In January, Windows Vista launched with an impressive slate of Notebook and Tablet PC's. One of those PC was
HP's tx1000. The tx1000 is a Pavilion Entertainment PC that is also a Tablet PC with an impressive set of specs:
- AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual-Core TL-60 (2.0GHz/1MB)
- 2GB of DDR2 RAM
- 12.1" WXGA BrightView Widescreen (1280x800)
- NVIDIA GeForce Go 6150
- 802.11b/g WLAN and Bluetooth
- 160GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
- LightScribe DVD+/-RW w/Double Layer
- 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB 2.0)
- 1 Expansion Port 3
- TV-out (S-video)
- Integrated Consumer IR (remote control receiver)
- Integrated Altec Lansing stereo speakers
- Fingerprint Reader
I was fortunate to be able to spend a few weeks test driving the tx1000 out. You'll note the integrated IR receiver in the above specs - that is because the tx1000 truly is an entertainment PC. The tx1000 comes with a mini Windows Media Center remote that can be docked into the left side of the PC. Whenever you want watch videos in Windows Media Center (or play music), you can pop out the remote and use the remote to navigate through Windows Media Center.
The tx1000 can be configured to come with HP QuickPlay 3.0, which includes a mobile TV module that supports Internet TV streaming. My tx1000 I tested out did not come with this capability unfortunately. What I did was I recorded TV shows on my desktop PC and when I went to travel, I would grab a few of my recorded TV shows and throw them onto the tx1000 to watch while on the road. This worked out real well for me.
Speaking of traveling, one of the coolest features the tx1000 comes with is dual headphone jacks. Instead of having to buy a little adaptor to allow two users to listen through the same headphone jack, the tx1000 does it for you. This makes the tx1000 a very nice laptop to have if you're traveling with someone on a long flight or road trip.
Windows Vista also lets you control the volume level of each individual set of headphones thanks to the new sound abilities Windows Vista ships with.
The tx1000, being a Tablet PC, enjoys many of the Tablet PC features that Windows Vista offers. I was particularly impressed with Windows Vista's ability to read my handwriting and format it to text. It was able to recognize much of my hand writing without any problem.
There are a few more notable features with the tx1000. The tx1000 comes with a fingerprint reader to automate logging on to the PC and also logging on to some of your favorite websites. You also get a 1.3 MP built-in webcam at the top of the screen. The webcam works well with Windows Live Messenger.
The tx1000 has a Windows Experience Index of 3.0 with the strong areas being in the areas of Memory and the Processor.
I ran Windows Vista at 32-bit although the tx1000 supports running at 64-bit.
Overall, I found the combination of being a entertainment PC and a Tablet PC to be a very interesting combination - a combination you really don't see much of today in Notebook PC's. What do you think?