HP Touchstone 2 available

[carldc]

Originally Posted by carldc

For real! It wasn't an auction, it was a "buy now" for $325...so I did. It's supposed to be a new prototype that was tested and working properly on Feb. 6th. The seller has a 100% rating from over 700 reviews, so I thought I'd take the chance. He's got all manner of other webOS stuff for sale.
If you look for some of my earlier posts around here, you'll see I've been drooling over these ever since they first appeared. Delivery date is Thursday or Friday. I'll keep you all informed!

Got it from the post office today. It looks good. It's in new condition. I'm happy!

Charging works fine, but I haven't tried the audio yet (I've seen other posts around here saying the audio was not great -- I knew that going in). I must say it is a bit smaller than I thought it would be (though I don't know why I thought it would be any larger). The angle is steeper, but the magnet seems stronger so it's pretty secure.



Looks like it makes a very good night stand.

I'm also wondering about using it on the car dash. The audio would mean I'd never have to plug anything into the Pre 3. All the cords would be on the touchstone, so I could just plop the Pre 3 on and off. Just a thought.

[carldc]

Ok, one last post tonight. I'm up WAAAAYYY past even my night-owl bedtime!

After a couple of unsuccessful attempts, I finally got the Bluetooth audio paired with my phone. I hooked up some old Walkman speakers (which I currently use for my Chumby - speaking of my affinity for defunct platforms being kept alive...ask me about my Saturn Astra! ...but I digress), I have to say that the sound is fine. I'm not an 'audiophile', but at least through the Walkman speakers, I have no problem with the sound.

One thing that struck me (though if you think about it, there's nothing unusual about this with BT devices...) was that you don't have to have the Pre 3 actually on the dock for the audio to work. Makes perfect sense...I just never thought about that.
'Night all.

[broncot]

Guess what? His second one sold for $350, now he's got a third $375!!
HP Palm Touchstone 2 with Audio Out Phone not Included Extremely RARE | eBay

[kevets]

I was thinking about this as a great car device... not only does it give many cars bluetooth streaming that don't have it, but it also charges the phone!

I do wonder how this would work with cars that have like bluetooth speaker phone functionality. The Pre3 doesn't seem to handle BT very well and I usually have to cycle it once or twice a day when my headphones get out of sync and just don't play audio. How would it work with more than one device paired? Again probably due to being half-baked from HP from the get go. You can imagine how great it could be if implemented properly

[Herrie]

You could actually create a CUSTOM one for a lot cheaper if you want to

Take a SonyEricsson MW-600 (or another BT adapter), standard Touchstone, make some custom mold and put them together and you have the same effect. Will probably only cost you close to US$ 50 instead of US$ 350

[NuttyBunny]

Originally Posted by Herrie

You could actually create a CUSTOM one for a lot cheaper if you want to

Take a SonyEricsson MW-600 (or another BT adapter), standard Touchstone, make some custom mold and put them together and you have the same effect. Will probably only cost you close to US$ 50 instead of US$ 350

My take is that it has some special device detection hardware (like tts on the tp), and that it was supposed to be identified by the Pre3 and behave accordingly, for example if you had one at work and one at home.

There was a video where the HP guys were presenting the TouchPad and they mentioned something like that.

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[ananimus]

Yup. Lots of folks have done TS+BT in the car. There was a whole huge thread back when the OG Pre came out about it. Did it myself even.

the real secret sauce here is the autopairing. Although I guess mine does that too so long as BT is turned on. They remember each other.

Srill really wish there was info on how TTS works, hardware wise. Just having the phone know something is nearby would be an interesting first step.

[thg]

Originally Posted by kataran

I checked the sellers other items.....some rare webOS stuff

yes it seems that he made a really good deal getting all this stuff - or he worked for HP/Palm before.

But anyway, selling a TS2 for 325 to 375 USD is not very reputable, even if they are very rare ...

(I know, others got nearly 280 USD for it, but that was a honest auction)

[carldc]

Well, he suckered me into it! My rationale is that my TP was rebated, refunded, and app-credited down by $500, so I'm still ahead. Oh yeah...and I REEEEALLY wanted one, too!

