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With all the sales papers arriving this holiday season it is hard to resist scanning over
the latest in mobile hardware. I have been looking for something to fill the gap
between my Samsung Q1 UMPC and my Asus R1F Tablet. Both PCs work well for what
they do. The Q1 is great for travel and for quick notes during meetings but the screen
sizes is limiting in many ways. The Asus with its 13.3" screen and active digitizer is
fantastic for inking long emails or documents but is a bit too heavy for travel.

My quest, like so many of you was to find that (just right) device. I had a budget of
$2,000 dollars which allows for current technology in tablet PC form. I was considering
a 12.1" tablet pc in the slate form factor as well another UMPC with higher screen
resolution. Around Thanksgiving I found on sale the HP TX1320 Tablet PC. I had read a
little about the TX series but wasnt that impressed with the reviews. The main reason
for the poor reviews seemed to be the poor inking on the TX.

This time around I read past the poor inking reviews and looked closer at the specs
and the price. For $1,100.00 you get alot of machine for the money. The specs are
quite good on this machine for starters you get a 250 Gb hard drive which is about
twice what you get on most tablet PC's. You also get 2 Mb of ram which is what I
recommend when running Windows Vista. The OS is Vista Home Premium which
includes Windows Media Center. WMC is a nice addition if you own an XBOX 360, you
can use your tablet as a media extender to play music and video. The media extender
is a subject for another day but it works great. Because the HP is advertised as a
media pc it includes a small remote for controlling your media functions. The remote
slides into the side of the tablet just under the card reader, way to go HP. The
speakers are Altec Lansing and sound better than any pc this size I have ever heard.

The screen is a 12.1" touch screen. The image on screen is good, the brightness is
better than my ASUS R1 tablet. The screen resolution is 1280 x 800 and seems to be
just right for the 12.1" size. One thing to note about the screen is the softness for lack
of better words. When inking you have to push down harder that you normally would.
The ink experience is not as good as you would get on an active digitizer device but it
is fine for general note taking. For more details on digital inking please visit one of my
favorite websites www.gottabemobile.com you can learn a lot about the different
types of inking there. The screen does have a glossy look to it and when in direct
sunlight it is hard to read. The ability to use touch for me makes up for the lackluster
inking. I will post another article soon displaying how someone who spends a lot of
time in a car can benefit from the touch experience.

For people who don't know what a tablet pc is or how it differs from a regular laptop a
tablet allows you to swivel the screen and close it with the screen side up. This allows
for easy note taking while holding the device like a notebook. HP was smart and
added function buttons on the bezel of the screen. The functions include rotate,
windows mobility program, a program called HP Fast Play and a DVD function button.
At first I was ticked because they left off the scroll button, but then it hit me this is a
touch tablet I can scroll with my finger. Other nice touches include dual microphone
built in as well as a 1.3 Mp web cam. The web cam is fine for Skype but that's about it.
There is also a fingerprint reader which works like a charm. HP really packed a lot
into this machine the AMD 64 X2 processor is fast but tends to run warmer that my Asus
or my Samsung Q1.

The overall fit and finish are good the glossy black back cover is a fingerprint magnet.
It is the same finish as the SamsungQ1. Speaking of the Q1 I use this HP like an
oversized UMPC less any vectoring issues. (Vectoring is when writing on the screen
stray or random lines appear on the screen). The TX1320 has no vectoring issues at all
I have even tried to make it happen but to no avail, way to go HP! The pros outweigh
the cons for me. The negatives have been warm to the touch under heavy load, the
screen has too much reflection in sunlit places and the glossy black finish attracts
smudges. If you are not a heavy inker and have a budget around $1,000 please go to
your local big box store and try this out. The ability to put your hands on this tablet
and try it out is a big plus. Most tablet PC's are not yet in the local retail stores for you
to try before you buy. Other specs include dual headphone inputs, wifi & bluetooth,
multi-card reader and three USB 2.0 ports.

I am posting a webcast on the HP TX soon and will link from the site so please check
back for more details and video of touch in action.

Best regards,

Rob