HP TouchSmart tx2z reviewed: multitouch could use some work
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 21st 2008 4:12AM
posted Dec 21st 2008 4:12AM
HP was pretty jazzed about delivering the first multitouch "consumer" convertible tablet, but in Laptop Mag's point of view, that highly touted feature could use a bit of TLC. In fact, critics were pretty hard on the machine overall due to the multitouch not being "fast or responsive enough," but considering the $300 premium, we can't say such criticism is unjustified. Performance wise, everything was on par, and battery life was found to be respectable enough; at the end of the day, though, it only managed to score three out of five stars and couldn't elicit the type of praise that makes you want to run out and pick one up on the double. However, if HP manages to improve the touch experience, we could be looking at a winner in the tablet world.
You guys reformatted before you tested the multitouch, right? All that shit that comes by default on HP computers makes them so slow (i.e. the piece of crap known as 'QuickPlay')
I seriously don't understand why companies install that crap. It only makes them look bad. I spent 3 hours uninstalling all the crapware on my TX2000, mainly because the first time I did it uninstalling something somehow managed to fuck up my Windows installation. But yeah, clean installs ftw.
Because it makes them money. Its simply another form of advertising. Instead of that machine costing you say...$500.....youd have to pay $550.
Would you prefer an Engadget without Ads? Of course you would...but your not going to boycott it because of them are you?
MORE annoying than all the crapware loaded on every machine put together is god damn bloody frickin mother ducking youtube ads..those little ads that slide up on top of the playing video...ahhhhhh
Engadget has ads?
Oh wait, AdBlock FTW.
@Adderz: While I appreciate the point you're making at least Engadget's ads don't effect the performance of the site. Crapware on the other hand often causes serious performance and software problems. For example, I once saw a Vista laptop that couldn't connect to the internet purely because Norton Antivirus was installed.
When companies like HP stuff their laptops full of crapware they risk driving their customers to competing companies for their next laptop purchase.
@Mobius_1
lol I was thinking the same thing
The HP "crapware" complaint is old. I have HP computers, there's some software debris, but not much. If you don't like it, don't use it or delete it.
I't's laughable to hear people blather on about HP preinstalled software, then when you look at their computer it's loaded with programs they never use.
So do these tablets not have a pen? Is it capacitive like the iPhone? Cuz that would suck...
nvm...I'll low rank myself. :(
The N-trig display supports both multitouch and active digitizer pen input, it switches between them on the fly. I remember hearing somewhere It is not a wacom digitizer so good luck getting the pressure to work in photoshop and some other apps. If you need wacom input stick with the tx2000/2500 series.
Oh the touchsmart is indeed wacom penabled my friend.
from that picture, it looks like a Compaq with the bezel and rather....simple.....gray design
I wanna get this tablet;however, I have a couple questions I want to ask: would the multitouch be better if I did a clean install, would the multitouch be better/more responsive if hp did a software upgrade, and finally how would Windows 7 play into this? Would Windows 7 make the multitouch better? And I'm thinking about getting the tx2500, but it wouldn't be as future-proof as the tx2z(ie. Windows 7, multitouch). I'm kind of in a bind. I want a tablet, but I don't want to spend to much;however, I would spend more to have a future-proof device. Will the tx2z be worth it in the long run?
I have a TX2500 and trust me, whether or not a reformat and fresh install will help the multitouch you'll want to do it anyway. The bloatware HP load is horrific. A fresh reinstall will help the system speed up overall, but you'll want to follow something like the guide on tabletpcreview.com: some of the drivers can be a bit picky about the order you install them in.
Personally I wouldn't worry about the multitouch too much. If you're like me you won't use the finger touch anyway: it's fun and nifty, but you'll have to drag screenwipes with you everywhere you go, and multitouch will just double the problem.
If you've money to burn sure, get the multi, but don't break your neck over it. The only difference between the TX2 and the TX2500 is the type of digitizer, and the Wacom and finger in the 2500 works just fine.
right now, the Lenovo X61 offers a Multi-touch convertible tablet for $1500 ($150 upgrade from standard digitizer) and is about 1 lb lighter than the HP. and Lenovo build quality is generally better than HP.
HP and Lenovo mean different things when they refer to multitouch. The txtz is capable of Surface-like multitouch that allows you to zoom and scroll using gestures based on multiple contacts with the screen. Lenovo's multitouch means that their tablets are capable of pen and finger touch but will only support one contact point at a time.
How can you "future proof" a laptop purchase? Unless the future you speak of is a 1 to 3 month horizon, something newer and better is always 6 months away.
I hate capacitive touch screens so fucking much. I don't understand why HP decided to throw that shit in along side the perfectly satisfying Wacom in my TX2000. My stupid friends always get a kick out of poking my screen and fucking up whatever I'm doing just for fun. The worst part is that when I try to disable it in the hardware thing, it won't let me. This new thing better not have that...
