Nov 19, 2008 12:01 AM EDT by Joanna Stern
When the Dell XT debuted with multi-touch drivers last spring we were excited about the ability to use multiple fingers on its capacitive touch screen to rotate pictures and pinch and zoom in on Web sites. But at over $2,000 (the starting price now is about $1,800) we just couldn’t recommend it to the regular consumer. Today’s debut of the $1,299 HP TouchSmart tx2z changes the game for multi-touch tablets not only, because it’s affordable but also because it’s the first multi-touch tablet aimed at consumers. Updated (12/22/08): Our full review of the HP TouchSmart tx2z is now up. We got a detailed look at the TouchSmart tx2z and even shot an exclusive video of the multi-touch in action. Read on below to see what we think of the tablet and its touch experience. Tx2z Design The Tx2z will live alongside HP’s Pavilion tx2500 tablet and the two look like they could be brother and sister. Measuring 12.05 x 8.82 x 1.23 -inches, the Tx2z isn’t only similar in size but it sports the same chassis as the tx2500 with the same rounded edges, port placement and a durable 180 degree hinge. However, it wears slightly different clothes; instead of the “Echo” Imprint finish on the tx2500, the tx2′s lid sports a newer more flowy Radiance Imprint finish. The model we looked at was adorned in bronze and gold. 
We were happy to see that they keyboard has also gone unchanged and that the keys are full size and have a nice coating that make them comfortable and smooth. HP also continued its use of the unique inverted nub design on its touchpad, which provides precise cursor control. The separate column of nubs on the right is great for scrolling.
Touch Experience But it was our hope that we wouldn’t need to rely on the touch pad all that often and that our fingers could do the navigating on the12-inch, 1280 x 800-resolution capacitive touch screen. Like we saw with the capacitive screen on the Dell XT (that utilizes the same N-Trig drivers as the HP tx2z), tapping your finger lightly works very well. Unlike other tablets that require a firmer press, we were moving through the Vista Start menu and windows with just simple, soft taps. HP has built in some pretty neat tricks to take advantage of the screen’s mutli-touch capabilities. As you will see in the video, double tapping the screen and then drawing the letter M, brings up the multimedia touch panel, which includes shortcuts to your pictures, music and more. The menu is pretty neat, especially how you access it, but we were hoping for a more compelling graphical user interface, like that on the TouchSmart PC along with some more applications. We tested out the multi-touch gestures in Microsoft’s Photo Gallery. Pinching in on one of the preloaded Vista images was smooth and panning with just a finger was precise. As we saw with the Dell XT, rotating images took a bit of practice. It is best done by planting one finger on the screen and using another to pivot the image with a circular motion. We also were able to do some zooming in Internet Explorer even though the Wi-Fi connection was spotty. Zooming in on Web sites was quick and flicking the pages up and down worked for scrolling. Using your finger(s) in the applications mentioned above is the best bet for now or at least until HP rolls out an API for developing software for the touch laptop. Pen Experience Those demanding a pen experience still get it with the included stylus that pops out the right edge of the system. As soon as the pen hits the screen, it senses the input and immediately turns off the finger input and enables palm rejection. Writing in Microsoft Works was fluid and the Tablet PC Input panel recognized our somewhat messy handwriting and converted it into digital text. Early Verdict Since the debut of the Apple iPhone, people have wanted to control displays with touch their fingers to control their technology (Updated: Thanks Wired, though we did use our toes before the iPhone). Touch phones and touch cameras are all the rage, but can you navigate your laptop in the same way yet? Unlike with the iPhone, there is a learning curve when using the HP TouchSmart tx2z and, until additional applications are written for the platform, the functionality is limited. Nevertheless, consumers who are looking for advanced tablet functionality in a very mobile form factor and want to sit back and use their fingers to navigate the Web will be more than satisfied with the HP TouchSmart tx2z.
November 19th, 2008 at 4:17 am
Really nice overview of what looks to be one of the best consumer products of the year.
I have a question..The battery doesn’t seem like it’s sticking out..Is it the 6 cell that came standard since the tx2500 or the 4 cell battery?
