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HP TouchPad $100 off this weekend, $380 on woot, (Update: $100 Staples coupon also)

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HP is either generous or quite desperate. Days ago, we reported that HP cut the price of its TouchPad tablet by $50. Well, it’s dropping by another $50, at least for this weekend. HP is now offering a $100 off coupon that’s good from Aug 5-7, meaning you can pick up a 16GB model for $400 or a 32GB model for $500, about $100 less than the iPad 2. Better still, the TouchPad is currently the woot.com deal of the day, and is priced at $380 there.

If you’re interested in the TouchPad, these are good prices, though tablet prices may drop further before the end of the year. Asus, Acer, and Toshiba have been aggressively bringing down the price of tablets for a few months now and show no signs of stopping. 

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The other big question you should ask yourself is if you want an HP TouchPad at all. We’re writing a full review of the unit, but our experience has been similar to the majority of reviews, which criticize the tablet for being sluggish and a bit of a fingerprint magnet. However, we do like that HP chose to use a 9.7-inch 3/4 screen, like the iPad and not go with a widescreen display like Android tablets. We don’t mind widescreen, but we’ve found that 3/4 feels more natural. Perhaps there’s a reason why paper was sized that way.

If you’ve purchased a TouchPad, or plan to, let us know why or what you think.

Update: One of our contributors, Mike Dunn, just linked to a “$100 off through 8/7” Staples coupon that might work in conjunction with this TouchPad offer. If so, that would drop the price to $300.

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Got a slow HP TouchPad? Here are 3 easy ways to speed it up
five ways to use your new 99 hp touchpad front back

Maybe you just rushed out to buy a $100 or $150 HP TouchPad, or maybe you've had one for months. No matter the reason, you now own a tablet that has a lot of great qualities. Unfortunately, speed is not one of them. WebOS, HP's mobile operating system, runs quite slow on the TouchPad and we're fairly certain its one of the major reasons why it wasn't selling, which prompted HP to cancel the tablet and hold a firesale to rid itself of excess inventory (most places report it as sold out).
Yesterday, I went through 5 ways to use your new HP TouchPad. I encourage you to check that article out if you haven't already and read up on what is happening with HP and why it won't make any more webOS hardware. But before all that, you have a slow tablet that needs a speed boost. Let's deal with that first. Below is one really simple way to speed up your TouchPad, and two more techniques that require more steps, but shouldn't be too difficult if you're somewhat tech savvy. If you're not, find someone who is!
(Note: I'm running webOS v3.0.2. That is the only version that I have tested these instructions on. Check to make sure you're up to date and proceed at your own risk.)
Set logging to minimal (super easy)
This first tip came from a reader and inspired this entire article. William Herrera posted a statement I made regarding how slow webOS is and gave out a simple tip to speed it up. Apparently, one of the big problems with webOS is that HP has turned on all sorts of logging in the background. Logging is generally pretty good, as it records (or logs) problems with a machine or software, allowing you to refer back to the log should there ever be an issue. Unfortunately, the TouchPad's logging is the problem. Instructions for disabling it entirely are in the next section, but it's extremely easy to set logging to minimum. Doing this noticeably sped up my TouchPad.
Steps to set logging to minimal:

Open up the Phone & Video Calls App
Type ##5647# and hit the green call button
In the new window that pops up, click on “Change Logging Levels...”
On the next screen hit “Set Logging To Minimal”
Click OK to confirm on the “Are You Sure?” popup
That's it!

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Five ways to use your new $99 HP TouchPad
five ways to use your new 99 hp touchpad front back

