HP's $99 TouchPad fire-sale is back one last time

Leeky

Posts: 3,357   +116

In August, Hewlett Packard made the shocking announcement that it would halt its webOS projects and potentially exit the PC market by selling or spinning off its Personal Systems Group (PSG) division. Along with the news the company began a firesale of the already discounted TouchPad to get rid of excess inventory from component suppliers.

The 16GB model was advertised for a mere $99, while the 32GB model went for $149. Ironically, HP's tablet became such a huge success at this new price point that some vendors were hiking the price a bit in order to profit from the huge overnight demand.

This weekend the TouchPad firesale returns one last time for U.S. customers. Starting Sunday, December 11 at 7pm Eastern time, refurbished 16GB and 32GB versions of the webOS tablet will be available on HP’s ebay store at the same $99 and $149 price points. HP will also offer an accessory bundle for $79, which includes a wireless keyboard, charging dock and case.

Judging by how popular the last sale was, you will likely need to be very quick in order to successfully grab one at these prices. In addition, looking at HP's delivery policy on their eBay account it will only be open to U.S. residents, so those elsewhere in the world will unfortunately miss out yet again.

The TouchPad tablet was pulled after just three months of disappointing sales on the market and as former CEO Leo Apotheker sought to refocus the company on the more lucrative software, systems, and services business. The unpopular decision -- or rather the lackluster way of communicating and executing it -- led to his ouster in September and replacement by former eBay chief Meg Whitman.

Whitman decided shortly after taking the reins that the company would retain their PC business, and is expected to make a decision on webOS' fate next week. The company has already slashed more than 500 jobs at its webOS division and another 600 people remain in limbo while tough decisions are made.

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Pretty tempting. I'd just want one to put Android on it probably. I'd try WebOS first though.

I've always wondered what the big deal was with tablets, I mean, I'd never use it outside my home, and I have this desktop computer I could use which is probably much easier do to whatever it is I have to do... but at $99 it's kind of hard to pass up lol

It will most likely sell out in 10 seconds anyway and I wouldn't get one even if I tried, oh well.
 
I had a touchpad 32 and there are just too many limitations such as support for media files, streaming media (i.e. no netflix), few and expensive apps, no connections (no SD, USB, or HDMI), etc... Sold it within a week and bought a nice 10.1" Android tablet instead.

NOTE: It is possible via a $14 or so application on the touchpad to stream movies and other media directly onto the touchpad and to support other media files besides MP4's.

P.S. Given that you can find used/refurb 10.1" Androids that WILL get OFFICIAL upgrade to Android 4 (ICS) for about $250, in my opinion spending $99+ for a REFURB touchpad makes no sense (except to flip to other suckers)...
 
booooo! what about overseas customers? what about asutralia? no sale? boooo!
 
I loooove my touchpads. I got 2 in august. Took a while to get here. But they came. Its fairly easy to dual boot to android. I use webos for internet. Android for apps. I'd buy one again. Fun 100 dollar toy. If you do try good luck.
 
Easy peasy. A few files to unzip, small command line input and voila. Google rootwiki touchpad alpha 2 and read up.
 
According to HP's eBay store 30 minutes prior to the auction, the price for the 16GB will be $499, and the 32GB will be $599. Both models are refurbished... I don't know where the $99/$149 story came from, but it doesn't seem to be true unfortunately, unless they change the price at the last possible minute.
 
You got it. It clearly says in the subtitle sale starts at 18:00 CT/19:00 ET, or 00:00 for us in the UK. I'm crossing my fingers!

They've sold 43 (quite a few members have got 2) so far at full price... Even with the subtitle clearly readable. :haha:
 
I hope so. Makes sense, as they'll sell a few at full retail in the meantime, then burst out the rest of the stock once reduced.
 
Yeah the price has changed, but I think that so many people are hitting that page right now, that eBay's servers are running painfully slow. I hope I can get one :D
 
I clicked "buy it now" the instant the sale began, and ebay's payment servers melted... Now they're out of stock... 3 different browsers on 3 diff machines, and couldn't get through to buy the thing... I'm so pissed at eBay and HP right now....
 
Man I made it all the way to the paypal "confirm payment" screen, clicked confirm payment, "Sorry this item is no longer available". Shake fist at sky and curse the internet gods.
 
From my post in the other thread:
I found the Touchpad no problem, but buying it was the prob. Ebay's pages for that were loading so slow, I actually had 3 tabs open on a wireless laptop and a wired desktop trying to purchase. I'd alternate stopping and tryign to reload the tabs. It was nearly 15 minutes after the item appeared before I got to the checkout, and it was another 15 or so after that before I was able to actually enter the checking out process. I got hung up because HP required a phone number on my ebay account (even though I have one on paypal, which they also required). By the time their pages loaded to let me fix the phone it was too late. My other tabs said it was gone, but one tab had me going through paypal. But in the end it was all for not. Didn't get it. Luckily I didn't have too much else better to do so I'm not terribly bummed about my effort and not getting one, and I also am not sure I really need one, even for that price. I am a little disappointed though.

So my expierence was like yours Windig0

You got it. It clearly says in the subtitle sale starts at 18:00 CT/19:00 ET, or 00:00 for us in the UK. I'm crossing my fingers!

They've sold 43 (quite a few members have got 2) so far at full price... Even with the subtitle clearly readable. :haha:

I was seeing on HP's real page they had a FAQ saying you'd get a refund if you bought at full price (found the link. I had considered buying before the auction, but I didn't want to take the risk of having to pay full price if I misread it. Looks like it was only if you bought at a retail store..
 
please let me know as to how to get the junk mail in the hot mail in hp touch pad ? please
 
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