jkOnTheRun- First impressions of the HP tx2000 Entertainment Notebook
This is by no means a full review but I’m hearing from so many interested parties about the HP tx2000 Entertainment Notebook that I want to give my very brief first impressions. The tx2000 is a reasonably priced Tablet PC with a dual digitizer that has some interesting features that are uncommon in the genre. First up you’ll notice that HP calls this an Entertainment Notebook and not a Tablet PC and after playing with it for a day I can see why they do. The tx2000 is a great device for entertainment functions as it is a Windows Media Center in addition to a Tablet PC. The cool remote control that runs the WMC fits in the ExpressCard slot for storage and transport and the screen is drop-dead gorgeous for watching videos on the integrated DVD drive.
The tx2000 with the AMD Turion 2X64 processors is without a doubt the fastest Tablet PC I have ever used. This thing runs like greased lightning and everything just happens instantly at all times. The 4 GB of memory probably helps in this regard too but I think most of it are those two processors from AMD. Windows Vista 64-bit seems faster too so maybe it’s the entire package that flies. Whatever it is I like it a lot and now when I leave the tx2000 and jump over to another machine, even the MacBook Pro, the other machine feels slow.
The dual digitizer is a welcome upgrade over the touch-only predecessor, the tx1000. The touch is feather light and reminds me a lot of videos I’ve seen of the Dell Latitude XT with its capacitive digitizer. I can barely stroke the screen and have things happen just right which is very nice. The dual digitizer auto-switches so when I want to ink and bring the pen to the screen the touch-screen turns off to prevent interference and this works well too. All in all the tx2000 is a breeze to use with either touch or the pen and is well implemented. It’s especially cool to run the Media Center by touch.
The tx2000 is pretty heavy for a Tablet PC and I wouldn’t want to carry it as my main Tablet every day. It can get pretty heavy in the hands after a bit but it works great sitting on a desk or in my lap watching TV. I would peg the tx2000 as a great notebook for those who like to use the Tablet bits occasionally. It is very good in that scenario because like I said, it’s FAST! I haven’t used it long enough yet to get a good feel for battery life but I’ve been using it with the extended battery and so far it hasn’t run out too quickly but I haven’t timed it. Not a benchmark by any means but it’s all I can say at this point. I’ll be coming back with additional coverage before too long and a video or two but I wanted to get this out to those of you with an interest in the HP tx2000. Did I say this puppy is FAST?
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interesting read as i have been following this line since i first heard about it. still, 64-bit vista, how is the compatibility with the mostly 32-bit world?
also, nice to hear about the dual digitizer, given the price, this may be a nice consumer tablet.
Using this thing with Photoshop must be Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! (:P)
Aaaawww… now you’re just teasing!
Thanks for the quick first impression though.
I find it interesting that although this machine has never actually gotten a really “rave” review, it is the most popular tablet on Tablet PC review by FAR. Guess most folks are willing to overlook the niggling little problems.
Dual core processor != dual processors.
Big difference. This machine does not have dual processors.
This sounds like the same model I won at the tablet meet up at CES. I really like it but I have a question about recovering from hibernate. When I am on battery power it takes 2 minutes to fully recover from hibernate. This seems like a long time and I was wondering what your experiences are.
Dual core is right, that’s what I meant. :)
I haven’t tried hibernation yet but with 4 GB of memory I’ll bet it would be dog slow.
How does it score on the Vista experience?
Obligatory question: is it fast?
No, wait… you already answered that… :D
Usually I would wait for you to do a review James but I needed a tablet and the mix of touch, digitiser and price was just too tantilising. Even with poor battery life and a bit of extra heft those features are just too good to ignore. The most infuriating thing is the lack of a dedicated Ctrl-Alt-Del. So even though I have fingerprint recognition – I have to pop the hood first.