07-05-2011, 06:14 PM | #1 |
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HP TouchPad is here
Got mine 12 hours ago.
After a bumpy start I'm getting quite fond of it: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...=924:thumbsup: |
07-05-2011, 08:01 PM | #2 |
Spork Connoisseur
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How does WebOS work for you?
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07-05-2011, 09:13 PM | #3 |
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About as expected.
Quite similar to BlackBerry PlayBook. HP is using the bezel as well, though a bit more limited. On both you don't need any physical or capacitive buttons - I really like that (always was sceptical about the "home" button on iPad, whether it actually will "survive" 1 or 2 years of heavy usage). Both tablets awesomely demonstrate, what a tablet should be about. I'm not so fond of the 4:3 ratio of HP's TouchPad (almost identical to iPad). I find 16:9, as on PlayBook or Xoom, more convenient to hold and even more pleasing to the eye (a paper book has a similar format, so do movies on landscape/widescreen). What I don't like: Most apps still are based on phones = way smaller. On iPad at least you can double the size, although it's pixelated then. Or you can jailbreak and optimise it. On Android I simply install "Spareparts" from the Android market and change the setting to "full scale". For HP's TouchPad, so far I haven't found any solution. 2 games from Gameloft zoom automatically, but "settlers" of course is way more appealing in HD on iPad. Most apps simply rest in the middle of the screen (as on iPad without doubling), occupying less than 25% of the screen. And what I didn't know (my fault, should have read the specs): It doesn't have GPS. For the existing maps, WiFi is good enough for roughly calculating your position. But I would have hoped for apps such as Navigon... PlayBook, Iconia, Eee Pad Transformer for example have GPS, although they don't have 3G (in the models I'm using). Last edited by mgmueller; 07-05-2011 at 09:15 PM. |
07-08-2011, 08:59 PM | #4 |
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I am very weary of HP and WebOS and first generation devices/early adopters. HP/Palm did not keep promises when it launched the Palm Pre to upgrade WebOS and Apps. As much as I love WebOS, I wont be buying a gen HP TouchPad...
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07-09-2011, 04:13 PM | #5 |
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I hated my Pre Plus, but really liked webOS and its customization. I hope they allow homebrewing like they do on their phones, because it helped make the phone manageable.
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07-09-2011, 08:01 PM | #6 | |
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Quote:
What are your reading options? Lee |
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07-09-2011, 09:35 PM | #7 |
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My choice was quite easy: I pretty much go for all the new tablets. I can't possibly buy all the Android tablets. But the none-iOS/none-Android units still are rare enough and I want to test them out.
So I've got PlayBook and TouchPad. PlayBook has the Kobo app, so I've switched from Kindle to Kobo (for now). I already had about 50 eBooks from Kobo, in the last 3 weeks I've bought another ca. 50. On TouchPad, quite disastrously, there's no reading app yet! Kindle had been announced and even still is mentioned in their market app, but not (yet?) available. Both, PlayBook and TouchPad, give me the very same experience: Their respective OS beats iOS anytime and is ahead of Android. But with such limited apps (I've got about 30 on PlayBook and even less on TouchPad, whereas I've got 2.195 apps for iOS) I see a huge danger of them "dying quietly". I really hope for the Android player/emulator forPlayBook and something similar on TouchPad... |
07-09-2011, 09:47 PM | #8 |
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MGMueller, what about using VPN with the TouchPad? Does it work? Android doesn't do it without major surgery (OpenVPN with a new tun.ko to be compiled for each build). Can you access Hulu and Netflix's PC sites and watch programs there?
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07-09-2011, 10:43 PM | #9 |
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On Android and iPad I'm using PureVPN without any problems (only use Netflix and Pandora). On TouchPad and PlayBook I haven't been able to do it "out of the box" and didn't jump through loops yet to solve this (rarely use VPN on the other units, so for now it's not necessary for me).
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07-09-2011, 10:59 PM | #10 |
Wizard
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Oh, I see PureVPN is offering L2TP/IPSec -- good to know that works. Still using HideMyAss, and they don't.
When you travel in China a VPN is a must. |
08-09-2011, 12:27 PM | #11 |
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It looks "News" is the only sub-forum to talk about this, no dedicated forum for the Touchpad yet.
Anyway, got one with the only purpose of testing. I am planning to return the device no matter what. But I got mixed feelings so far. The WebOs experience is just awesome, fantastic operating system and really easy to use. But the amount of available reader apps. is very limited at this point, something similar to what happened to Xoom couple of months ago. The colors are no so vivid and it is kind of sluggish when browsing Internet, even after firmware upgrade. This is comparing to iPad and Safari experience. The Kindle app. is very basic too, but that's understandable after just a few weeks or months of development. No full landscape mode though. For those who like Social apps. Facebook interface is nicer, at least for me. It is easier to use than its iPad counterpart. No success configuring Outlook with my coporate/work's email. I do not use VPN adapter on my Mac air, only Office for Mac and I am able to download and read emails there. So I don't know if I am missing something or the device is not capable to do it yet. |
08-09-2011, 12:48 PM | #12 | |
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Quote:
What is the issue with languages/settings? |
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08-09-2011, 11:30 PM | #13 | |
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Hans, Can you choose IP or country with HideMyAss? for example, Netflix only works with USA IP addresses. Can HideMyAss allow me to watch Netflix even if I'm in South America? |
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08-10-2011, 12:28 AM | #14 |
Wizard
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Yes, HideMyAss does you allow to choose a country and even city. Most of the servers are in the US, but they have servers in many countries worldwide. You chose which server you want to use, they are listed with locations. I regularly use their service to access Hulu (also BBC in the UK and some geo-restricted German programs). Some servers are slower than others, so switch around if streaming is too slow. In general it works great. After wrote an e-mail to HMA's service department they also mentioned that they will start L2TP/IPSec service soon and they even gave me the IP's of 2 US and one UK servers to use.
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08-12-2011, 02:39 AM | #15 |
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For some years now, I'm mainly using English as my OS language. Be it on PCs, tablets, PDAs, eBook readers, ...
My reason: Most 3rd party apps are in English. For a somewhat consistent user experience, I like to have the same language (=touch and feel). That's no biggy, I admit. But from an "aesthetic" perspective... Anyway... On lots of units there only are certain language/country combinations. On many (not all, though) Honeycomb tablets, German is the only choice for Germany. Same for HP TouchPad. So I either have to choose US or UK to have English or use German in Germany. I hate this. On Honeycomb, I can solve this by using the "more locale" app from the Android market. For TouchPad, I haven't found any such tool. Other tablets simply separate country and language: Germany + English... |
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