Your review is very good from a users point of view. From a service point of view the 2710p is a nightmare. We have approx. 270 of these on campus and in the first year we have had to replace or repair something on over fifty of them. This does not include any software issues. The front case latch in particular seems very prone to breaking and you have to order a complete case bottom just to replace the latch! Warranty repair parts are usually backordered for weeks and if you drop it and break the case and the system board or the LCD covers, you might as well heave it into the trash as out of warranty repair costs quickly outpace the cost of the computer. Recently we have had issues with the Ultra Slim battery heating up and expanding until it literally blows the battery covers off. The charging circuitry is prone to not charging the batteries on an intermittent basis and Hp’s battery test software often gives false reports of battery problems. Many of our faculty members are asking for something else to replace the 2710p’s when they bring them in for service. I’ll admit, the computers get a bit rougher handling in the campus environment, but these things are very fragile and are not standing the test of time, at least from a serviceability standpoint.

HP will offer an integrated wwan option which is not available yet. There is already an extendable antenna on all 2710s but no way to order the option yet. I believe it will be EVDO from Verizon and Sprint.

James, GBM Ink Show talks about it having an Integrated WAN upgrade capability, but no mention of it in HP website.

Can you shed some light on that ? Does it or doesn’t it have the potential ? Does HP think they’ll install PC Card slot in the future ? Or ?

The advantage of using the slice battery is being able to connect and disconnect it without hibernating or shutting down the 2710. It’s a great advantage being able to use it on the fly when needed without impacting my workflow.

I was wondering: if you kept the slice battery in the bag because it adds weight and thickness it seems for you another standard would do the task better, wouldn’t it? You should get about the same total battery time, right?

Thanks! It seems I am going to be purchasing one of these now. :-) I’ve been to HP’s site multiple times to spec one out but stop just shy of actually placing the order. I was going to wait for Dell’s XT, but with recent rumors that it will NOT, in fact, work with previous Latitude D series docking stations and power adapters, I have no need to try to maintain my existing investment in accessories. I’ll look forward to additional thoughts and opinions from you on the 2710p.

Dave, I don’t know if they are vents or not but the device does not run any hotter with the slice battery so I’m not concerned about it. In fact, the 2710p doesn’t feel hot ever.

I don’t worry about the pen tip pushing those buttons. It doesn’t take any pressure to push them through the hole so it won’t damage the tip.
As for scratches, HP told me that they have used a special process for the 2710p glass that makes it very difficult to scratch.

James, re: the slice battery… from the video on GBM, it looks like the battery covers a ventilation opening on the bottom of the tablet. Is that true or is that a speaker? If it’s a vent, do you have any concerns about operating the tablet with the vent covered for extended periods of time?

Also, with regard to having to use the pen tip to press some buttons, are they soft rubbery buttons or hard plastic? Is it something that could blunt the pen tip over time and possibly lead to screen scratches?

(On that note are screen scratches a problem for any of you long-time Tablet PC users?)

hi people,

I’m about to buy a used TC-1100 and probably my question is off topic, but for the TC1100 owners I would like to ask them what type of memory this tablet use (SO-DIMM or PC-100 or PC-133 or SO-DDR)? and how many memory slots does it have? are they user accessible?

and what size is the hard drive (2.5″ or 1.8″)?

Thanks for the answers, and have a great weekend.

JC

Is the 2710p also touchscreen or does it require you to use the pen? Active Digitizer? Resistive?

I have the TC1100, and have been using for several years. I have only had one issue where I had to send it back and have the hard drive re-imaged, as certain functions ceased to work, but that being said, it has worked seamlessly since.

This is my opinion, but even with the new things, I’m not motivated to get the new version. I like the detachable keyboard, and sometimes use the stowaway keyboard, as I can use that with other devices. I like the very thin factor of it without the keyboard, and I just plain like the detachability of it.

Like you too, I have the Verizon 595 air card, and with my work, I cant do business without it, and the idea of tethering, iick.

I’m not using vista, and with the company I work for, I telecomute from the islands via Citrix vpn to their intranet,and I don’t think that because of all the other specific programs that specificaly related to current XP and Windows 2000 server compatibility, IT group wont quickly go over to Vista Business edition until all other programs that all users are using, are all upgraded. What I ‘m trying to say is, that the speed of the TC1100 is still adequate with all the 2007 office programs and filtering of the VPN, and as long as I have a fast speed connection, everything clips along at a good speed.

All the documentation we have is converted to digital, virtually paperless. So downloading *.tiff files is routine. Again, speed with the new programs, and all that, the TC1100 works verys well for me.

For crash and burn situations, I have another hard drive imaged 80gig, with relatively all my programs and files, ready to go and plug in.

I have the 1.5 gig ram being used too. I would like to have up to 6 gig expandiblilty if I could get it!

I’m not considering upgrading my machine anytime soon.

It will take a lot more convincing for me to change my mind. Bottome line, I believe that HP should have kept some of the items you mentioned in your article and added, but oh well.

Could the fingerprint reader act as a scroll device, a la what Motion Computing states can be done with their fingerprint reader?

Nikoo, the screen automatically rotates like most other Tablets, both ways. I flick with the pen, and since I use Firefox I installed the Grab and Drag extension which works great with the pen.

I did have the screen fail to rotate back to landscape once when I changed the configuration to laptop mode while the unit was asleep. A simple double swivel of the screen righted it. All other rotations have worked flawlessly.

Fernando, the 2710p without the slice battery feels lighter than the Lenovo with the 8 cell battery. I think the fact that it’s smaller helps as the device feels better in the hands too. With the slice battery the 2710p weight is similar to the Lenovo.

Jordon, that was the tx1000 with the cheese grater touchpad.

Thanks for getting on this pre-review fast James. You summed it up, “Finally a TC1100 Replacement” I was lucky to get one for $300 shipped off Ebay from one of those Retail Store Liquidators *The last Model made so “The Good One”) and I have just loved it. While I have several other notebooks and my SONY u71p (thanks again to JKOTR) I still cannot even think of selling that TC1100. Everything is so “right” on that machine. Now, if I can only score a 2710p for $300 “game over” !!
@ Fernando re: Trackpoint.
I too love the Trackpoint. It is and has always been my preferred choice. I have never seen a Trackpad to date work right IMHO. But several manufacturers have had them. Gateway has offered them, Toshiba offered them for years, DELL has been offering many of theirs with both the Trackpoint and Trackpad (smartest solution if you ask me!)as well as COMPAQ/HP offering their version called the PointStick. My SONY u71p has it as well. In fact I am using a red IBM TrackPoint cover as a replacement when mine wore out on ,my “U”.I arrived at these manufacturers with a quick Google and I’m sure there are many more. So the manufacturers must know that the “pencil eraser”style as you hear it called so often does have a following. Personally, I love them on a desktop Keyboard also. IBM made a Keyboard with the Trackpoint for Desktops and it was great. Enough said, I just realized I have gone OT!! Sorry James!!