HP TouchSmart tm2 gains Core i5 CPU option, a whole new level of respect
By Darren Murph 
posted July 21st 2010 2:02PM
posted July 21st 2010 2:02PM
posted July 21st 2010 2:02PM
A look back on popular stories from today in a specific year.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
Niiiiice. I've been eying this computer for a looooong while. If I weren't getting a laptop from my college, I would soooo get this one.
@Mike10010100
Crappy laptop. Trust me....get HP envy (non-touch) instead, much better
@browserspot The ENVY 14 is a definite buy. But if your heart wants touch, you can't go wrong with this one.
@Mike10010100 Its really great for engineers. Virginia tech uses these like crazy. Otherwise get a laptop/slate combo iPad/android slate/hp slate, your choice but you'll probably want a dedicated laptop with a battery that will last 7-10 hours of typing/recording... This is great though if you don't mind having the kind of crap battery and not so awesome hardware (compared to other laptops) but you really want touch and typing capabilities in one device instead of two...
@daftrok Yeah, this is my fork in the road.
But from reading the reviews on this laptop, I've come to the conclusion that buying the ENVY 14, and then getting an external graphics tablet would be a better option for me. Sure, I'll sacrifice exact pinpointed touch interaction, but the 14 is better built, has less bulk, more power, and the addition of a battery extender (Slice Battery).
Yet it still has the fugly/unwanted/unneeded/annoying/uncomfortable bump at the back... and the feminine colored finish.
@Dalton Atlas
Yeah, I'm an engineer, and I was really looking for something I could write/sketch on while being portable. I was considering getting an external touch pad, but I wanted something that was all-in-one, you know?
Isn't there an option to get a larger size battery? And shouldn't the Core i3 and i5s get the battery life going a little longer?
@daftrok
Yes, Envy 14 is an amazing laptop. For $900 after 30% Bing Cash Back and $100 off because of a shipping delay, I got a Core i5, 160 GB SSD, 1600x900 display, switchable graphics (dedicated Radeon 5650), backlit keyboard, aluminum chasis, slot loading DVD drive.... guess how much an equivalent MBP costs.
Tablets are nice for note taking in class, but I have a Latitude XT for that and honestly I don't think I'll be using it next year. Need more power!
@Mike10010100 dont get these shitty hp laptops. they have touch yes. but they use N-Trig digitizers meaning, no touch sensativity (as in you push down and in programsl ike photoshop and can see how hard your pushing and make your pen opacity change acording etc etc.)
no tilt sensativity. etc etc
those things only work in like windows math input for windows 7 thas about it. or third party programs for drawing that people have neer heard of before.
bo get a lenovo or toshiba with WACOM digitizers in the screen. never get N-Trig.
@huskie fluff
Lol! You're stuck with the TX2, aren't you? The TM2 uses Wacom digitizers, with varying pressure sensitivity.
@E71
The battery bump hasn't bothered me too much and the finish is silver. Only in low lighting will it look slightly pink, but it's not.
@Mike10010100 you hush now *srs faic* :(
@huskie fluff is apparently incapable of even a basic Google search, which would tell him/her that not only does the Tm2 use a Wacom capacitive multitouch plus stylus digitizer, but it's one of the new Wacom screens with 512 sensitivity levels.
@Missing Matter
Damn thats a killer deal... hmmmm. I'm still using an old HP TX2000z heheh!
Oh damn... I just noticed the EV-DO / HSPA Mobile Broadband options are gone... This laptop is getting less and less attractive.
where is the webos
somanyphones.com
@iPhone4 Antenna
Shut up spammer.
Third!
add 3d and put price under $1000 and we have a winner.
@techlord
Why would you want to ruin a perfectly good laptop?
@Indefinite Implosion The 3DS would like a word with you.
As opposed to "half of a new level of respect" . . .
I've toyed around with one of these. It's not for me, but it's a pretty nice computer, and the addition of the i5 only makes it better. Swivel screens are awesome, by the way.
Nice, but WHEN ARE WE GOING TO GET AN ENVY 14/17 REVIEW, engadget?!
It looks quite bulky if I am honest. Can't imagine it would be much fun to use as a tablet for any great length of time.
On the other hand the new CPU is certainly a good thing, any idea what it does to the battery?
@FinKM
It is a little bulky but being able to flip the screen and use the base as a stand really makes it nice for couch surfing or using in classroom auditoriums. Actually feels lighter and more comfortable than the Ipad in these scenarios. The only thing that really bothers me about this laptop is the viewing angles on the screen and the black levels. It is still a really nice machine though.
@FinKM
They i3 and the i5 version both take up 35 watts and in the engadget review they said the battery was about 5 hours at around 65% brightness for the i3. Not too bad, I'm sure if you really wanted you could have up to 9 hours at the lowest brightness settings.
@FinKM
Trust me if you call this bulky neverget the tx2 or anything larger than a netbook for that matter
@Omen
The ULV versions have a 18W tdp.
Anyway I guess you're right about the battery life. Maybe not 9, but probably around 8.
The consumer tablets are finally getting interesting and with a reasonable price point; anyway there are still huge margins for improvements (come on HP, you can make it lighter and less thick...).