November 19th, 2008 at 11:46 am
It’s interesting, but why is the battery life so bad? The Amazon site says it has a 6 cell battery and gets 2 – 3 hours at most. That’s terrible for anyone who needs to use it while travelling or in a place (cafe, classroom, etc) where there’s no power outlet. It appears you cannot use a second battery in the DVD bay, which is such a disappointment.
November 19th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
it seems that you need to put a hand back to the lcd if you want to tap on it!!
November 19th, 2008 at 7:10 pm
Engadget is reporting it has an LED backlit screen. I doubt that’s correct.
November 19th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
i like this hp screen, looks nice. but costs too much
November 20th, 2008 at 4:28 am
Well it seems i cant publish URLs so visit my blog because The TX series have a motherboard issue. The computer die after 13 months and the warranty is for 12 months. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!!!!. I have a list of forums and posts of people angry because all the computers just broken
November 20th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
As Raul just said, don’t dare buy the TX’s. They have a serious defect – starts with the wi-fi card disappearing, then boot failures, then they just die. All this happens just exactly after a year – just outside their warranty period, as all TX1000 users have began discovering. Search the HP itrc forums for tx1000 if you don’t believe me.
November 20th, 2008 at 11:43 pm
Mark & Raul are absolutely correct – I had the same problem.
No laptop should last less than 2 yrs of regular use with current technology.
HP is not interested in helping and does not even acknowledge the issue.
Never buy an HP, if you find that you have to, get the super extended warranty…
Tons of postings about it here: https://forums13.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1227169410858+28353475&threadId=1245319
November 21st, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Raul Rojas, Mark, and Chris were right
If you want a laptop that will last for a year, never go for TX Series. I bought an HP TX laptop myself and experience the same kind of problem as other users did. My laptop shuts down even if I’m not doing something wrong. My WLAN Card disappears, then appears, then disappears again.
HP Customer Support don’t care about the issue, they will just say that you’ll buy a new WLAN Card because the hard ware was broken. Or… but a new TX series laptop if you love TX
If you want an HP Tablet, I guess you should go for 2710p tablet PCs
I’m still using my TX now without WIFI, I bought this last December 2007 and it’s already November 2008, one month to go before my TX1000 dies…
November 22nd, 2008 at 1:31 pm
My TX1220us is 13 months old and has probably had 40 hours total use in the last year. Currently it is being fitted with a new motherboard which will cost me $400 – this new motherboard will still contain the original design flaw & will probably fail in a few months! HP Total Care do not want to know!
Do not take my word for this type in ´TX1000 serious problem´ into the web & see for yourself what the 1000´s of very angry TX1000 series owners have to say about that expensive ´paper weight´ you are contemplating buying!
November 23rd, 2008 at 12:16 pm
People who are recommending not to buy HP laptops are totally correct, not even the TX series, a lot of the models have problems which HP is not taking any responsible of…
just as mentioned before, give HP support forums and you will realise how big the problem is, if you dont wanna waste your money then DONT buy an HP.
NEVER buy an HP from now on…
November 27th, 2008 at 4:30 pm
I had a tx2000 and the wireless card died on it too, then the hard drive and had to send in for fix where they replaced the motherboard…. Pain, and only after 2 month of use.
is the display grainy on this, or does the capacitive technology fix that?
December 9th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
first companies promote non-smoking to increase productivity in the workplace.
now with the advent of touchpads,
do you think picking your nose will be frowned upon as an unbecoming pleasure?
December 10th, 2008 at 5:47 am
Very nice feature! but there is only one problem. The screen will get dirty all the time if the owner loves to pick his nose.
December 10th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
owner loves to pick his nose???? and touch the screen???? eeeeeewwwww!!! That’s friggin’ gross!
December 15th, 2008 at 1:13 am
Re the HP TX series breaking down early… I was considering buying this because my experience with the hp *TC* series (e.g. tc4200) tablets have been very good. Now I guess I need to investigate further.
December 18th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Hi
Does this tablet pc screen accept pressure sensitivy? Hp`s wbe site is so vague about it. I am looking for buying a tablet pc with wacom technology and I am hoping that this one uses wacom internally. Does anyone have any idea about this particular issue?
