little over $100, it looks like something fun to have.

 

[ssawka]

We had wanted to get a tablet for DD(9), who has special needs. I was interested in getting her an iPad, but I am not willing to spend $600 for something she may not use or may break. At $99, I'm willing to take the risk!

Besides that, as a PP has stated. Someone will hack it and either provide updates to the system, or find a way to run Android on it. Another possibility is that HP will just release webOS to the OpenSource community. In either case, someone will find a way to keep the touchpad alive.

 

[luvmy3]

I was thinking of getting myself a Tablet to keep on the kitchen counter so I could pull up recipes and videos. There was no way I was getting an IPad just for that, and even at $250-$300 other Tablets weren't an option. $100 I can deal with

 

[sherry7]

I already have an iPad, so I wasn't in the market for myself. Actually, I tried to get one for my 16 month old daughter. I figured it would be great to use as a movie player in the car, and at $99 almost as cheap as a portable DVD player. She actually knows how to use some toddler apps on my iPad, so she could have used it for that too. It's kind of scary to see how kids that still poop their pants know how to use an iPad, iPhone, etc!

I think my order at B&N was canceled though. Oh well, it would have been pretty hard to explain to my DH why our DD "needed" a TouchPad.

 

[AndreaDM]

I already have an iPad, so I wasn't in the market for myself. Actually, I tried to get one for my 16 month old daughter. I figured it would be great to use as a movie player in the car, and at $99 almost as cheap as a portable DVD player. She actually knows how to use some toddler apps on my iPad, so she could have used it for that too. It's kind of scary to see how kids that still poop their pants know how to use an iPad, iPhone, etc!

I think my order at B&N was canceled though. Oh well, it would have been pretty hard to explain to my DH why our DD "needed" a TouchPad.

Haha, that actually made me LOL at work.

 

[sherry7]

Haha, that actually made me LOL at work.

Anything to make a Monday morning go better!

 

[erincon23]

At $499 or whatever? Absolutely not. I want an iPad, don't get me wrong, but I can't bring myself to even think of spending that kind of money on something. $100? No problem. I realize it's not nearly as good and the support will be gone, but for what it is I'll be happy with mine. It's cheaper than a Kindle which I wanted anyway and can use it for that, plus so many other things. If I don't end up with one I won't cry about it or be otherwise upset, but I would have liked to have one for $100.

My feelings exactly. Even if functions are limited, even if it's not the best item in the universe of tablets, even if it has some hiccups, for $100 it will be fun to have. I've been very happy with every HP product I've ever had, so I have no reason to believe that I won't be at least $100 worth of happy.

 

[Carina]

Was I in the market for an HP Touchpad - Nope... Was I in the market for an affordable Sweet 16 Birthday Present. YEP, and this blew anything I thought I would be able to get right out of the water....

I am thrilled to get this deal and I cannot wait to see her face on October 5th

 

[StuckInKS]

For a TouchPad? Nope, too expensive. But I was looking for a tablet that would surf the web and play flash for some of the kids' school stuff. They have been using my PC and I need it for work.

My other choices at $100 were:

http://www.amazon.com/PanDigital-72...IUOG/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1314040947&sr=8-7

http://www.amazon.com/iRobot-Google...1K/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1314040947&sr=8-13

http://www.amazon.com/Tablet-Intern...5Q/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1314041177&sr=8-22

So I jumped on this deal and will take my chances with an unsupported HP that was selling for $400. I hope it will be the better deal in the end, but we never were going to be able to spend $400-$500 on a tablet for the kids. I was THIS CLOSE to buying a $200 Coby, but I'm going to try this for half the price. Even if it only gives us 6 months of good use, it will have been worth $100.

 

[ssawka]

A project to port Android to the TouchPad has already begun:

http://rootzwiki.com/showthread.php?t=3327

 

[Colleen27]

I thought about it when it got marked down. I'm not exactly in the market for a tablet right now but I know that's what DH is planning to get me for Christmas so it would be worth buying early if it served my purposes. It didn't, though. No Nook app, no Adobe e-reader app, and the lack of future potential with it being discontinued tipped the scales against it even at the discounted price.

