HP tx2-1020us 4GB Memory 12.1" 1280 x 800 Tablet PC Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit

Pros: A much welcome upgrade to my previous mobile computing.

It's very lightweight and has good battery life (~3.5hrs).

The CD drive replacement takes off some weight and is a nice option.

Recognizes my hand writing very efficiently, when sometimes I get confused about it myself.

The battery gives you something nice to grip in tablet mode to grip to and carry/hold securely.

OneNote is a nice program, although I've had it for about 6 years now.

I'm a Ph.D. student, and this is nice for taking notes, preparing presentations, and storing my data. I was really looking for a tablet on this computer purchase, and it was the best choice without spending $2000+

Cons: Tends to get a bit warm, but what do you expect from an AMD chip?

The stylus strap doesn't attach to the laptop at all and just gets in the way without being able to tuck it in anywhere, but the slot holds it in well enough so it isn't an issue.

Tons of HP bloatware that really dampens the potential of this machine. So make sure to do a wipe and reinstall when you get it.

The screen glare can get horrible at times, but I bought a third-party anti-glare film (p ho to don) and it makes it much more readable.

Due to N-Trig, no eraser on the pen, but I've just learned to use right click or "undo" pen strokes to compensate.

No HDMI, but the projector I use for my presentations is VGA anyway, so it wasn't an issue for me.

Multi-touch is essentially useless until Windows 7 comes out. The most I use of it is zooming PDFs and OneNote.

Overall Review: There are buttons on the bezel to rotate the screen so you can orient the unit how you want in tablet mode.

If you shut the unit off in tablet mode, turn it back on in tablet mode. If you shut the unit off in normal mode, turn it back on in normal mode. Otherwise you need to clear the CMOS to restore keyboard functionality.

I got a 13.3" (intended for a Mac, actually) neoprene sleeve for it and it fits perfectly with the battery sticking out.

***I admit, some aspects of this unit are quirky, and it is not for everyone. But if you don't mind the lack of HDMI or DVI, you order an anti-glare film (which adds scratch protection as well), and you are willing to do a clean Windows install if the bloatware is too much for you (use Dell Lat. XT drivers), then get this***

Pros: The touchscreen is good. The exterior look and shiny casing is excellent. Solitaire is lots of fun when you're actually dragging the cards across the screen. The external connections are all in reasonable positions.

Got to my house from Newegg early. Thanks, Newegg.

If you like to have Install Media with your computer, you'll be disappointed. I'd have put this in the cons section, but I ran out of room. They give you instructions explaining that you should buy some CDs and run the "Make Recovery Discs" utility. This is unacceptable. Another reason I regret the purchase.

Cons: The computer is surprisingly unstable. It often fails to boot all the way into Vista. Its also surprisingly slow. You would think, paying 1100 dollars would get you an at least OK laptop performer after adding touchscreen price.

It crashed once after we connected an external monitor. Afterwards, I updated the video card drivers and the problem hasn't occurred again. But frankly, at that point the computer was only a week old and already crashing. You shouldn't ship a computer with software that is already crashing. And no, I shouldn't have to update the video card driver when I get a new computer.

HP Bloatware is ridiculous. When computers load up, most of your primary functions can be summarized into 5 icons at most. This computer comes loaded with 10-15, and that is not an exagerration. 10-15 unnecessary programs that load on startup.

Last two complaints are again about performance, and I think they're related. #1, the performance (or lack thereof) stems fr

Overall Review: (continued from Cons) extremely slow hard drive. Perhaps it's because I have never actually used a 5600RPM hard drive, but it spins and spins and makes noise and produces nothing onscreen.

#2, this thing is noisy. With the harddrive constantly spinning (for the smallest of tasks, even the screensaver makes the thing churn), it produces a lot of heat. Also the video card is very warm. Just using the computer makes it warm. Then it sounds like someone is using a vacuum, vroooooooooooooom.

I found this actually can be combatted by simply propping it up. The computer is so low to the desk (or computing surface) that there isn't enough air to cool it. If you prop the back end up an inch, it tends to suck more air and more properly cool it. It actually makes less noise now than before, so it could also be the thermal paste finally setting in as some thermal pastes do.

Anyway, hopefully this helps. I don't think this is a very good computer, and I often regret its purc