December 18th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
Hi
Does this tablet pc screen accepts pressure sensitivity? Hp`s wbe site is very vague about npen features. I am hoping that underlying pen technology is from Wacom on this model. Does anyone have any idea?
thanks
December 20th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
To: Kartal
The HP Tx2z uses N-trig technology, not Wacom, both the screen and the pen are designed by that company. This specific model has pressure sensibility in certain programs (Photoshop is not one of them) though it might just be a software glitch that could be solved in the near future via update. Also as a plus, the pen does not have an “eraser” tip as the one in the previous Tx2XXX series did. So, if you’re looking for a more artistic approach you should consider getting a Tx2500z or so.
December 31st, 2008 at 3:42 pm
The guys posting about their HP tablets failing have obviously not kept up with the technology. The TX1000 & TX2000 series laptops had video cards that were causing heat & failure issues. This has now been remidied with the TX2500 & TX2z series tablets (new video card). I have one of these TX2Z tablets & absolutly love it. The dual touch screen features are ok but I don’t care much for the finger prints all over my screen so I stick with the touchpad or stylus. I do like how the new monitor is much brighter than the old TX2500 which is the main reason I opted for the tx2z.
January 18th, 2009 at 6:52 am
aside from only recognizing <4gb ram, will there be an issue or problem when 4gb ram is installed on a 32-bit os on tx2z?
January 27th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Never ever again, i just spent 2 hrs with tech support,(i have defective mobo, no wifi in tx1320us) and what they basically tell you to do with your factory defective laptop is to shove it up your butt. Damn, im ready to kill somebody now, those internation banglabinalideshian representatives calmly drive you crazy.
Any solutions as of now?
February 24th, 2009 at 11:01 am
The HP tx series is a faulty range of laptops. Please stay away. I and several other users have experienced the same problems and HP doesnt seem to give a damn!
February 26th, 2009 at 11:00 am
Stay clear of the TX series – I own a TX1120 US – just after warranty expired (1 yr) the wireless dissapeared, and now the computer screen won’t do anything – just stays black. The laptop is not even 2 years old. Many people seem to be having this exact issue. Its a faulty laptop.
March 10th, 2009 at 7:00 pm
Seriously, don’t bother asking questions about this computer, if you buy it after reading these forums then you are waisting your money. even new ones will still have the defect, it is intigrated into the motherboard. Stay clear of the tx series and if you want good service stay away from HP all together. They may have been good in the past but with the economy how it is now they will just sacrifice the quality of their products and the consumers rights. I wish these forums were available before I invested 1300 dollars in a lump of trash. The bells and whistles are pointless when the motherboard is fried ( as I type this on my eeepc ).
March 15th, 2009 at 4:32 pm
Buying an HP laptop is a BIG mistake, my tx1210us died a couple days ago, and it failed because of a component design flaw. HP is responsible for this and should refund us or at least exchange the product with a different one. I paid over $1300 for it 18 months ago.
I’ve made a post on my blog about it:
http://www.mycheaplaptop.net/2009/03/never-buy-hp-laptop/
March 26th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
Thanks for the input. I was seriously considering this product until reading the previous posts. Now I’ll look for a different mfgr. Can anyone recommend a particular notepad?
April 1st, 2009 at 4:55 pm
Actually, the tx2z has a new motherboard that has fixed the breakdown problem.
April 18th, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Hi
I am seriously searching for all the info on tx2z, though some problems like heat and noise can be controlled.
I am bit thinking of the graphics and video card as they may damage the motherboard in the near future.
Pls anyone answer to it. Bye
May 21st, 2009 at 8:27 am
I seriously hope this model will not be like tx2000. had problems with the cursor clicking on the lower right part of the screen, but hp wont replace it even if it’s still under warranty. their customer service sucks. and the laptop heats up so bad to the point that i can’t place it on my lap. i will never buy an HP product again!
May 25th, 2009 at 9:44 pm
i like this hp screen, looks nice. but costs too much
June 11th, 2009 at 4:53 pm
Do your research, please. The problems earlier models had involved the nVidia graphics chip. A certain coating on it would get too hot, and the motherboard would fry. Happened to my tx1219us two months after warranty was up. There are still hundreds of people fighting HP over this.
