HP unveiled today the HP TouchSmart tx2 Notebook. The TX2 looks like a standard Tablet PC with a hinge that allows the entire 12.1-inch screen to be turned around and folded down for a slate style experience. The real fun is in the touch screen which is capacitive and not resistive; that means you don’t have to press the screen very hard for the computer to register inputs. A simple tap to the screen is enough for the TX2. All but the cheapest loadouts of the TX2 come equipped with Turion X2 dual-core processors. All models will ship with Radeon HD 3200 integrated graphics, and consumers can opt for up to 8GB of DDR2 SDRAM and 500GB of hard disk storage. The laptop also features a webcam and optional fingerprint reader.
Quirks
Since this is a Tablet PC and not a desktop, there were some quirks. The HP MediaSmart software, HP’s multi-touch enabled photo/video/music player, does not play well in portrait mode. In fact, if you are running the software and switch to portrait, a message will pop up on the screen saying that the HP MediaSmart software is not optimized for this display and will now quit. The app doesn’t just disappear, you do have to click an “OK” button. Also, the HP MediaSmart music player did not have any onscreen volume controls. This is not really a problem in most cases, but if you are using the TX2 in slate mode, you will have to go into your Windows system tray to adjust the volume. The HP rep was a bit confused by this oversight as well, so I would imagine it will be fixed in the long run
HP has packed in an optical drive, an ExpressCard34 slot (which HP has filled with an IR remote for media center) and dual headphone jacks so you can share your screen with someone. The laptop comes equipped with two IR sensors so that you will be able to use that included remote in any of the laptop configurations.The laptop, priced starting at $1,199, will begin shipping at the end of November.
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