- Average user rating: 2.5 stars out of 7 reviews Back to product review
- My rating: 0 stars
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2 out of 2 people found this review helpful
4.5 stars
"Awesome laptop, but does tend to run loud and get hot."
Pros: -great digitizer (touchscreen)
-screen isn't as blurred or darkened as other tablets
-not very heavy; removable DVD drive
-good sized keyboard
-many features: webcam, fingerprint reader, stereo mics, SPDIF out, remote conrol (included), bluetoothCons: -The fan is constantly running, but it's not as bad as some laptops. I use it in a quiet classroom four classes every weekday.
Summary: I use this tablet for my web design business, graphic design, and my 18 credit hours of classes. I bought it for two reasons - it's very portable, and it has a digitizer/pen input. I use it all the time, for everything from gaming (runs most games on high quality pretty well) to taking notes (it's pretty nice to be able to organize and write notes on OneNote 2007, being able to draw in diagrams, while recording at the same time with the built-in dual microphones).
-When running on High Performance, the bottom-right gets hot (near the fan) (expected for high power with such small size)
There are two main issues I have with it, which everyone who has this laptop encounters: the heat and the noise. This laptop is packed into a pretty small size, with a lot of extra components in it, so all of that heat has to go somewhere. Unfortunately, it all goes out of a single fan port in the bottom-right of the laptop, meaning that area generates a *lot* of heat (not enough to burn, but you will quickly learn not to put it on your bare legs). In addition, that fan runs pretty loud, so it can get annoying if you're working in a classroom and trying to concentrate. I got used to it pretty quickly, and a good number of laptops generate more noise from their fans (especially Dell laptops from what I've noticed). Now I know comparing it to regular laptops isn't exactly fair, but to be fair, for the incredible price compared to other tablets, and for the power this thing has in it (it destroyed competing tablets in benchmark tests), it's hard for the bad to outweigh the good.
Now for the benefits:
-Great digitizer (touchscreen) with pen input; it can differentiate between your fingers and the pen and the mouse easily. The handwriting recognition with Vista is very good, and the screen doesn't need to be calibrated that often.
-Good number of hotkeys positioned around the screen and laptop base
-EXCELLENT speakers. Best I've heard in a laptop or tablet, and the loudest as well. My friend bought a $3000 gaming laptop a year ago, and until I got this tablet I never heard anything better. (By the way, this laptop can get better performance than that laptop - though keep in mind that his is year-old technology).
-Great for general college-student use. Games run great, webcam looks good, tablet features work great, especially with Microsoft Office OneNote, its bright HD screen and loud HD audio are awesome for movies and music.
I've previously owned a laptop each from Toshiba, Dell, Compaq, HP, Acer, and Sony (seriously), and I've had a lot of experience with Wacom tablets. I'd never pick any other laptop than this one, of the ones that are currently out (and I'm not just saying that because I spent $900 on it or because I just got it - I've had it since September). HP has a new tx2 series coming out with multi-touch - I might look into getting it after a year or two.
By the way, my exact specs:
-AMD Turion X2 Dual-Core Mobile RM-70 processor at 2.00 GHz
-4.00 GB of PC-6400 RAM (upgraded from 3 GB)
-Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit, Windows 7 Beta 64-Bit
-ATI RADEON HD3200 graphics set to 1.5 GB of shared video memory
-150 GB Hard Drive with Advanced Performance Cache enabled
-internal Bluetooth, wireless A/B/G WiFi
-Lightscribe DVD+-R/RW/RAM,CD-R/RW drive
One last note. HP tech support is HORRENDOUS. But they aren't as bad as Sony and Toshiba's, from personal experience (and Compaq is the same company as HP, FYI). And don't get me started on Dell's customer service. I work as a technician at my local Staples, and I have to deal with calling tech support for both warranty and non-warranty on a daily basis. There isn't a computer company that exists that has good customer service - it's a fact. I usually ask for the supervisor right away, without dealing with the first person who answers, and I've found that by doing that along with staying calm and not accusing/yelling/swearing I usually get my way.
I know this review is long and probably rambling all over the place - but I love my HP tablet, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else (at least not yet, lol).
Where to buy
HP Pavilion tx2510us Entertainment - Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 2.1 GHz - 12.1" TFT:
$1,079.99
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