The tx2z doesn’t use nVidia, which is one reason I’m drawn to it — nVidia hasn’t completely ironed out all the kinks, so for now I think I’ll stay away from any of their chips/cards. However, because I don’t want to deal with HP’s lack of customer support again, I’m trying to research any problems that the tx2z might have. My father does computer support for his company, so I’m not too worried about most problems. It’s when it’s a fairly ridiculous (and expensive) issue that I start to shy away from products.
This is looking like a good tablet for me, so I hope it’s one to last for at least a few years.
June 30th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
reading the comments I noticed that everyone who had problems had hp series tx1000 or tx2000. none of them actually had the tx2z series…
This laptop looks like something I NEED in my life lol so I’m going to look into this one further b4 buying..
July 9th, 2009 at 11:25 am
i have an hp, and i absolutely love it. ive had it for two years and nothings ever been wrong with it. i cant wait until i get the tx2z
July 12th, 2009 at 12:28 am
im geting the tx2z for christmas and i can barely wait
July 12th, 2009 at 1:54 am
I dont know why nobody listens to the people who have stated repeatedly that the problem IS NOT THE TX SERIES. The problem is in the tx1000 and tx2000 series. Look through all of the posts here and tell me if you see any at all from either the tx2500 or the tx2 series.
Also you must realize that the problem was with the graphics card not the mother board (sort of). Part of the nvidia graphics card would get too hot which would overheat the motherboard right next door. Since then the tx2500 and the tx2 have been loaded with different graphics cards I think from a different maker even.
Now I realize some have had bad customer service experiences with hp but it was not their part that was at fault. They aren’t completely blameless for choosing to install bad graphics cards but they cant be blamed for the part being bad in itself.
All in all I believe in hp in producing a better product in the tx2z series and I will probably buy one soon (but with a slightly extended warranty just in case).
July 17th, 2009 at 10:37 pm
Acer Aspire 5000 died Thursday and I am thinking seriously about getting a shiny TX2-1270. After reading this, I am going to talk with Microcenter’s support people about any complaints with the newer models. I’ll post on my blog, scottsawyerconsulting.com.
July 18th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Ok for all those out there questioning the TX2 version. Question do they have the same failure rate? The answer is no, they based upon advance aging test will last 15 months not 13 of the old ones. Yes the graphics card problem has been amended but not the heat issue. From the review it seems it is the lack of heat dissipating material and appropriate design to keep the Motherboard from experiencing wide heat cycles leading to thermal fatigue of various components. This is not completely HP fault as it is inherit in this type of product. They would need to make the same move Apple did and go to an integrated Aluminum case to prolong the life. While an updated case will prolong the life by another year or two, the cost would probably add another $200 to the price, while the actual cost is $20 it a major retooling for HP to handle.
So the best way to handle this is what HP wants you to do and that is purchase there 2-3 year warranty. So if you decide on purchasing a HP just add $200 to the cost for the warranty and compare it to other products with 1 year warranty and they would be about equal.
July 30th, 2009 at 6:23 am
Just bear in mind that the video card takes up a mammoth 1.4GB of the available RAM so you really need to upgrade to 8GB otherwise you are left with a notebook attempting to run 2.6GB on vista.
If you are a developer like me then vista ultimate + vs 2008 = not pretty .. best to ditch OS go 64BIT and get that extra ram.
August 1st, 2009 at 12:13 pm
ammm,,im juzt planning to buy the hp tx2z..for me its great and i love it! but after i read all of your comment guys im now confuse…there’s anyone here have the HP TX2Z right now?and how is it??help me guys,,,,
August 19th, 2009 at 12:09 am
Ya i got a tx2z for over a year and never had a problem with it exept for the heat that comes out of the exhaust which is anoyin as long as u dont keep it on for to long every day it sould be fine
August 19th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
Ok. So I have been researching about this since couple of days and I’m hearing that it has a heat problem and new ones have better graphics cards….etc.
Well I need an honest opinion
I need a good reliable fast laptop that should last for about 5-6 years from now. I have to use it everyday at university for med school.
I’m debating between these 2 laptops and I’d really appreciate if any1 could reply asap.