Maybe I just need new friends...
Are you on Vista?
ControlPanel > Pen and Input devices > Touch tab > untick the "use your finger as an input device".
Or, your friends won't be able to see your tablet if you poke them back in the eye ;)
HP not only needs to fix the multitouch, it needs to buff up the hardware.
Intel Processors.
Nvidia GeForce 8000 series or 9000 series
SSD?
15.4" *separate model*
I Just got the dell Latitude xt 1.33 ghz w/ 3gb ram for $625 For A referbished model. Win 7 6801 helps a lot with lag vista. get the xt over this.
Needs more development.
I brought this TX2 with additional upgrades configuration priced about $1700. I got it delivered after 4 weeks, shipped right from HP - China.
It was e x t r e m e l y s l o w , very unreliable loaded with ton of crapware. flimsy form factor with plastic keys pooping out on side of the screen. VGA webcam very low resolution, horrible touch experience.... And main keyboard just died after 3 days of nominal use.
And useless HP support, took ton of troubleshooting, reinstalling..nothing worked. Had to return the tablet on 4th day. Terrible Experience!
Will not recommend, unless HP does the core improvements, further development, quality control..
This is not worth it.
That's about what I figured. HP is too worried about harming their 27xx sales, so they give interesting features to the TX line but make the overall product too cheap and low quality to be interesting, except for people who buy on checklists and don't realize how awful the individual features are. I hope they get their asses kicked by a thoughtful, competitive company that truly has their act together as opposed to HP's class conscious approach.
I have the tx2, and I also experienced the slowness and keyboard issues in the beginning. However, once i unloaded all of the pre-installed crap the speed came up dramatically. also, I found a odd solution for the keyboard problem, i just shut it down and took out the battery, reseated it and started it back up, and i haven't had the keyboard problem come back yet (no idea why that worked, but it seemed to). as far as build quality, I am not the best judge because my previous laptop was a mac, so everything kind of feels too plastic to me now. more only gripe with this is that sometimes when switching to touch, it takes a second for the screen to register the first touch, but after that it is better. I haven't seen this problem at all with the pen, but i don't use the pen that often except for drawing.
I really want one of these just for the pressure sensitive digitizer pen, but the review spends an entire page ranting about the pointless multitouch and then devotes about three sentences to the digitizer.
The reason I never got a laptop in this series before is because the resistive touch overlay made the colors look muddy, so using it as a drawing surface was compromized. Now that layer is gone, and I can't get a decent review of its digitizer performance. If they really ditched Wacom in favor of something else, I need to see some in depth performance and compatibility reviews for that pen.
Why's everyone only showing the Laptop Mag review? There are others that speak well of the machine.
Anyway, from what I can see from hands-on videos from YouTube, it does seem that the multitouch needs work (some gestures too difficult, like rotate; some have delayed visual feedback because they just emulate keyboard input, like web zoom). Still, the regular touch features appear fast and accurate.
Multitouch is just one little feature of the notebook, and I don't see how imperfection in that one feature should bring down the rating of the machine that far. I mean, I can still touch the thing. HP should update their software before this kind of bad PR gets too far
The slowness is the fault of n-trig intercepting the touch screen input to determine if gestures are being used. I suspect once direct access to the panel is allowed (win7) we will see a much better showing.
Regarding the keyboard issue on the tx2z, I had it right after doing some windows updates. Shutting down and reseating the battery also worked for me. I can't begin to imagine what the relationship is, but the fix seems to work. Hopefully the word will get around.
So far I'm not dissatisfied with the machine, it's a huge upgrade from my Toshiba M200, which was on its last limb after 4 years of heavy use. Of course the first thing I do when I get a new OEM PC is clean up all the crap (especially preinstalled "internet security") and do some maintenance, so that may have something to do with it. I've had no problems with touch performance other than the maddening difficulty of clicking the close tab button in Google Chrome, it's so tiny!
as for the buttons being small install microsoft origami that will make your bottons bigger for explorer and internet explorer.
i have done it ones before with out using origmai but i can not reproduce it so origami is the best way and it is fun for touch aswell.
I am thinking of getting one when it comes to japan. I have the tx2505cto/2500z the pen and touch all work great in vista and in windows 7. I reinstalled the whole os after i got it, i was not able to get on the internet nor install/unistall anything i was ticked off so much about that. but once installed it fresh and got the drivers from hp's website it worked great.
dont know how windows 7 will interact with multi touch, it did reconized my touch and pen input right off the bat though. for it work great i had to do a dual install cause the update option works okay but you end up reinstalling most of your drivers anway. with the dual boot option you get a fresh install and it finds all your stuff with reall drivers not just the crap default ones from microsoft.
Cant wait to read more about 7 and mulit touch...I am so a windows 7 fanboy
The multi-touch doesn't work in 7.
N-Trig only updates their drivers for the Dell Latitude XT because they are pieces of shit.