Pricing announced for HP Compaq's 2710p Tablet PC
By Thomas Ricker 
posted Jul 16th 2007 9:00AM
posted Jul 16th 2007 9:00AM
Time to start counting those pennies, HP just announced the pricing on their new 12.1-inch, 3.6-pound 2710p Tablet PC. $1,649 gets you through the door sans OS but with a 1.06GHz Core 2 Duo ULV U7500 processor, 1GB of DDR2 memory, GMA X3100 graphics, and 60GB 4200 PATA disk. Bump it up to $2,478 for a 1.2GHz U7600, 80GB 4200RPM PATA disk, 2GB memory, Bluetooth 2.0, and a Vista Business pre-install. Each config brings that thin, bright, battery friendly WXGA LED-backlit display (with digitizer) we've heard rumored since January. However, HP confusingly masks this important fact with superfluous marketing speak by calling 'em "Illumi-Lite" displays. In fact, you won't find a mention of LED backlighting anywhere on the product page, not even in the detailed specifications. Oh right, consumers are idiots... gotcha. Still no release date so Lenovo X-series owners can rest easy for the time being.
[Thanks, Ravi V.]
HP is making some nice looking machines of late, but I have to research how well they hold up over time.
The deal breaker for me would be the lack of the integrated WEB CAM. I simply MUST have it in any laptop I buy. And this is odd they'd not include it considering they include it in most of their lesser new models.
And yes, HP is turning out some fantastic stuff lately.
hi big. that looks like an integrated webcam on the top of the screen in that picture.
I wonder why they didn't include any buttons on the screen bezel for tablet mode
Nice machine except for the slow puny 1.8" 4200 rpm harddrive.
Thats a big except - as someone who has grown to hate the ThinkPad X41 because of the HDD, I would never touch a system with a 1.8" drive.
Hi Big,
if you look carefully at the datasheet
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12718_na/12718_na.HTML
you will see that you can configure a webcam on selected models of the 2710p:
Integrated Camera (select models)
2 Megapixel (1600 x 1200 max resolution)
Manual adjust Macro lens
Full 30 frames/sec video at 800x600 or VGA (640x480) resolution
i agree with you it is quite well hidden feature ...
Regards
Om007
I am also tracking this device as a possible new system for the Fall, and wondering about the build quality. It's a nice looking device, if you don't need high performance.
I recently sold my Macbook Pro because I couldn't bear the Cult of Mac, but man, was the built in webcam quality good (along with most other components). I bought a Samsung Q1U for a travel computer, and man is the webcam quality awful. Basically useless. It's more than just a checklist item.
Maybe they will offer a decently priced solid state hard disk by the time the product is released, or just upgrade it yourself - with the price of 2GB SO-DIMMS finally reasonable, it only makes sense to at least do your own memory upgrade.
I have been looking forward to this. I hoped it would come in a little cheaper. I want to sell my TC1100 for 6-700 and try and purchase this but at 2 grand that is still a little high for me. Maybe I will wait until my trip to the Casino this weekend.
Is there any information about the screen quality?
Is it grainy - due to the digitizer (?) - like the TX series of tablet screens?
And is it matte? Or is there a matte option?
The TX screen gave me headaches as everything was slightly blurry. Plus for bright environments - think car tablet with GPS - the screen was unreadable. It was one pure reflection of anything in the car. I had to return it to the store. I've looked at some slightly different 12" HP Tablets, but they all use that same screen.
I thought the bezel buttons were handy in tablet mode, but maybe HP now has a software solution for those?
Missed the direct link to the product info.Sounds like they listened
to glare complaints :)
"12.1 in Illumi-Lite, WXGA UWVA, anti-glare with Digitizer"
The 271 model even lists:
"12.1 in Illumi-Lite, WXGA UWVA, anti-glare with Digitizer and Outdoor View"
Hoping there will be reviews soon.
The cheapest one, $1650, comes with Vista Business pre-installed. Also, I can add it to the cart and checkout right now, with a ship date of 7/21. It's released now.
Does it have an active or passive digitizer?
If active, what type..Wacom?
are these processors strong enough. I know that they are designed for battery life but is the trade off worth it. Does anybody know how they would compare to a pentim 4 2.4 I was thinking of getting the tx1220us but i like the looks of this one better and how thin it is but i'm looking for it to be my only computer not a second one.
Ripoff. You can get a loaded (7200RPM, high-resolution display, oodles of memory) Thinkpad X60/X61 tablet for ~$1700 during one of their many sales / 15% coupon offers.
Did anyone else notice how nothing is listed about the integrated EV-DO or HSDPA wireless modules? Didn't we just see the FCC filings for this?