HP is either generous or quite desperate. Days ago, we reported that HP cut the price of its TouchPad tablet by $50. Well, it’s dropping by another $50, at least for this weekend. HP is now offering a $100 off coupon that’s good from Aug 5-7, meaning you can pick up a 16GB model for $400 or a 32GB model for $500, about $100 less than the iPad 2. Better still, the TouchPad is currently the woot.com deal of the day, and is priced at $380 there.
If you’re interested in the TouchPad, these are good prices, though tablet prices may drop further before the end of the year. Asus, Acer, and Toshiba have been aggressively bringing down the price of tablets for a few months now and show no signs of stopping.
The other big question you should ask yourself is if you want an HP TouchPad at all. We’re writing a full review of the unit, but our experience has been similar to the majority of reviews, which criticize the tablet for being sluggish and a bit of a fingerprint magnet. However, we do like that HP chose to use a 9.7-inch 3/4 screen, like the iPad and not go with a widescreen display like Android tablets. We don’t mind widescreen, but we’ve found that 3/4 feels more natural. Perhaps there’s a reason why paper was sized that way.
If you’ve purchased a TouchPad, or plan to, let us know why or what you think.
Update: One of our contributors, Mike Dunn, just linked to a “$100 off through 8/7” Staples coupon that might work in conjunction with this TouchPad offer. If so, that would drop the price to $300.