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?

Comments

[turn.self.off]

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.

[Bryan]

Using this thing with Photoshop must be Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious! (:P)

[Iron-Hide]

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.

[Dan]

Dual core processor != dual processors.

Big difference. This machine does not have dual processors.

[Peter]

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.

[James Kendrick]

Dual core is right, that's what I meant. :)

[James Kendrick]

I haven't tried hibernation yet but with 4 GB of memory I'll bet it would be dog slow.

[Amafortas]

How does it score on the Vista experience?

[Filip Norrgård]

Obligatory question: is it fast?

No, wait... you already answered that... :D

[Simon]

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.

[Ian Dixon]

I think this would make a great Home Media Center system. In fact I am looking for a new PC for the kitchen and this is exactly what I am looking for

[Iron-Hide]

Anybody here that has one of these with the 8-cell battery; what is the battery life with one of those & does it add much to the heft.
I read somewhere that because it sticks out from the bottom, it actually gives you a nice little hand-hold when in slate mode; any further comments?

[Iron-Hide]

Guess not! Oh well, I'll wait for the review!

[Russell]

Can you comment a little on the weight? I've heard from multiple places that it's heavy for a tablet, but its supposed to just be 4.26 pounds, which is less than a pound's difference from my X61, which seems darn light.

[Mike Klein]

Only problem with this remote (on my TX1410us) is that a few critical keys are missing.

On certain DVDs with multiple movies I cannot get back to the root menu without going thru a boatload of key presses...usually easier to just open the tabletpc and manually do it.

As a media center (other than tons of Vista issues) the TX1000 is great...no need for hw recognition on a 'desktop'.

For on-the-go stuff I use my trusty ST5111.

[Carlos]

Heyy james!!!

good overview for this tablet.
Ypu post this article on April 10th. Can you tell us something about the battery? How long can you work with the 8 cell battery, and if you can try the 6 Cell battery too.

Cheers and have a great weekend.

[Carlos]

jejeje one more question ...

:D

how hot does it get the area surrounding the pointing device (the pad) the right and left area?

and how hot does it get the under part of teh tablet and the hard disk area?

Cheers,

[James Kendrick]

I don't find heat to be a problem. I get 4 hours with the 8 cell. It will be proportionally less with the standard battery, which is 4 cell.

[sbono13]

Have you tried to connect a MediaCenter Extender to the TX2000? My xbox 360 won't connect to it, and I'm thinking that both the fingerprint reader and the Wacom digitizer drivers may be interfering. I'd like to know whether you have the same problem.

[Alan Colon]

I bought one of these and returned it. And yes, it is FAST!

First, it is HOT HOT HOT! The fan ran constantly, even in power saver mode, and was far too hot to set in my lap. Any usage at all, even web-browsing, heated it up fast.
Having it in Journal, no other apps open, not even inking on it, and the fan ran constantly. Over an hour it literally heated up my work area and had me sweating in a 70 degree room. The fan was loud enough I often could not hear what was being said by the speaker.

Also, the digitizer would not calibrate correctly near the edges of the screen. I can't tell you how many times I calibrated it, no dice.

Third, the keyboard was somewhat cheesey, and the space bar was all jacked up (press it and no space, press it hard, and you got a space.)

I returned it and got a Gateway tablet, and so far I LOVE it! Fast, cool-running, no glitches or gremlins.
Now I am ordering a Dell tablet at work!