You should return it to HP. While the consensus seems to be that the Tablet PC is the latest in a niche market niche, he spent a good amount of time and money trying to sell the idea to the mass market. His first attempt was the tx1000, which was a good effort that showed promise but needs some refinement, and HP has disappeared and you get an improved version, hopefully, tx2000 Pavilion.

We actually got our hands on a sample engineering of the machine, which features an AMD Turion X2 TL-66 running at 2.3GHz and a 5400rpm SATA 160GB HDD. However, the only model currently on the market is the tx2050ea Pavilion, which is identical to our sample apart from the fact that you get a slow AMD Turion X2 TL-60 which runs at 2.0 GHz with 1 MB L2 cache and a 250GB HDD. Otherwise, the systems are identical, each packing in an impressive array of features for a small notebook 12.1in like this.

As usual you get 2 GB of RAM 667MHz DRR2, which is neither more nor less than you need when running 32-bit Vista Home Premium, as this system does. An nVidia GeForce 6150 Go, it is not a graphics power, but it is a laptop and we do not expect much more. You get LightScribe capable DVD + /-RW optical drive, so you can watch DVDs, burn DVDs and burn labels on them, too.

The network connectivity is also a strong point, with Draft-N wireless, Gigabit Ethernet, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, all inclusive. This means that you should have no problem streaming video or high-definition of the machine, which given the huge storage provided is certainly a possibility. Indeed, there is little lack tx2050ea. You also get an 0.3 megapixel camera with integrated stereo microphones, a fingerprint reader, a mini remote, and the two cells of six and eight batteries in the box.

Around £ 640 this small HP is staggering value of money and, given this award, it could just as well assume that there is a standard 12.1in laptop just to have a convertible and the touch screen, where you do not actually much D’paying a premium for it.

Much of this value is generated using the mobile platform from AMD, which is much cheaper, but less in terms of raw performance and battery life compared to the current supply of ‘Intel. Questions concerning battery life are offset somewhat by the inclusion of both the standard and extended battery, but it means that, with a range of eight battery of the machine a hefty weighs 2.33 kg , not inconsiderable for a laptop of this size. Things are improving with the six cells, although, with the weight of less than 2 kg to 1.92 kg shift.

As we have become accustomed to with the HP machine, the tx2050ea is very well designed and built notebook. HP has put this model into line with the rest of the flag of the line, with a lid and shiny black bezel and a beautiful imprint on the design that is on the inside. It’s full of nice touches, such as a button to disable the touchpad and reading / shortcut buttons on the bezel that are easily accessible regardless of the position of the display is in.

You also have the mini remote that fits into the ExpressCard slot 34mm, while the infrared receivers on both the front and the rear, so you can use the remote in normal times and in positions pill. A fingerprint reader on the side of the touch screen is another beautiful, even though it may be a bit difficult to use depending on what your finger or thumb employ - please do not forget you connect to more than one!
Nowhere, however, is the quality of construction is more evident in the hinge of the screen. It is beautifully designed, holding the screen in place, but where it will be easy to adapt and change positions in seconds. That is probably the best mechanism we have seen, which is important because consumers will have less patience for fiddly locking mechanisms of a hardened Tablet PC user. But why you want a screen convertible in the first place? In fact, HP’s reasoning in this area seems to be fairly solid. Flexibility, especially in the portable notebooks, is a good product and it has this machine in spades. It is particularly useful in confined spaces such as trains and airplanes, where normal on a notebook, it might be difficult to get a comfortable viewing angle of the screen.

It also allows you to view documents and web pages in portrait mode and obviously write notes using the pen provided. And, even if it is not something that many people will find useful, handwriting recognition is surprisingly good and digitiser means you can hover on the screen with the pen and the rest of your wrist downwards when writing. It’s just a pity that using your finger is still a hit and miss affair, which means that you have to use the stylus provided, in most cases.