Hp touchsmart tx2-1275dx – and – hp dv3-2155mx
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=cat13504&type=page&pageIdentity=searchDriven&useProductString=true&productString=1218094855056*1218094583196&unProductString=1218101178783*1218099255649*1218099254485*1218099254474*1218098558895*1218094855118*1218094855881*1218094582785*1218093379169*1218093381700*1218093384107*1218093001786*1218044489891&catId=
Thanks in advance
-JB
August 19th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I really, really want this laptop. i have tried it a few times at Nebraska Furniture Mart and it seemes like a good laptop, but a ton of people are saying that you should never buy a TX series. What’s the real facts?
October 3rd, 2009 at 1:01 am
I’ve had my tx2500 for over 13 months now. It appears to be a decent consumer-grade laptop, nothing more. It is a wonderfully-priced tablet, however. You do get what you pay for. Its functional, but has its issues. I DO NOT trust that it will last another year before it begins to fall apart, that’s the sad fact. Meh, before then I’ll pick up an internship and have enough saved for a new Lenovo within a couple of months
Do not buy HP if you plan on keeping your laptop for several years- they simply are not built to last that long!
October 16th, 2009 at 8:31 am
DO NOT BUY HP. And for those who already have the TX2z, wait until you have reached the 18-20 month threshold. Thats when these puppies (the Tx2000z) die. First the wifi goes – you cannot get on the internet, so you buy a netgear 802.11n dongle. Ugly. Then the external monitor display goes – you can only see in 16 bit color if you use an external monitor, so you just use the small 12″ laptop monitor. Ugly. All the while the exhaust is spewing out 120 F hot air, so you never put it on your lap. Ugly. Then on the 18th month, it starts to die. First it wont boot up, but maybe it will. So you make sure you are backed up to the hilt. Ugly. Then the crashes happen more often. You call HP Customer service. They pretend to “research the problem” (as if they dont read these forums; as if they dont have their own case histories!) Deceptive. Then after so many useless hours on the phone pretending this is a new and unique problem, they offer to fix it for $340. With a 90 day guarantee. Ugly. I would love to hear of good news from this series. But I am not expecting much from this TX series nor from HP. Ugly.
November 12th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
Wow, people said HP provides the best service, but I have heard that they has made a few recalls already, so concerned about the quality a lot.
November 20th, 2009 at 11:06 am
I have had a TX2-1275dx since Sept. 2009, and the lcd started blinking after about an hour whether using it or it just sitting there powered on. I went through HP support and ultimately sent it back and they replaced the lcd under warranty.
I am expecting it back today.
I will see if the problem has been and will remain corrected and update.
November 22nd, 2009 at 11:42 am
I just bought a tx2-1375dx from BestBuy for 850.
Has 4G ram and Wi7 Pro 64bit. Only had a couple days but I’ve been on it steady getting apps and utilities configured. I do network & PC support for a living. I’m very impressed with it and nothing I could find save a rebuilt Lenovo x61 was near the price point. The Lenovo doesn’t compare feature or performance-wise. Everything works as it should, gotta love the Win7 O/S and I’m no Microsoftie fan.
It gets warm but only too warm if you’re doing what you’re not supposed to do and have it sitting on your lap or other cushy surfaces that block air flow.
November 30th, 2009 at 8:02 am
Steven, how is the noise from the fan? Any complaints? I hear that the Wi7 Pro 64bit has an XP function that allows it to act as an XP computer. Have you tried that function at all (I have to be on a school network that does not yet support Wi7)?
December 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
everybody who says don’t buy the tx series should really shut up. Any freakin’ way this is the hp tx2z not the other generations. I know somebody who has on and it is a great tablet PC. The only problems about the tx2z is the noise and the heat. And the noise isn’t that annoying. So everybody who keeps on saying don’t buy this laptop shut the heck up, and do your freakin’ research
December 27th, 2009 at 6:49 am
@JT why dont you do your own research and see what you come up with?!. Just search tx1000 or tx2000 problems and see for yourself. I have had/still have both tx1000 and tx2000 and they cost me £800 each and lasted just past 1 year and both died after developing the same symptoms that are now known to just about everyone that owns one (except HP ofcourse!!) that this is a manufacturers fault so please forgive me and others for coming over here and letting people know of our experiences as to help someone else out!