[carldc]

Originally Posted by kevets

I was thinking about this as a great car device... not only does it give many cars bluetooth streaming that don't have it, but it also charges the phone!

Yes. My car has neither bluetooth nor an aux jack. I have an inexpensive FM modulator (not great, but good enough for my ears) with a USB pass-through for charging. With the Audio Dock, I don't have to have anything hooked up to the phone. Both power and audio comes from the dock. So THAT could be permanently hooked up to the modulator & USB, and I can just plop my phone on the dock when needed.
I still don't know if I'm going to do this or not, but it's something to think about!

[carldc]

Some more observations now that I've had the dock for a while...

• First, unlike the original touchstone, where placing the Pre 3 was sometimes a crap shoot (I think we all know the annoying buzz and cycling "charging" notification we get when it's not on there right), this dock has a very clear "sweet spot". It's hard to explain, but it's almost like you're plopping it down in a magnetic pouch. You just put the phone up to the dock near the top and slide down until the dock "grabs" it.
• Second, I mentioned earlier that it took me a few tries to get Bluetooth to work. I now know why. It's interesting... Bluetooth is only activated on the dock when an audio jack is plugged in. No speakers or earphones plugged in, no Bluetooth, no pairing. The dock didn't come with any manuals, so I had to learn that on my own!
• Third, related to that, I learned that you don't have to worry about having Bluetooth enabled on the Pre 3. If it's off, and the jack is plugged in, you get a message (see below). I didn't know you could do that with Bluetooth. Pretty cool!

[NuttyBunny]

Originally Posted by carldc

[*]Third, related to that, I learned that you don't have to worry about having Bluetooth enabled on the Pre 3. If it's off, and the jack is plugged in, you get a message (see below). I didn't know you could do that with Bluetooth. Pretty cool![/LIST]Click to view quoted image

It does the same with the TouchPad (Touch to Share)

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

[carldc]

Originally Posted by NuttyBunny

It does the same with the TouchPad (Touch to Share)

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk 2

Oh yeah, you're right. Hadn't thought about that. It's been a while since I've used TTS.

[Mutoidi]

Another gaggle of T2's recently up on ebay..
HP Palm Touchstone 2 with Audio Out Original Charging Dock Extremely RARE | eBay
Between $350 and $420 now::



Apparently they were due to launch at around $50!!!!

[dkirker]

Originally Posted by Mutoidi

Another gaggle of T2's recently up on ebay..
HP Palm Touchstone 2 with Audio Out Original Charging Dock Extremely RARE | eBay
Between $350 and $420 now::



Apparently they were due to launch at around $50!!!!

I imagine the logic here is "I have 3, so each one will be more expensive, because as the previous sells, they get more rare." I just feel that $350 is too much... Oh well. I was tempted to get one after paying taxes... but it'd be a waste.

I already paid $800 for a PalmOS Cobalt phone. That is enough splurge for a rarity in 10 years...

[xandros9]

Originally Posted by dkirker

i already paid $800 for a palmos cobalt phone. That is enough splurge for a rarity in 10 years...

are you serious?!

[broncot]

Originally Posted by Mutoidi

Another gaggle of T2's recently up on ebay..
HP Palm Touchstone 2 with Audio Out Original Charging Dock Extremely RARE | eBay
Between $350 and $420 now::



Apparently they were due to launch at around $50!!!!

The seller has it pictured with a white Pre3, just to torment us!!!!

[cbosdell]

Originally Posted by broncot

The seller has it pictured with a white Pre3, just to torment us!!!!

Now that white Pre3 is something I'd be willing to pay $350 for...

[Ventus221]

I bought one for 350, Ide say that it's a difficult to justify in retrospect but I find it to be a really cool collectors device and I actually dont really use the audio part of it too much but I use it all the time to charge my veer which is ironic considering I like the audio dock's aesthetic way more than the original

[ananimus]

Originally Posted by Ventus221

I bought one for 350...

...

Seriously, you guys have to stop encouraging this eBay bloke.