2710p vs. tx2500z vs. tc4200 a photo comparison

fldrice · Jul 19, 2008

I was able to play with a friend's brand new tx2500 so I thought I would snap some pictures of the HP's various tablet products together for comparison. I threw in a nc8230 (15.4") in a couple pics just to get a better scaling perspective. The tablets, however, are all 12" models.

Left to Right: tx2500, tc4200, nc8230, 2710p

https://flic.kr/p/55YxBq

Thickness comparison: tx2500, tc4200, 2710p, nc8230

https://flic.kr/p/55Un7X

Thickness comparison: tc4200 vs. 2710p

https://flic.kr/p/55Up2n

Thickness comparison: tx2500 vs. tc4200

https://flic.kr/p/55UpsX

Thickness comparison: tx2500 vs. 2710p

https://flic.kr/p/55UruV

fldrice · Jul 19, 2008

Some observations:

tx2500z:
-feels much more zippy than previous tx incarnations
-build quality has been improved but flex is still present and squeaking does occur
- screen orientation does not automatically change when screen is rotated into tablet mode (according to notebookreview.com it does)
-not a real fan of the perforated touchpad
-stylus silo not as secure as the one on the tc4200 (easy to eject accidentally)
-passive digitizer layer on the screen made the display appear to be more blurry

2710p:
-lack of touchpad is really not that big of a deal
-achilles heel=slow hard drive (not a problem with newly available 5400rpm upgrade or SSD)
-soft touch lining on the bottom of tablet provides a nice grippy carrying surface
-capacitive touch volume controls don't work as well as real buttons
-"ctrl alt del" + "screen rotate" buttons require you to insert your pentip through a tiny hole (good that it's much more difficult to accidently press these buttons but bad in that it takes more time to access these buttons)
-stylus silo not as secure as the one on the tc4200 (easy to eject accidentally)
-chemically treated glass means screen protectors are not necessary

Valk · Jul 19, 2008

I was pretty excited about the new tx 2000's when they came out. not gonna lie. wacom and touch together for just over a grand is a steal for a tablet.
id still go for hps business machines since tablet pcs generally get a lot more bumps and bruises than your average laptop and the tx just isnt built solid enough to take it in the long term heh.
my 4200 has been dropped, smacked, spilt on and generally beat to death in the year ive owned it and its still kickin *** and taking names.

ill definitly be considering a 2710 for a replacment, since its so slim and sexy. but im not sure about not having a trackpad or soft buttons. the 4200's trackpad is actully pretty good imo. if only the 2710 had touch as well.

nice roundup man. havent seen a size comparison between the 4200/4400 and the 2710. so it helped me a fair bit =)

fldrice · Jul 20, 2008

Valk said:
I was pretty excited about the new tx 2000's when they came out. not gonna lie. wacom and touch together for just over a grand is a steal for a tablet.
id still go for hps business machines since tablet pcs generally get a lot more bumps and bruises than your average laptop and the tx just isnt built solid enough to take it in the long term heh.
my 4200 has been dropped, smacked, spilt on and generally beat to death in the year ive owned it and its still kickin *** and taking names.

ill definitly be considering a 2710 for a replacment, since its so slim and sexy. but im not sure about not having a trackpad or soft buttons. the 4200's trackpad is actully pretty good imo. if only the 2710 had touch as well.

nice roundup man. havent seen a size comparison between the 4200/4400 and the 2710. so it helped me a fair bit =)

I know how you feel...my tc4200 is still chugging along nicely. My younger brother recently purchased the 2710p for school. If you are seriously considering the 2710p but would like a touchpad, wait for the 2730p. It's the centrino 2 version the 2710p with a touchpad.

Valk · Jul 20, 2008

does it have external battery options? ive kinda been shopping off and on for a while and i might just get a 4400 off ebay for the time being. the design of the 4200 is just perfect imo for a laptop. although as a slate its a little chunky.

really considering the i440d, t4220 and the 2710 but i might even spring for a modbook heh. unfortunatly, i do use the tablet as a laptop most of the time, so will probably have to stick to the convertable.
I wonder if the touch controller from the tx could be modded to fit a 2710 much the same way people are modding their eee pcs.
how is the screen brightness?
I modded my 4200 screen by removing the AG from the glass and the lcd *yes there is two AG's* which like.. .doubled the brightness.
I guess the keyboard looks pretty much the same, thats a real bonus, another thing i really like about the 4200.

fldrice · Jul 20, 2008

The pre-production pic of the 2730p looks just like a 2710p with the exception of the touchpad.

TX2500 multi-touch comes from a passive digitizer (step backwards IMO) that 1) prevents use of chemically treated glass 2) causes display to be grainy/blurry 3) not true multi-touch 4) Requires the addition of a soft(easily scratched) sensor layer on the screen. Unless HP decides to use capacitive touch technology (Latitude XT & iphone) I'll pass on the multi-touch The LED-backlit display on the 2710p is quite bright and doesn't seem to consume much more power when set to full brightness. Hope that helps.

Valk · Jul 21, 2008

for me, active digitizer is pretty damn important since my tablet is also my primary art machine. I only crack the desktop to color and edit the illustrations i do on teh tablet pc so passive wont work heh.

looking at the 2710 pretty seriously now. i might wait a few months untill i can get one on ebay for cheap though. my tc4200 was only $649 and i put about $200 into it *1.86/512mb/40gb > 2.13/2gb/80gb* so it fills the needs atm. Just wish its 6x performence was better, since i use it on batteries quite often. having 10 hours of available life with the two batteries is awwwwsome and i dont even have the 12 cell extended one. *three times the price of 8 cells, kthxbai*

Im not seeing any battery options which is a turn off, but if the stock battery can do 5 hours in low use that is fine i guess.

your last sentance has me a little confused. your saying the 2710 DOES have LED backlighting, or that you would pass on the XT's led backlighting for a 2710?

I miss temptered glass i must say. my screen is so so SO much brighter than it was stock, but i broke my glass and have had to make do with a lexan overlay i made =(. ah well. ill say this much for hp, i havent had a single problem with my tablet that wasnt self inflicted.
wish i could say the same for their home machines but the stakes are much higher in business machines i guess.

fldrice · Jul 22, 2008

2710p has led-backlighting. It also has a slice battery option as well as a compact mobile docking station (like x61 ultrabase). What I meant to say was if a tablet doesn't have multi-touch based on capacitive touch technology (active digitizer) I wouldn't really want it as there are too many drawbacks.

Valk · Jul 22, 2008

Ah, so it is led. thats good to know for sure. Good to know there is a bigger battery option too.

hmmm. new tablet...rims.. hmmm

2710p vs. tx2500z vs. tc4200 a photo comparison

fldrice

Member

fldrice

Member

Valk

Member

fldrice

Member

Valk

Member

fldrice

Member

Valk

Member

fldrice

Member

Valk

Member

Similar threads