 

[disneychrista]

Whether it be budet boarders or other people. The "savings" on buying something just seems to over shadow the fact that they spend $ on something they didn't plan on or need to buy in the first place.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

I wasn't set out to buy them just yet, I was set to buy another laptop now. I didn't start my Christmas shopping yet, so these may be for Christmas.. if they last that long..not giving it to them I mean My 3 kids do have birthdays.. Aug 9th (turned 23) and I didn't get her anything yet, Sept 14th (turning 25) and Oct 28th (turning 19), so these may just end up being their birthday gifts.. I have to get them something .. I know my DS & one DD wanted one for sure.. It actually did come up at a good time for me...

 

[Patience]

I bought it for my teenager as a Christmas present. She can use it as an e-reader, watch movies and surf the net with it. Her phone can do those things too but it's a tiny, teeny screen. The touchpad cost me less than my nook cost me a year or two ago and it does way more.

 

[SookieStackhouse]

No, but I thought it was a deal I couldn't pass up. My order got rejected. I guess I made it this long without one, I can live without one.

 

[timzagain]

At the original price, I probably wouldn't buy one. At $99, I seriously considered buying one for DD13 for Christmas. Think I'll pass though! The absence of tech support is a scary prospect.

 

[SarahKate]

For some reason, everyone wants a tablet. Few know why. This article looks into that. http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/21/editorial-tablets-arent-the-third-device-id-hoped-for-fr/

Why would you buy a $99 HP tablet when it will no longer be supported? Lots of reasons. First, it will be supported, directly or indirectly. WebOS is not new. It has been around longer than Android and is well tested on the phone side. It was developed at Palm before being sold to HP, so the basics are solid. HP hasn't said WebOS is going away, in fact have gone out of their way to say the opposite. They hope to license WebOS to others, or continue to enhance it themselves. What they are getting rid of is their tablet hardware, and hopefully the personal computer division. It may just be PR speak, but for now WebOS isn't dead, and even without HP it will likely continue to be "supported" by others.

Is the tablet perfect? Nope. The hardware is a bit too slow. But as long as you are buying it knowing what it can and can't do, even if HP disappeared tomorrow the device wouldn't stop working. When people bought a Playstation years ago did you worry, oh no, it can't be updated over the internet it won't work? No. My original Playstation still works.

The device will play music, browse the internet, and play videos. That functionality is no less solid than similar devices. Maybe in 3 years a new internet technology will come along that this won't support, but for now it supports HTML 5 and flash, something even the iPad can't say.

Finally, this is a $309 device. That is the actual raw material cost. This isn't a generic off brand MP3 player, it is a solid device with the occasional hiccup any other tablet also has. Look at online reviews. People were happy with their purchase at $399, to get the same device at $99 is unheard of. That is why everyone wants one. At $600 an iPad isn't an impulse purchase. At $99, I'll gladly upgrade my daily train commute video experience from phone to 10" tablet.

Great response!!!

I wasn't in the market for a TouchPad, but I WAS really wanting an iPad but couldn't justify the cost at this time. Do I still want an iPad? Sure, but I can certainly settle for a $100 tablet that will do most of what I wanted an iPad to do. I had also contemplated a Kindle or Nook and this TouchPad will fit that bill just fine. It is WELL worth the $100 cost and then some. And if it breaks? Well, I hope it doesn't, obviously. But there are enough hackers out there who will be breaking into these things, and I'm guessing I'll find a lot of "support" online.

Also, regarding the comment about performance - my DH found a site that shows ways to improve performance by disabling some of the logging that happens in the background. The person who wrote the article said that the device is logging almost constantly and it slows down the speed and once he tweaked that setting it made things quicker.

 

[Evi]

I think its way off to think people just jump because its on sale. I know I jumped because I've been wanting a tablet and I can give many reasons why.

Its bigger version of what my phone can do and I can read off of it and watch movies. Hrm wait my phone can do that. I can browse the web. My phone can do that too. I can go on skype..ditto my phone can do that too. Wait did I mention its a bigger screen than my phone yeah thats why.

Truthfully I want it for travel purposes no more lugging my laptop on weekends or vacations. For me thats enough. But if you don't think you'll use it don't spend the money.

 

[feezle]

I want one to give my 2 year old so I can have my iPad back. Movie player, web browser, e-reader. Who cares about support? $99 people.

Besides, if I get one somehow, I will eventially be putting Android on it anyway.