@Misunderstood 90s Kid
It's nearly 2kg, so not the lightest notebook around. Although I'll concede calling it bulky may be a slight hyperbole. Still the screen doesn't appear to be of a very slender nature, especially compared to other ultra-portables.
A-Team movie reference? :)
Looks really cool wonder how much for it.
@CharlesThaGreat
You need only click on the HP link above and... voilà!
Nice..wish i had waited. In regards to the ATI card, it has interchangeable graphics between the intel chipset and the ATI card. It can switch on the fly depending on how the laptop is being powered or you can switch it manually. Obviously, the ATI card uses more power thus the battery going quicker.
HP is NEVER a good choice.
look at the way they treat existing customers.
well, that is unless you dont mind paying for as much warranty as you're planning to use the thing for, and then waiting the times it does break down for support.
http://www.petitiononline.com/deadhptx/petition.html
read the signatures, to see how HP(at least PC division) treats their customers.
does this have any convenient features like 2 finger scrolling? I have really been wanting to do a tablet/one note for note taking and other school related things like light modeling and simple matlab along with general surfing/entertaining use. I just stay away because I have a functioning [barely] laptop now and a livescribe. I just dont know if i want to sink so much money into something like this.
@Nick Brown
The touchpad includes two finger scrolling or one finger scrolling on the edge, along with three finger forward and back options. The touch screen can use one finger to drag a page.
I unfortunately got one of these in May, I should have waited.
Getting it when I'll go to NY (with school trip I live in UK).
Really, if you don't have this device you your points are meaningless. This device is simply the most flexiable portable device on the planet. Mutli-touch, EMR pen with handwritting recognition, plays AAA FULL PC games and has good touch games that work like they do an an iPad, run Office and all the MILLIONS of Windows apps out there and many while not designed for a touch screen still work just fine and gee there's ALWAYS the pen.
The device is for people who WORK for a living and need to deal with informations of various kinds in all sorts of ways. It's not a toy, this device is for students and professionals who need POWER to make a living.
If you don't have one and are poo pooing it you simply don't understand what a REAL computer can do and you spends too much time with nice looking but timing wasting crApps that don't make you productive or earn you any money.
@Heatlesssun Do you know how well this will run CS5?
need some advice from all you tech literate people please. I am looking for a tablet to put my digital library, (so think I need a large storage capacity) on for research and to be able to take notes and make notations. That will be the primary use and then of course it will be one that I will travel with so want to be able to access net for mail and maybe watch an occasional DVD. Got some suggestions??
@bobbieknox
The tm2 would be PERFECT for you. It doesn't have an internal DVD drive but it can use an external one, there's even a Blu Ray drive that matches the color of them tm2. You can put up to a 750GB (you would have to buy that aftermarket as HP doesn't offer that size on their site) so you can rip plenty of DVDs to the hard drive without the external drive on the go. And NOTHING is going to beat OneNote 2010 for taking notes and storing ALL kinds of information.
@Heatlesssun
Thanks, that is just what I needed.
Lenovo X201 tablet has an i7 processor. If I were to look for a TabletPC for content creation and daily use, I would get that one.
Better looking, more rugged, probably cooler running, and tons of grip.
@LloydChiro you forgot to mention the x201 only comes with intel graphics. I do like the x201's design better than HP's girly swirls. I bet the screen is better on the Lenovo too
Hi guys, I would like to ask for those who already owns one of these or those who are well informed. How does it handle PhotoShop and other graphic programs? I like to do manga/anime style art and use PhotoShop to ink and color. I've been wanting a more portable device so I can sketch my ideas whenever it strikes me. Thanks in advance!
@cheriru
That's the beauty of the tm2, it has a balance of both CPU AND GPU power. While an i7 sounds nice without a GPU that power will go untaped in many circumstances. Photoshop will run GREAT on the i5 and HD5450 tm2 units. While I don't Photoshop users over at Tabletpcreview.com with units less poweful than mine, an SU9600 , HD4550 and 8GB, say that Photoshop runs well.
Ues, the viewing angles on the tm2 are not very good but it's generally not a problem if you're not trying to look at the screen from a wide angle. Within the viewing angles the screen is actually bright and sharp.
Great. While in America the tm2 base model has been upgraded from SU7300 to i3 and now to i5, in the UK we're still stuck with a couple of stock models topping out at an SU4100: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF04a/321957-321957-3329744-3835813-3835813.html
@simbr Actually the updated UK model has been upgraded to u5400. It has the same architecture as the ULV i3 and i5, but doesn't have the turbo boost/virtualisation/hyperthreading. It's not all bad, as it should see superior battery life as turbo boost cannot be operated manually and leads to battery life.
At the very least, there's a cache improvement, and performance greater than the su7300.
@Zizagoo
When I saw the U5400 model had lower CPU frequency and memory than the SU4100 (1.2GHz and 3GB to 1.3GHz and 4GB) I stupidly assumed it was a downgrade. I'm not convinced bringing out a newer, more expensive model with lower headline specs is a brilliant idea even if it is technically faster.
@Heatlesssun
Thanks much for the info! And thank you for the mentioning tabletpcreview.com. I'll head on over there to read more reviews. Thanks again!