HP MULTI-TOUCH TOUCHSMART TX2 CONVERTABLE TABLET

This is not the first notebook tablet to bring multi-touch to the scene (that record goes to Dell's XT), but unlike the XT which retailed for a mind boggling $2,000 (now for $1,800) it was a notebook most of us could only dream of owning (and the possibility of being charged for that dream).

But thanks to the geeks over at HP we now have a multi-touch notebook that is consumer friendly (in terms of money). Meet the HP TouchSmart tx2z.

DESIGN:

The design of the tx2z is reminiscent of HP's latest attempts to pump some hip in the brand. The notebook comes with a nice bronze and gold finish with a flowy imprint. The notebook features a 12.1 inch 1280 x 800 display and since its a tablet a 180 degree swivel display.

The keyboard is nicely designed and easy to type thanks to its smooth keys. As for the touch pad HP decided to use their unique nub design for their touch pad.

TOUCH AND PEN EXPERIENCE

HP did a pretty good job of making the touch experience as effortless as possible. It doesn't take firm presses to get up the start menu or open windows or programs. And using multi-touch is a breeze. Those of you who are familiar with the TouchSmart PC will notice a lot of similarities with this model.

Using the pen is pretty cool. HP has built in a cool sensor that tells the system when the pen is in use and thus turns off the sreen to hadn gestures. So you can rest your hand on the screen and write with ease.

PERFORMANCE

As for performance its not the a multimedia powerhouse but still carries some nice features. You get the option of up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, AMD Turion Dual Core Processor with up to 2,4GHz and an ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics with 64MB Display Cache Memory.

Not saying you're going to get Crisis worthy graphics out of this but it shouldn't be a problem messing with yoru wifes vacation photos on Photoshop.

A video demonstrating the system can be viewed below (courtesy of Laptop Magazine).