January 11th, 2010 at 11:12 pm
I bought the tx2-1375dx last December and must say I’m happy with it. I wiped out the Win7 Pro to install my own copy of Win7 Ultimate without all the bloatware. It doesn’t heat up so much even under heavy load and the fan noise is not so bad either. Since it has Radeon 3200 HD graphics I tested it with Call of Duty 4 and the graphics are great with smooth gameplay. I can use older programs from Win XP and install most of them in Win7. I agree with others saying to stay away from certain HP laptops but I don’t believe this model will be one of them. My friend has a tx2510us tablet and he has never had a problem with it. I also have a limited edition Compaq V6719NR with Win XP for three years now and never had a problem. However, to my surprise I hear that many people have problems with their HP dv6000 model which is basically the same as my Compaq and have problems especially with the wifi. This tx2-1375dx powerhouse is much better than my Compaq in all respects and even boots faster. And since it has Win7 64bit edition I can upgrade the memory to the full 8GB. The battery life is good just as long as you are in the power saver plan with your display brightness turned down. I believe it will be possible to downgrade to Windows XP once there are newer compatible AHCI SATA drivers available.
February 20th, 2010 at 12:19 am
If you wanna get upset that people are being honest about HP and their horrible history with defective previous TX models, then don’t cry to any one later when you realize you wasted your money. Yes they did put out some recalls, but only on a few select models (none were tx) as a hopeless attempt to look like they were taking responsibility. but if you do your research you will see 1000′s of neglected customers left with expensive heaps of junk. Obviously the old models had problems or they wouldn’t have replaced the “defective nvidia chip”. If you want to spend a lot of money for a laptop to use for a max of 13mons and to put your trust in a company that takes no pride in delivering a product to expected standards of its class then have fun with it, at least you were warned, now it’s in your own hands! Of course it looks nice, but that’s what HP spends there money on, gaining new customers and throwing the existing ones out!
March 15th, 2010 at 1:08 am
True story
I’m so disappointed my tx2z has been having a lot of problems turning on or off! It won’t turn on, sliding the power button all the lights flash (preparing to start up) and then they just die! After spending two hours (for the second time in one year!) with HP support, I’m going to be sending my tx2z in to replace the hard drive and motherboard. I wish I would’ve listened to everyone who were warning me about the tx models. They really do have problems!!
April 7th, 2010 at 12:14 pm
DO NOT buy the HP tx. They will not acknowledge the issue with the tx2000. One way to have a company respect their customers is for consumers to stand together when a problem exists. HP has made a lot of money selling this defective product. Have they fixed it? How do we know if they will not conceed that there was a problem to begin with? My tx 2000 lasted longer than some but less than 2 years. I liked it when it was working. But the heat issue is killing it. I fixed it for an additional 3 weeks use by pushing the jkl keys when turnin g it on. Now that will not work either. Maybe some can see the sense in spending $1000 for a 15 month laptop but it does not make sense to me.
May 25th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
yes! you have all said and did your various research. the question is you that claim to have a TXZ series, how did you manage yours? anyway i am a little confused because out of every statement there are element of truth. the problem remains, is there anyone who has used his TXz series for more than a year? let him speak. if not there are bound to be flaws in every system as we tend to make corrections from other mistakes….
May 27th, 2010 at 1:27 pm
Well I don’t know what the whining is about. We got almost two years out our tx2000z before the motherboard failed. And like the other posters, customer service, even going through mark hurds service line was “no the tx was not part of the recall; we have not had service problems with that model.” Ultimately, I could see them taking the position that it is out of warranty but to lie about the widespread problem (“our engineers liked into this for models that were not part of the recall and determined they did not have any problems”) and the fact that current models had a design change does not bode well for good
treatment in the future.
