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HP Compaq tc4400 tablet

HP Compaq tc4400 tablet

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Average User Rating 2.5 stars

out of 8 user reviews See all user reviews

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CNET editors' review

  • Reviewed by:
  • Michelle Thatcher
  • Edited by:
  • Matthew Elliott
  • Reviewed on:
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  • Released on:

The good: Good battery life; responsive keyboard; three-year warranty; fingerprint reader; ambient light sensor automatically adjusts screen brightness.

The bad: A little heavy for holding in one arm; base configuration could use more RAM; lacks a FireWire port and a built-in optical drive.

The bottom line: The HP Compaq tc4400 convertible tablet offers decent performance and battery life, though we recommend adding more RAM.

Review:
Common wisdom says that change comes from within, an axiom that HP has taken to heart with the tc4400 tablet PC. Physically identical to its predecessor, the tc4200, the tc4400's updated model number indicates only a refresh of the components inside its case: brand-new Core 2 Duo processors, an updated chipset, room for more RAM, and larger hard drive capacities. Fortunately, the company also dropped the tablet's price to $1,479 (our review unit included a few upgrades that brought the cost to a still-competitive $2,099). The updated components allow the tc4400 to keep pace with similar ... Expand full review
Common wisdom says that change comes from within, an axiom that HP has taken to heart with the tc4400 tablet PC. Physically identical to its predecessor, the tc4200, the tc4400's updated model number indicates only a refresh of the components inside its case: brand-new Core 2 Duo processors, an updated chipset, room for more RAM, and larger hard drive capacities. Fortunately, the company also dropped the tablet's price to $1,479 (our review unit included a few upgrades that brought the cost to a still-competitive $2,099). The updated components allow the tc4400 to keep pace with similar tablets on the market, such as the $1,933 Gateway M285-E and the $2,429 Fujitsu LifeBook T4215. On the eve of the Microsoft Vista launch, it's worth noting that the tc4400 (like most other business laptops) is "Vista capable," meaning it will be able to handle the new operating system, but at the likely cost of some key features of Vista's redesigned user interface. That said, the HP Compaq tc4400 makes sense for businesses that want to complement their existing fleet of HP laptops and businesses that have no Vista upgrade plans on the horizon. Everyone else would do best to wait until HP refreshes its business line later this year.

Because the tc4400 is physically identical to its predecessor, please read the full review of the HP Compaq tc4200 for complete details about the tablet's design, features, and warranty.

Where the two models differ is in components. Though HP offers several configurations of the tc4400, our $2,099 review unit included a high-end 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400 processor, 512MB of swift 667MHz RAM, an average 80GB, 5,400rpm hard drive, and integrated Intel 945GM Express graphics that borrow up to 128MB of system memory. On CNET Labs' performance benchmarks, the tc4400 kept pace with the Gateway M285-E and the Fujitsu LifeBook T4215 in the iTunes encoding and office productivity modules. The tc4400 was hobbled, however, by its scant RAM when it came to the multitasking and Photoshop benchmarks; it was easily bested by its two tablet competitors, each of which had twice as much RAM.

Increasing the tc4400's RAM to 1GB costs $85--a wise investment, especially if you intend to upgrade to Windows Vista at some point in the future. Potential Vista users should also note that the tc4400's integrated graphics card will likely hinder its ability to render the operating system's new Aero interface and may affect other elements of the user experience. You can run Vista on the tc4400, though, if you only want to take advantage of its new search and security features.

On our battery-drain tests, the HP Compaq tc4400 lasted 4 hours, 23 minutes--about 30 minutes less than its predecessor. Nevertheless, that battery life seems reasonable for a Core 2 Duo-based tablet; the Gateway M285-E's much larger battery lasted just 13 minutes longer, while the LifeBook T4215 trailed behind, giving out after 3 hours, 54 minutes.

Multitasking test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds  

Adobe Photoshop CS2 image-processing test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds  

Apple iTunes encoding test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds  

Microsoft Office productivity test
(Shorter bars indicate better performance)
In seconds  

BAPCo MobileMark 2005 battery life
(Longer bars indicate better performance)
In minutes  

Find out more about how we test Windows notebooks.

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System configurations:

Fujitsu LifeBook T4215
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition SP2; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 100GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm SATA/150

Gateway M285-E
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005 SP2; 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7200; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400; 80GB Hitachi 7,200rpm SATA

HP Compaq tc4400
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition SP2; 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 80GB Seagate Momentus 5,400rpm SATA/150

HP Pavilion dv9000t
Windows XP Professional SP2; 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400; 1,024MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 256MB Nvidia GeForce Go 7600; 80GB Fujitsu 5,400rpm SATA/150

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Most helpful user review

Showing number 1 of 8 reviews 4 of 4 users found this review helpful

4.5 stars

"Currently Best Tablet I've Found"by wilkindw on 2007-07-16 14:27:55.0

Pros: Performance, Versatility, Battery Life

Cons: No Optical Drive, Imaging Difficulties

Summary: Mine's a 2 GHz duo, 1.5 Gb RAM, with BlueTooth. I've purchase 6 - 10 of these and been using one since Nov 2006. IMHO the current model is still the best available tablet (compared against Acer - no longer manufacturing tablets, Toshiba - heavy, very hot, ... Expand full review

Most recent user reviews (Showing 2 of 8 reviews)

"Nice solid tablet pc" by donan71 on 2010-08-27 09:03:27.0

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