HP TouchSmart tx2z Review

Tablets PCs have a very small share of the laptop market that has grown leaps and bound over the last few years. HP has been an active developer of Tablet PCs and has been constantly bringing in innovative Tablet PCs. HP Touchsmart series is dedicated towards Tablet PCs and HP Touchsmart tx2z is the latest addition to the series.

HP Touchsmart tx2z specifications :

• Processor : AMD Turion X2 Ultra Dual Core Mobile ZM-86 / 2.4 GHz
• RAM : 4GB DDR II SDRAM
• Display : 12.1″ TFT with 1280 x 800 resolution
  
• Hard Disk :  400GB
• Optical drive : DVD burner
• OS : Windows Vista Home Premium
• Approx. price : $1400

The tx2z has foldable screen that can be folded down flat for use in tablet mode. The screen accepts inputs from digital pen as well as fingers. Multi-touch input is not supported as opposed to single finger inputs in the earlier Touchsmart laptops. The design of the laptop is similar to other HP laptops and it has the imprint pattern on it that has become synonymous with HP laptops now.

The 12.1″ display with 1280 x 800 resolution is just about perfect. The screen supports multi-touch gestures for zooming etc and you can also use both finger and digital pen inputs simultaneously. Digital pen is probably the best input method as it does not dirty the screen as opposed to fingerprints. The touch inputs are accepted readily but sometimes they lag ruining the experience.

The ports on the laptop are pretty much standard that include 3 USB 2.0 ports, expansion port, SD card reader, VGA out ports. The absence of HMDI or mini-DVI port is pretty disappointing leaving little room for connecting external display.The DVD burner, bluetooth, WiFi are some of the other standard features to be found on the tx2z.

The laptop has AMD Turion X2 processor that does an excellent job of matching performance with its Intel Core 2 Duo counterpart. The processor coupled with 4GB RAM handles most tasks efficiently. The RAM can be upgraded to 8GB if needed to be. The laptop has 8-cell battery that runs continuously for 3 hours on normal usage. HP provides standard 1-year parts and labour warranty with the laptop. Overall the performance is good and the price to performance ratio is great.

Pros :

• Great display
• Good design
• 3 USB 2.0 ports
• Multi-touch support

Cons :

• Laggy touch-response sometimes
• No HDMI/DVI port

Final Thoughts

The HP tx2z laptop does not bring in any revolutionary changes and is just another Tablet PC from HP. It has a good display and design and port selection is good apart from missing external display ports options. Multi-touch support is a welcome addition too. But the laggy touch input sometimes isn’t something we wished for. Overall a decent offering from HP.

Rating : 3.5/5