June 4th, 2010 at 11:59 pm
Hello all,
several were wanting to know how the HP touchsmart tx2 performs after 1 year of use. I am here to tell you from my personal experience. I am on my 15th month with my tx2. All and all I’m disappointed with my purchase as I feel I could have done better for the money. My tx2 is still holding up, but not without problems. Today I had to boot to safe mode and uninstall the video driver because the driver had failed and my laptop would not display any video once Vista was loaded. Prior to this I was getting occasional blue screens when the laptop was connected to an external display. The updated driver claimed to fix that problem so I did the update. Then a week later it crashed. So using this laptop with an external display is an iffy proposition for all of you interested in that. My 2nd MAJOR ISSUE with this laptop is that the hard drive began clicking 3 or 4 months in upon loading of any file large in size (ie. Windows). I figured the hard drive was soon to fail and ran tests on it. Passed every test though…. slightly confusing. It’s been doing that for over 8 months now and Windows takes nearly 4 minutes to load. So I have a problem that can’t be fixed and is highly annoying. My last issue is that the battery is only good for 45 minutes to an hour not even close to the 2 or 3 hours that are claimed by HP. Thanks in part to the AMD processor that uses more power than an Intel. Some newer laptops will actually get 4 hours of life using a word processor and I think it’s sad that this laptop doesn’t when you are paying nearly a grand for it.
I am a computer technician and have been for nearly 4 years and have a lot of experience with computers. I would offer this advice. If you are buying the tx2 because you think the tablet function is cool and you want to give it a try, or just like its size and specs DON’T buy it. Go with a Toshiba or an Asus. If you need a tablet pc for school or the office, the tx2 is decent and doesn’t die like the tx1000. Also the wireless card has worked flawlessly. However I would look at all of your options before settling on this laptop.
June 8th, 2010 at 7:47 pm
My TX2500 purchased in Jan 2009 just died. I’m posting from my 5 year old Gateway laptop that has survived spills, drops, curious pets, etc. Now I have to pull the drive and try to recover the last 2 weeks worth of data. It powers on, blue lights flash, the fan spins, and nothing happens…no bios, no nothing. I suspect the board fried. That was a great use of $1000. No more HP products for me.
June 10th, 2010 at 11:14 pm
I currently own a HP TX2Z and have not experienced any issues. To help lower the heat that is produced by the tablet you need to tone down the amount of power your processor is consuming. First you need to go into power plan settings and select change power settings and then select advanced power settings. Under advanced power settings scroll down to Processor power management click on that and select Maximum Processor state and lower the percentage rate to 75% on battery and 85% plugged in and click apply. You will notice a dramatic decrease in temperature and the fan will not be idling like a jet ready for take off. You will only notice a very slight decrease in processor speed but its worth the sacrifice. This in turn will make your tablet last a lot longer. Give it a try and let me know how it works for you, very happy with my HP TX2Z after I modified the power settings. Good Luck
June 22nd, 2010 at 3:25 am
Wow I rlly didn’t find this helpful think I’m more confused then I was before I wanted to by this for uni cause I thought it would be easy in notetaking rather then having 18 pg lectures already being half hearted about whether I rlly need it or not I’m just more confused. I’ve had a hp laptop for ages and I’ve never had anything wrong with it I would think this was a very reputable brand I’ve read same the same sort of reviews on other forums however they did have flaw for example one claimed to have bought it in january 2010 and claimed it stuffed up within 6 months time the post being in march that doesn’t add up..as they claimed they only had owned it for 3 months??
My other Delema we all complain about something when it breaks we wouldn’t visit these places if you were so over the moon with your product. So is this the 1% of owners that had the default That is posting this or is it just everyone that ever owned one. Yet again if the replaced the fault chip which I understand was cause the meltdown in the old series why do the new ones have the same problem. I’m
sure hp would be like many other great technology companies profit depends on customers I’m sure if they are selling a faulty product yeah they may not own up to it but the new I assume revised series which has been modified to fix the problem why does it still contain it I would have thought the product would have gone through a large amount of testing.
I’m not sticking up for hp these are just the thoughts running through my head as I read these reviews
I do like the idea and concept of this laptop and as a uni student I don’t have money to waste however I don’t wanna get turned away from a laptop I quite like.
As I said I’m alot more confused then I was.
July 8th, 2010 at 7:52 am
Purchased tx2500 in July 2008 and have had absolutely ZERO issues. It gets daily use including gpu/cpu intensive gaming.
Anyone thinking about buying one though should choose something else though.
There are a few reasons:
No matter how cool you think having a touch screen is, it just isnt really a massive addition to your daily computing. I havnt used mine in months. Using a touch screen requires you to lift your arms nto touch the screen and although it sounds lazy doing that gets real old real quick.
