HP TouchPad Production cancelled, prices cut.

[TimothyC]

HP begins TouchPad liquidation; 16GB cut to $99, 32GB $149
Derek Kessler | Fri, 19 Aug 2011 7:36 pm EDT

We were wondering how exactly HP was going to handle the glut of TouchPads in the market now that they’ve decided they’re done making hardware for webOS. Now we have our answer: fire sale!

In a memo sent to HP affiliates, the company issued the declaration to begin liquidating TouchPad inventories, with a price cut of $300 or more:

HP will be lowering the price of the TouchPad beginning Saturday 8/20/11. This is the lowest price ever for the TouchPad so please post it as soon as it goes live.

16GB TouchPad- $99; 32GB TouchPad - $149

The pricing may be set to go live tomorrow, but that hasn’t stopped some retailers. Best Buy Canada and Future Shop have already implemented the new pricing, and we expect others will follow through shortly. It seems HP’s finally looking to get those lofty unit sales numbers they wanted, though they can throw profit margin out the window. Unknown: if, when, or how much HP will cut the price of the sort-of-launched 64GB TouchPad.

So now the question is "Is a $99 tablet worth it if the OS is next to dead?

[The Kernel]

Pretty significant piece of hardware (dual core CPU, IPS screen, 1GB RAM, 16GB flash) to get for $99. Hell you can't get a Kindle for that price.

Anyone who sees this deal would be wise to jump on it. The screen alone is worth that price.

[Archaic`]

They've gotten Android working on the Nook, so I imagine someone's going to find some way to get it on here. If they do, well, that'd make a pretty decent tablet for the price.

[Dominus Atheos]

The new prices are being rolled out on several store websites. Here's Walmart.

[TimothyC]

They've gotten Android working on the Nook, so I imagine someone's going to find some way to get it on here. If they do, well, that'd make a pretty decent tablet for the price.

Not quite so easy, as the Nook was using Android from day one, and all they did was find a way to root it.

[Sarevok]

They've gotten Android working on the Nook, so I imagine someone's going to find some way to get it on here. If they do, well, that'd make a pretty decent tablet for the price.

Rumour on the internet is people are already starting to do just that. Assuming its true the Touchpad worth the 99 USD.

[Archaic`]

They've gotten Android working on the Nook, so I imagine someone's going to find some way to get it on here. If they do, well, that'd make a pretty decent tablet for the price.

Not quite so easy, as the Nook was using Android from day one, and all they did was find a way to root it.

WebOS is essentially a custom variant of Linux with a few proprietary bits thrown in. Surely it can't be that difficult for them to root?

[Sarevok]

The Touchpad uses the same Qualcomm Snapdragon family chipset as many Android smartphones. So it should be even easier to get started.

[Dominus Atheos]

Best Buy's prices are live.

[Sarevok]

It says at the Best Buy site that they are sold out. Does anyone know a similar offering where Touchpads still can be had for $99 ?

[Lonestar]

HP's website was flipping between instock/out of stock all day yesterday. I snagged a $99 16GB one then.

What's sad is that this is showing that there WAS a market for a WebOS Tablet...just not one that started at a price point that was equal to the iPad. If they were selling the 16GB ones at $200 to begin with they would have sold *a lot* more. Hell, I think they should have been pushing the Touchpad as an enterprisey device and giving them away for free(or nearly so) with some kind of integration with their servers. Something you could carry around on a factory or warehouse floor.


That more WebOS devices are behind sold this weekend than in the past several months means, hopefully, WebOS is licensed out and someone else makes the hardware(not sure who that could be though...Huawei?).

[TimothyC]

Well I tried to get one at a number of stores today and every single store was sold out.

Damn.

And yes, I did try calling first. I've also requested to be emailed when the get more stock.

[Zixinus]

Sounds like the thing might find itself as a good e-book reader.

[TimothyC]

Sounds like the thing might find itself as a good e-book reader.

With the Kindle apps still available, that was going to be one of my primary use cases.

[White Haven]

This might be helpful to people looking to score one. It's a running chatroom where people are posting links in realtime to currently-available sources. Good luck!

[Dominus Atheos]

Barns & Noble.

[ComradeClaus]

So this thing runs an OpSys derived from Linux? How's that compare to Mac OS or Windows? I want to know the pros & cons before risking $99 on a potential brick. I've heard HP generally makes decent equipment.

[Stark]

'OpSys', lol!

You're spending $99 on a device worth much more, that can probably be rooted into a regular device, and you want MORE reassurance? Like they say, you won't even get a Kindle for that.

[ComradeClaus]

'OpSys', lol!

You're spending $99 on a device worth much more, that can probably be rooted into a regular device, and you want MORE reassurance? Like they say, you won't even get a Kindle for that.

I meant reassurance on reliability. Like I used to buy memorex DVD+RWs, but recently, all of the ones sold now give me a "Can not format" problem, whereas Sony's do not. I didn't want to buy something costing 99 clams, download a couple hundred dollars of ebooks on it, then get a RROD after the warrentee expires.

(Hence why I still trust paper books, they don't crash or get viruses. Bookworms, yes, but they're easier to prevent.)

Oh, can it run eroge ("dating sim") games? I can think of alot of things a touchscreen can do w/ those!

[Darth Tanner]

Have you even heard of Hewlett Packard? I don't think quality of the build will be a question.

Also bloody Yanks, the price drop is not being carried over to the UK and all the American stores I've tried are forbidden from shipping it to the UK.

[Stark]

If you know even a single person in the US and can find one in stock, it's probably still a bargain.

[Lonestar]

I meant reassurance on reliability. Like I used to buy memorex DVD+RWs, but recently, all of the ones sold now give me a "Can not format" problem, whereas Sony's do not. I didn't want to buy something costing 99 clams, download a couple hundred dollars of ebooks on it, then get a RROD after the warrentee expires.

(Hence why I still trust paper books, they don't crash or get viruses. Bookworms, yes, but they're easier to prevent.)

Oh, can it run eroge ("dating sim") games? I can think of alot of things a touchscreen can do w/ those!

Now would be a good time for you to admit that you don't know how ebook licenses work.

[DaveJB]

Also bloody Yanks, the price drop is not being carried over to the UK and all the American stores I've tried are forbidden from shipping it to the UK.

Not only has the price cut not been carried through, the websites I've checked have actually increased the price! It was £275 on Amazon.co.uk and £320 on Dixons.co.uk at the weekend - it's now £312 and £350 respectively. Maybe people are operating under the misguided hope that the remaining Touchpads are going to become collector's items.

[TimothyC]

I got one!

The School book store had them, and marked them down to $99 when I asked.

I even have until September 22nd to return if I don't open it up.

They had a further 48 in stock plus their floor model which they said they would sell for less than $99 (the person in charge implied they would go as low as $50 on the floor model).

[White Haven]

Some store demo models are crippled and won't let you create an account. Your mileage may vary, but see if they'll let you test that before you buy.

In other news, the Amazon seller I bought through apparently resold like a villain. I have no idea if my order is valid or not.