Projectors and the World of PC Gaming

I have been out for a few days, but this is insanity.  The price of the HP Touchpad originally was an MSRP of $399 for the 16GB, and $499 for the 32GB.  Since Friday evening… Slickdeals.com has been going nuts over this.  I even have been sucked into the madness.  I have tried to order three of them, with all three orders still pending.  I tried to order one from HP directly, and two from an Amazon.com seller called OnSale.  People are biting their nails off, just trying to figure out if these suckers are even going to be shipped.

You may still have a chance to get one, as HP is expecting stock to be returned from retailers such as Costco.  If you are interested in buying one, then I suggest you follow the thread over at Slickdeals.net, here’s the link:

HP Touchpad Slickdeals Thread

The thread is quite entertaining, and quite possibly the largest deals thread in Slickdeals.com history.  Even if you can’t buy one, you are certain to get a few chuckles here and there.

And also sign up for the stock notification over at HP:

HP Stock Notification Page

Touchpad Specifications Page

This is an amazing deal, and even if you just use it to surf the web it is well worth the $99.  It does not have as many apps as an Android device, or ipad.  It is $400 cheaper than an ipad though, which in my book makes it a much better buy.  I pretty much consider anything a much better buy than an Apple product, so I may be a bit biased.  These things are flooding ebay, and Craig’s List, but with a heft markup.  I would wait a while before resorting to buying one from those sites.  All the excitement will die down in a couple of weeks, and you will probably be able to pick up a 16GB for about $150, and a 32GB for about $200.

It is rumored that HP has already sold over 350,000 units over the last 4 days, but I am waiting to see some concrete numbers.  HP has not said they are giving up on WebOS as of yet, but nobody knows for sure (unless you are a HP executive).  My much beloved computer geeks are working on a way to run the Android OS on the HP Touchpad, and even one shipped with it pre-installed, see the video here:

HP Touchpad Running Android On Youtube

I would have to say that Amazon.com has handled this sale very well.  I would have to say Best Buy handled this the worst.  I went into one of the Best Buy stores on Saturday, and they refused to sell me one.  Even after I showed them receipts from the store in Santa Ana selling them at the reduced price.  I also showed them a link at their site stating they were to sell at the new price, but they refused.  I then went out to my vehicle, and ordered one at full price for in-store pick-up, knowing I could get the price adjusted later, or simply return it.  About 30 minutes after ordering it, Best Buy cancelled my order.  I come to find out that they sold all of the store’s inventory the next morning.  I guess the Worst Buy nickname they have earned applied to my situation.

Well, that’s all I have for now…until next time!

-Ebenezer