![[1] WebOS updates: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150259-hp-touchpad.jpg "[1] WebOS updates: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: Reuters
[1] WebOS updates: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
Mobile operating system updates are important to keep any mobile device running healthy and well. In this regard, the owner of an iPad or Android tablet has nothing to worry about. He will have regular updates as intimated by the support systems. These updates will be essential for the tablet to run novel applications and even to play the higher levels of a game. However, HP's decision to end its production of the tablet and close down its WebOS device business means there is little or no chance of any future WebOS updates. Without HP supporting the software anymore, it's unclear how long this platform will last. Granted, HP has encouraged developers to still make apps for WebOS and HP CEO Leo Apotheker has given a vague statement on continued development of WebOS, but it's a big gamble for the average consumer to take.![[2] Applications: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150260-hp-touchpad.jpg "[2] Applications: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: Reuters
[2] Applications: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
There are talks that Android might be incorporated in the TouchPad in the near future. But WebOS is a big failure as far as applications are concerned. There are nearly half a million apps in Apple's App Store, of which more than 100,000 apps are iPad-specific. Even the Android Market Place has over 200,000 apps. In both cases, almost all of them can run on tablets even though they aren't intended for the tablet. In comparison, there are only 300-odd tablet-optimized apps in Palm's App Catalog and only about 8,000 apps for the WebOS, of which about 700 don't work on the TouchPad. Moreover, there aren’t many popular apps for the HP TouchPad. For example, you won't get Flixter or IMDB, Pocket God, Google apps like Google Mobile, Google Earth or Google Voice and Netflix.![[3] Camera: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150261-hp-touchpad.jpg "[3] Camera: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: Reuters
[3] Camera: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
The iPad 2 has a VGA front- and 1-megapixel rear-facing camera. Even Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 has a 2-megapixel front facing camera and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera. In comparison, TouchPad comes only with a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera for video chat. It has no rear-facing camera.![[4] Battery: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150262-hp-touchpad.jpg "[4] Battery: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[4] Battery: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
iPad 2's battery offers up to 10 hours of surfing the web on WiFi, watching video, or listening to music and up to 9 hours of surfing the web using 3G data network. Samsung, on the other hand, claims its Galaxy Tab 10.1 lasts up to 15 hours on battery. In comparison, TouchPad's battery lasts only 80 percent of iPad 2's battery.![[5] Sluggishness and Glitches: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150263-hp-touchpad.jpg "[5] Sluggishness and Glitches: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[5] Sluggishness and Glitches: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
In spite of being powered by a 1.2GHz, dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, people have complained about TouchPad's slowness and customers have reported about frequent crashes. Some say You would be doing a lot of rebooting if you are using a TouchPad. In comparison, iPad's dual-core A5 1GHz processor and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1's dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor are rather fast. TouchPad also has some glitches. For instance, the e-mail app sometimes may refuse to display the contents of messages. If you want to resolve it, you have to reboot the device. Also, when you rotate the screen, it takes the screen two seconds to match (an eternity for tablet users). Apps can also sometimes take forever to launch.![[6] Form Factor: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150264-hp-touchpad.jpg "[6] Form Factor: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[6] Form Factor: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
TouchPad's main drawback is its design - it lacks the "oomph" factor that has made both iPad 2 and Galaxy Tab 10.1 a huge success. Apple has grown to become No.1 technology company because its products not only look better than their rivals but also perform better. The seamless experience offered by Apple products define them as lifestyle products and not just gadgets. It has been made possible because Apple is an expert in marrying art with technology. Samsung has also tasted success with Galaxy Tab tablet because of the same reason - the device is aesthetically appealing. On the other hand, TouchPad loses on looks instantly as it looks like a clunky object if kept next to an iPad or Galaxy Tab 10.1. TouchPad is also heavier and thicker than iPad or Galaxy Tab 10.1. Whereas iPad and Galaxy Tab 10.1 weighs 1.3 pounds and 1.26 pounds respectively, the TouchPad weighs 1.65 pounds. The HP tablet also is 13.7mm thick compared to iPad, which is 8.8mm thick and Galaxy Tab 10.1, which is 8.6mm thick.![[7] 3G Connectivity: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150265-hp-touchpad.jpg "[7] 3G Connectivity: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[7] 3G Connectivity: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
TouchPad has dual-band WiFi and Bluetooth1 wireless technology 2.1 + EDR with A2DP Stereo Bluetooth support. However, an area where the TouchPad falls severely short is connectivity. The tablet currently offers only WiFi connectivity; it does not support the 3G network. HP had promised that a 4G-enabled tablet will be launched later in the summer. But until that happens, the WiFi/3G-enabled iPad and myriad of Android tablets will continue to attract customers.![[8] HP Software or Hardware Support: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150266-hp-touchpad.jpg "[8] HP Software or Hardware Support: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[8] HP Software or Hardware Support: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
The value of of a product is integrally tied to the quality of consumer support provided by the company offering the product. This is especially true if the product is a technological device as the user may need to speak to someone when things go wrong. With HP deciding to exit the PC business TouchPad users will have nobody to turn to for technical support. of course, some retailers may offer Touchpad buyers some kind of support, but if they need a replacement product or maybe even spare parts, it will be difficult to get them. Also if you find a bug or are wishing for a missing feature, don't count on a fix anytime soon. Of course, if you're a geek and like to fix your own things, this may not be an issue. But for the busy businessperson or technophobe consumer, this is a deal breaker.![[9] WebOS Ecosystem: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150267-hp-touchpad.jpg "[9] WebOS Ecosystem: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[9] WebOS Ecosystem: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
The webOS ecosystem is one of the least developed of all the major rivals. This means users will be stuck with what comes out of the box. You can blame Palm, the defunct father of webOS, and HP for this. The companies tried but never could really embrace the developer community the way Google and Apple has. As a result, the appeal of WebOS will wear out fast and TouchPad will soon become nothing more than an expensive paperweight.![[10] Not Apple: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad](http://s1.ibtimes.com/sites/www.ibtimes.com/files/styles/article_slideshow_slide/public/2011/08/24/150268-hp-touchpad.jpg "[10] Not Apple: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad")
Photo: HP
[10] Not Apple: HP TouchPad $99 Fire Sale - Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Not Touch the TouchPad
Don't get me wrong. I would really want to see TouchPad do well but HP has proved itself a big failure when it comes to branding or marketing. Even when HP had discounted TouchPad by $100, it failed to draw people, who would still go with Apple. Why? Because it's the brand itself that makes people buy. Unlike the TouchPad, when you buy the iPad, you can flaunt it. Why? Because Apple has become a cult thing and its products are both a cult and image thing now. Apple products are not only stylish but also are superior than their rivals. So even if the TouchPad gets a second life or the WebOS is a better OS than iOS, people would still continue to flock in Apple stores to buy the iPad because it's made by Apple. And irrespective of the hype TouchPad is receiving right now, it would still be HP.
Photo: HP
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