When the HP TouchPad tablet came out at a price of $500 in July, we were a bit critical of it. In our review, we noted the lack of a rear camera, the slow response speed of webOS (it's operating system) on the tablet and how the whole tablet is a big fingerprint magnet. Those kinds of things are important when you're buying a $500 device, but when it's been discounted to $100, all bets are off. Late last week, HP declared that it is no longer producing webOS devices and may actually exit the PC business entirely. Fitting with this decision, the company stopped producing new HP TouchPads and has deeply discounted the remaining units in stores around the country. If you're lucky, you may be able to find a TouchPad for as little as $100.
But what do you do now that you've got it? Well, we've compiled a few ways to use a so-so tablet as a number of other interesting things.
As a video phone
The HP TouchPad is one of the only tablets to come preloaded with heavy Skype integration. Simply log in with your Skype account and you can start video or voice (or both) chatting with your friends. Hopefully at some point, Skype and HP will add support for Facebook video chat, as that's one of the most common ways people may be accessing Skype now that the two companies have partnered up. We haven't done much video chatting on the TouchPad yet, but with everything built in, it's surprisingly easy to use.
As a companion to your commute
Chances are, you already have a smartphone, but for those of you who frequently commute long distances or have to wait around, the TouchPad could ease your boredom. There are a few decent games like Angry Birds HD, Slice-It!, Robotek, and Radiant if you want a big screen gaming experience, but the device is much better as a mobile A/V player and e-book reader.
Kindle e-books are available in HP's App Catalog, as are a number of magazine apps, most of which are free. Amazon's Kindle app allows you to download books right onto the device for offline reading on the train or bus and apps like Paper Mache let you access news offline as well via Instapaper.
For music, radio, and podcasts, there are quite a few options including Pandora, Last.fm, Tune-In Music, drPodder, Stitcher, and others. There aren't as many options for video, but you can always watch YouTube or hook the TouchPad up to your PC and load as many songs or movies on it as you'd like.
As an interactive digital picture frame
Thanks to some heavy Facebook integration, one of the easiest things to do on the TouchPad is view all of your photos from Facebook, Google, Snapfish, Dropbox, Photobucket, and other photo services. It's just all loaded and works once you log in with the accounts. Another cool feature of the TouchPad is called Exhibition Mode. If an app is compatible, you can view that app in full-screen mode. Facebook, calendar, Accuweather, photos, and the clock all work like this, to name a few. The tablet automatically scrolls throw your photographs and other items, displaying whatever you wish for as long as you'd like. This feature is especially cool for the Facebook app, which displays random statuses and people in a pretty slick way.
As an Android tablet
A team of coders calling themselves TouchDroid have already pledged to bring Android Gingerbread, followed by Android Honeycomb, to the TouchPad. If they succeed, in the coming months (or weeks), you may be able to install Android on your TouchPad and do some real damage. We like webOS, but we are also realists: Until HP comes up with a plan for webOS, it's a dying operating system. Android, on the other hand, is more alive than ever, with more than 250,000 apps available on the Android Market. Any app you can't find on the TouchPad now is likely already on the Market.

We're also optimistic that Android may just run faster on the TouchPad. WebOS is slow. We aren't sure why, and most speculate that the TouchPad hardware may be to blame, but it's been slow on every HP and Palm device so far, and we're not holding out much hope that it will speed up anytime soon. Android, however, is updated and seems to get more efficient every few months.
We should note that installing Android likely won't be easy and could damage your TouchPad, should the process go awry. Check out Geek.com for more details.
As the luxury computing device it is
You now own a luxury computing device that has no set purpose. You're living the high life now -- kind of cool, right? Keep your TouchPad in the living room on the coffee table, or in the bathroom, or next to your bed, or in the kitchen. You can keep it wherever you might want to casually use a computer.
Like all tablets, the TouchPad is good for a lot of things. If you need to look something up in a snap, quickly chat with someone, check your email, look at some photos, check your calendar, read a document or e-book, there is no easier way than a tablet computer. While it's a bit sluggish (hopefully HP will fix this in time) and it isn't perfect for writing or doing any substantial multitasking, HP's TouchPad can perform many of these basic functions more intuitively and conveniently than a PC, because of its long battery life and it built-in notifications system.
Not interested? Try giving it to Mom or Dad. If you set it all up and show them how to check email, almost anyone can effectively use a tablet to stay connected.
The price is right
We've run through quite a few tablets in the last few months. At $500 to $800, it's difficult to justify their value unless you have money to kill. But at $100 to $300, even duds like the TouchPad might be worth it. Tablets are a luxury item: a small mobile computer that lies around until you feel like using it. They aren't good when you need to get down to business, and they're not mobile enough if you're on the go and in a pinch (that's what a smartphone is for). But they're great for in-between computing. They're good for things like looking up a name on IMDB, or checking the news when commercials are on. You now own the love child of the laptop computer and smartphone -- make use of it!
Did you snag a TouchPad on deep discount this weekend? How do you plan to use it?

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HP TouchPad slashed to $99

On July 1 this year, Hewlett-Packard launched the 16GB TouchPad tablet at a cost $499, mirroring the price of the equivalent iPad. Just over a month later, HP knocked $50 off the price tag.
A few days after that, another $50 was knocked off, bringing it down to $399. Then it emerged that electronics retailer Best Buy was bursting at the seams with unsold TouchPads, having shifted only 25,000 of 270,000 units held at its stores.
The next day, Hewlett-Packard announced it was leaving the PC business and would no longer be producing smartphones and tablets.
Now Daily Tech is reporting that from Saturday, in Canada at least, the 16GB TouchPad will be available for just $99, with the 32GB version being cut from $499 to only $149. Canada’s largest electronics retailer, Future Shop, is already showing the new prices on its website. The Canadian Best Buy website is also showing the sell-off price.
The US Best Buy website is, at the time of writing, still showing the old prices. But with around a quarter of a million of the devices clogging up Best Buy stockrooms across the country, one assumes it’s only a matter of time (hours? minutes?) before it puts the rock-bottom price tag on the tablet too. One thing’s for sure, they’re never going to shift them at $399. The websites of other electronics retailers in the US are also continuing to show the old price.
There are bound to be plenty of consumers out there who'll be tempted by the sub-$100 tablet. They might purchase one as an investment, believing it’ll be an item of interest to collectors in 30 years or so. They may be curious to take a closer look at its WebOS operating system. Or they might simply be on the hunt for an unconventional table mat.
If you’re interested in getting one, keep your eyes peeled. The fire sale is about to begin.

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