11/19/2008, 12:00am, EST
Wednesday, November 19thHP beats Apple to home notebook with multi-touch LCD
HP today became the first PC maker to incorporate a multi-touch display in a home-focused notebook with the TouchSmart tx2. Stylistically similar to the tx2500 series convertible tablets, the new model now accepts two-finger gestures to pinch, rotate and otherwise control media both in the MediaSmart front-end (which also makes its first notebook appearance) and in general apps such as the Office suite. Users can drag objects or flick to scroll quickly, and still have the option of falling back to a stylus for handwriting or more precise actions.
The system also represents a cosmetic and minor performance upgrade to the earlier tablet, starting with a change from the conservative silver and black to a new "Reaction" imprint across the entire surface. Processor choices remain largely the same and scale from a 2GHz Athlon X2 dual-core processor up to a 2.4GHz Turion X2, but systems now have the option of up to 8GB of DDR2 memory and new options for 400GB and 500GB hard drives.
Other existing media features are unchanged and include a relatively quick Radeon HD 3200 for integrated graphics, a miniature ExpressCard/34 media remote and a built-in webcam. Wi-Fi remains locked at 802.11g in standard trim but can optionally move up to 802.11n.
HP gives a stock configuration a 2.1GHz Turion X2, 3GB of memory and a 250GB hard drive for $1,149 and expects orders taken today to only ship by early December.
While largely a conversion of an existing computer, the tx2 is a symbolic victory for HP, which will beat Windows 7 to adding multi-touch in a mainstream computer's screen and also outpaces Apple. The latter was one of the first to offer a mainstream multi-touch product in the iPhone but at present only allows indirect multi-touch through the trackpads of its current MacBooks.
Filed under: computers, industry, Apple
Other story tags: MacBook, AMD, HP, Radeon, Windows 7, Athlon, Turion, TouchSmart, MediaSmart
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Just what I want...
To get fingerprints all over my display!
Spilt milk?
What did somebody spill their milk all over this laptop and let it dry?
What's with all the horrid graphics?
why bother
There have been computer with touch screens for ages
I dont think Apple will make a multitouch computer for several reason.
The trackpad is a much better multitouch interface and they are developing that.
As stated above finger prints is a real pain on my non multitouch Mac now and I hardly touch it so imagine if you touched it all the time
Talk about RSI problems. All those hand movements all the time would cause major issues. We have palm rests for Mice and need to rest our hands for trackpads but having to hold my hands up would be a real "pain"
Useless
I would never use a laptop with multi-touch on the display, finger prints would annoy the hell out of me. Its bad enough on the iphone. I don't think HP beat Apple to it, clearly Apple has the ability to I believe like me they see no use for it and more problems. Apple delivers products people will use not gimics like this. The laptop line as a multitouch screen will fail, the laptop itself is nice without it and Im sure they will drop the screen in a few months.
Flat
This would fold down flat and therefore work as a tablet so when showing photos or working in a lecture would be pretty nice.
I love titles like this
"HP beats Apple to home notebook with multi-touch LCD"
OOOOO....I just see the line-ups for that one. Ya HP, definitely the most wanted item this holiday season.
Get real!
Athens
you are 100% correct. Apple made the first popular touch device so no one "beat them to it". If apple wanted to, they could have made a touch laptop, but Apple doesnt really make gimmicky products.
Easy to beat...
....someone not running the race. This is like saying, "Joe Blow beats Michael Phelps in 100 m" when Michael wasn't even in the race.
Nice product
Although I'm an Apple user, I think this is a nice execution of available technology for what is perhaps a niche market. I can envision certain users such as those involved in some types data collection, who might be interested in such a device, although data collection can be done with a varietey of proprietary apps on the much-lighter iPod. Applications will have to be written for the TX2 as well, which will keep adoption of this product in relatively low numbers. But let's not be so negative! Hey, I have an iPod Touch, but I'm one of (evidently) many who still use an old Newton!
Actually Apple had touch
Actually Apple had laptops with touch gestures last year already. So Apple had the first computers with touch, not HP only the way they did it was smarter. Apple won't make a touch screen because who would want there screen full of fingerprints and smears as pointed out by several people already.