[C_McGuire]

I don't know about you guys, but I'll GLADLY give up 5mm in thickness for some real stereo speakers and BEATS audio.

If I get a touchpad, it will be used heavily for media consumption and real speakers are important in my book. Everyone is going nuts over how thin a certain other tablet is, but personally, I want a thin phone that I keep in my pocket, but I don't care so much when it comes to a tablet that I'll likely have a case over anyway. I can't get over how people fawn over whatever Apple's Marketing dept tells them to and for exactly what reason.

I understand different strokes for different folks and people place value on different attributes, but why are we constantly hearing about the iPad's thickness, but not one peep from HP about being happy to fit quality stereo speakers with Beats in the touchpad's chassis?

If there was one GLARING weakness of the iPad 1, it was the pathetic sound quality. It appears Apple haven't done anything about this, but HP is getting no recognition of putting proper speakers in a device primarily for media consumption.

Thoughts?

[orckiller]

I just want it NOW.. i don't care about the thickness!

[C_McGuire]

Well, I can understand that. There's no doubting that they've totally mishandled this product launch.

But there's been no real talk about the touchpad's speakers vs the competition. Again, I understand thickness and weight when it comes to an item you use more like an e-reader, but this is more than an e-reader.

[hparsons]

It appears Apple haven't done anything about this, but HP is getting no recognition of putting proper speakers in a device primarily for media consumption.

Thoughts?

I suspect as the device releasd comes closer you'll hear more about this (and other features).

I believe we're going to see a multifaceted approach when tha advertising starts. Different ads showing off different advantages.


-- Sent from my Palm Pre using Forums

[champiful]

They should throw in beats by dr. dre headphones for free for making us wait.

[Kupe]

Has anyone heard the TP yet? Does it have speakers capable of matching the Beats Audio guts inside?

[IcerC]

I would like to know that too. BEATS doesn't matter, it comes down to the speakers built in. Nice speakers bass and amp also means more power consumption.

[johncc]

Whatever speakers they have built-in will not be capable of Hi-Fi reproduction. What you hang off the output will determine if you can get something approaching Hi-Fi.

[FetusSoup]

I'm not terribly concerned with the speakers, I don't know when I'll ever use them besides when showing a video to a friend or something... I'm more concerned with what comes out of the 3.5mm jack.

But, it's still a 1-up on every other tablet out there, and it's a great selling point for HP. So I'm cool with it!

[C_McGuire]

So am I incorrectly assuming that the speakers in the touchpad are actually decent? In their laptop commercials about Beats audio, they also tout the quality of the included speakers so I figured that means the touchpad would need to have good speakers as well (at least the best you can get in that size).

I don't know, I'm really hoping the included speakers are very good. I'm not a huge fan of headphones.

[hparsons]

So am I incorrectly assuming that the speakers in the touchpad are actually decent? In their laptop commercials about Beats audio, they also tout the quality of the included speakers so I figured that means the touchpad would need to have good speakers as well (at least the best you can get in that size).

I don't know, I'm really hoping the included speakers are very good. I'm not a huge fan of headphones.

At the Feb 9 event they mentioned that the TP has 3 speakers, so that stereo is enabled whether in portrait or landscape mode. I can't imagine them going through the effort of three speakers and the (assumed) tie in to accelerometer to switch them as the device is turned, only to use poor quality speakers.

Naturally, a speaker small enough to fit in a tablet computer is not going to be as good as a high quality full size speaker, but I get the impression from what I've read, audio is important to them.

[j_grouchy]

I think the TouchPad is thin enough...thinner than any notebook computer. My bigger concern is weight. Perhaps the difference in weight between the iPad2 and the TouchPad comes down to a buck or two worth of quarters, but when mobility/portability is the primary draw of the device, weight matters.

[Dutchmasta]

the whole purpose of a tablet comp is that u have a powerful computer that is light, thin and fits in your hand easily. personally, a thinner tab is more important to me than one that has decent speakers. i will prob end up getting an ipad2 in april and a pre3 when it comes out... more importantly is the software available. i really like the Garage Band app for the ipad. its really slick. the TP is nice and all but all they have shown for it in the case of hardware is a magazine reader, email and a flight sim. i need to see more than that b4 i hold off on getting an ipad. the linking of my phone and tab really just arnt that important if u ask me, cool features, just not game changer.... one last thing, the TP has no tv mirroring, i really want to b able to do that. sry HP, at least i will buy your phone!