They have terrible battery life, even when the battery is brand new.
They get hot, uncomfortably hot.
July 12th, 2010 at 6:42 pm
For any student fishing around for laptops, stay away from this one.
As stated by everyone else, I too have to reiterate that the battery life on this thing is as bad as they can get. The most I ever got out of this thing was 2 hours, and that was with the wifi turned off halfway. Literally, this battery will only give you 1 hour of usage with the wifi on, which is a bit essential when you’re on campus, trying to write papers and do research. The heat is searing after only half an hour of being plugged to an outlet, and the fan is irritatingly loud.
Save yourself the grief, and stay away from this laptop. I’m so disatisfied that I’ve guaranteed myself that (a) I will never purchase an HP laptop and (b) I’m getting a Macbook next.
July 30th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
I have had a HP tx2z touchsmart laptop for about a year now, I also bought the 2-year accidental protection plan (about a third of the laptop in cost). When I first bought it I had one issue with the touch screen that took about 3 weeks to get fixed and two hour long calls to HP. About a month ago I started having bad heat issues and my video card started going bad. I have spent 6 calls, 1+ hour each, on the phone with HP. One month later and I still don’t even have a box to send my HP laptop in for repair. BEWARE OF HP.
September 11th, 2010 at 6:57 pm
reading these due to my tx2000 going into blackscreen, from what I’ve read it should be recalled, from what I’ve read, IT WON’T BE!
October 24th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
I have a tx2z as well approaching the 1 year mark and it has failed. I suppect the video driver and the heat has finally cooked the motherboard. After 12 hours on the phone with various HP staff they have sent a new hard drive (which did nothing) and now they are sending a shipping box to return the laptop for repairs. My hope is they will replace the motherboard and video driver at the same time.
When the laptop is returned I will dail down the power settings as suggested to reduce heat and hopefully extend the laptop life.
November 1st, 2010 at 12:31 am
Last week I was on a conefrence when my wife called me announcing that both of our tx2z laptops have problems and she could not use either of them. After two sleepless nights today I was able to test them – and start my search for possible solutions (that is how I landed up here ….)
Win 7 came up (the HP splash screen still shows up in three white stripes).
1. My wife’s machine is really sick, it gives a blink 2 error (corrupt BIOS).
2. The other machine I was able to wake up. At first it gave me the stripe-blur screen when booting into Win 7 but after putting a bootable USB stick into one of the ports (and not booting from it
I am worried …
November 10th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
My tx2 (18 months old) died last week. No warning at all. It just has a blank screen and blinking lights indicating a CPU failure. HP said that they are not aware of any problem with the tx2. They will do nothing for me except put a new defective part in it for $400.
I posted a review and it never made it to the list of reviews.
Do not ever buy HP.
April 24th, 2011 at 11:47 pm
Great computer for the money.. too bad the laptop’s bottom get to be about 150 DEGREES!!!!
August 15th, 2011 at 2:32 am
I do have a hp touchmart tx2z 1300, We buy it last 2010 and i want to sell it. On what price do u think im going to sell it?
October 23rd, 2011 at 12:54 pm
I have a tx2z and exactly as everyone else stated: about 15 months after I bought it, with SUPER light use, the motherboard had a defect. One of the RAM bays went out. The computer gave me the 3 LED error blink, I took the bottom 2 gig chip out and the computer booted up as usual and ran fine off of the one 2 gig chip for about 5 months. Now both bays are out and hp just quoted me roughly $400 to put a new motherboard in.
Yes, the tablet is really cool, and yes, it has a lot of really cool features, but it WILL DIE after about a year, unless they have fixed the faulty motherboard issue!!
March 5th, 2012 at 2:43 am
The screen is actually vibrant, although I haven’t tested it in direct sunlight.
November 2nd, 2012 at 12:35 pm
A customer history with two touchSmart tx2-1300
First TX2:
- After 11 months the motherboard died, luckily for us the laptop was in warranty and HP change a new motherboard.
- After 16 months with the new motherboard it died
Second TX2:
- After 13 months the motherboard died
what a waste of money!