[Empathyrus]

I don't know about you guys, but I'll GLADLY give up 5mm in thickness for some real stereo speakers and BEATS audio.

If I get a touchpad, it will be used heavily for media consumption and real speakers are important in my book. Everyone is going nuts over how thin a certain other tablet is, but personally, I want a thin phone that I keep in my pocket, but I don't care so much when it comes to a tablet that I'll likely have a case over anyway. I can't get over how people fawn over whatever Apple's Marketing dept tells them to and for exactly what reason.

I understand different strokes for different folks and people place value on different attributes, but why are we constantly hearing about the iPad's thickness, but not one peep from HP about being happy to fit quality stereo speakers with Beats in the touchpad's chassis?

If there was one GLARING weakness of the iPad 1, it was the pathetic sound quality. It appears Apple haven't done anything about this, but HP is getting no recognition of putting proper speakers in a device primarily for media consumption.

Thoughts?

Agree with you. There's too much focus on thinness and not enough on real substance such as speakers that are loud enough for media consumption. It's a glaring weakness for the Ipad 1.

[Suntan]

I don’t care about thickness as long as they are sub 1” thick (which they all are.)

But I do appreciate lighter weight.

That said, regardless of weight and thickness, it has to be capable of playing a movie/game at arms length or slightly beyond, and still be audible with decent quality even when there is some moderate level of ambient noise. My current HP laptop (no beats) is not up to it.

-Suntan

[samab]

Thinness has to do with the camera --- which often protrudes beyond the normal body thickness. This is why the iPad2 has a VGA camera.

Nothing to do with the speakers.

[StuckwVerizon]

Don't care about speaker builtin. I use my expensive headphone for 99% of time. I have ipad1, less weight >>> any kind of speaker builtin.

[C_McGuire]

.... one last thing, the TP has no tv mirroring, i really want to b able to do that. sry HP, at least i will buy your phone!

That's not entirely true from what I've heard. Sounds to me like the Touchpad will have wired TV out capabilities through the touchstone dock: HP TouchPad | Reviews | CNET UK
Quote: Wired connectivity is available, too. HP says it will likely ship an accessory that allows users to connect the TouchPad to an external display such as a television, so users can enjoy multimedia content on the big screen

Thinness has to do with the camera --- which often protrudes beyond the normal body thickness. This is why the iPad2 has a VGA camera.

Nothing to do with the speakers.

That wasn't my understanding. From what Apple said, they were able to make their device thinner because of the screen, not the camera. Quality speakers directly correlate to depth, weight, and size of the magnet and would seem to me to have a heavy impact on chassis size, weight, and thickness. But I don't assemble these things, so...

[samab]

That wasn't my understanding. From what Apple said, they were able to make their device thinner because of the screen, not the camera. Quality speakers directly correlate to depth, weight, and size of the magnet and would seem to me to have a heavy impact on chassis size, weight, and thickness. But I don't assemble these things, so...

There are a zillion cell phones with protruding cameras out there (and their bodies are thicker than the ipad2 to begin with). The ONLY way for Apple to give you a 5 megapixel camera on the ipad2 (which is what the xoom and the playbook have) is to have a protruding camera --- but Apple won't have any of that.

Review: Sprint HTC EVO 4G Android Phone — PaulStamatiou.com

Nokia N8 camera protrudes out about 2mm | smaku's World

What I have never seen --- is protruding speakers.

[C_McGuire]

There are a zillion cell phones with protruding cameras out there (and their bodies are thicker than the ipad2 to begin with). The ONLY way for Apple to give you a 5 megapixel camera on the ipad2 (which is what the xoom and the playbook have) is to have a protruding camera --- but Apple won't have any of that.

Review: Sprint HTC EVO 4G Android Phone — PaulStamatiou.com

Nokia N8 camera protrudes out about 2mm | smaku's World

What I have never seen --- is protruding speakers.

I don't know, I have seen far more cell phones without a protruding camera than I have with one. Your argument that they had to include a VGA camera to keep the thickness down is B.S. The iPhone 4 has a 5 MP camera w/ autofocus and flash and the phone is just as thin as the iPad 2. Sorry, do you know anything about speaker magnet mounting depth?

EDIT: I'm not saying speakers are the only thing contributing to width, but I think they play a huge role; hence Apple not focusing AT ALL on one of the original iPad's biggest deficiencies.