HP drops WebOS devices, has fire sale overnight

[Kompresshun]

HP announced on Thursday afternoon that they weren't going to continue producing WebOS devices as the new devices weren't selling as the expected. It's also rumored that they may have sold the OS to someone else, but they intend to continue distributing WebOS to companies that want to use it as well.

It's a shame that they didn't give them a better chance, because they seemed to have a lot of potential, but the pricing point didn't make sense with the competition. My father in law picked one up Thursday mooring but swapped it for an iPad that afternoon after hearing the news, he loved the device but didn't want to risk keeping it for $499.

Last night HP and some stores had a HUGE clearance on them and they were selling 16gb models for $99 and 32gb for $149. I stayed up until 3am trying to get one but they were already gone. Thankfully I checked SAMs club this morning and they had a few 32gb devices left, so I jumped on the deal.

For $149, there isn't a single thing you could buy for anything close. There's already a team over at XDA porting Android over to it and there's already a large community for WebOS as well, so I am stoked about the deal. For some people it may be a risk, since there's a threat of no support for it. but for someone like myself, I already have an iPad, so it'll be perfect for the wife to use when I am using my iPad.

There are a few stores that may still have them in stock, but so far they're sold out everywhere online now. HP said that their site alone sold 500,000 of them last night.

[rc1honda]

Yeah HPQ stock has been taking a beating. More so then the general market it down like 42%over the last 12 months.

I think a lot of HP marketers lost their jobs over the tablet. They priced it at 499 at first then dropped it to 399 only 2 months later. Pissed a lot of buyers off and lefts other wondering if the are a valid competitor.

[Jesda]

Cheaper than a Nook Color

[Kompresshun]

I haven't thought HP has made anything worth buying in quite some time, but I really thought the WebOS had potential. I mean unless HP had an insane sale price on a PC, I would walk right by them every single time in a store. So I don't believe WebOS is to blame here, it's just HP in general hasn't been relevant in quite some time IMHO.

I'm curious to see if RIM is one company that's licensing the OS, because if you play with one of the new Playbooks, it is VERY similar in functionality and the gestures are nearly identical. It wouldn't surprise me if they're one of the main companies to go after it, seeing as they've been trying to improve BB OS for quite some time.

Jesda, they're even cheaper than most of the cheap junk tablets on eBay as well. It's an unbelievable deal for the specs the device has.

[MinisterofDOOM]

I remember when HP bought Compaq years ago and did absolutely nothing with the iPaq brand, too.

It's really too bad. Although I prefer Android for its tweakability and community support, there's a lot I like about WebOS and it does some things better than Android or iOS. I also love the idea of emulated legacy PalmOS support, as there is a GALACTICALLY HUGE assortment of free PalmOS software out there. I'd like to hope this means classic PalmOS could go open source or become legal to emulate on other devices through some other means...but I don't believe that'll happen.

[MaximA32]

I've been making calls all day and nothing

[Eikon]

Score!

I've decided that WEB OS totally sucks compared to Android.. but for $100, this is awesome!!!!

[RCA]

Eikon with this sale being that popular I can see some Android mods coming out for it. The hardware alone is worth the $100.

[Kompresshun]

Seth, I actually feel the opposite way, but only towards android on tablets. I love android on my phone, but on a tablet I just don't prefer it personally. That's just me though, there's nothing wrong with it. iOS is the most user friendly and I feel like WebOS was a good mix of both iOS and android.

There is already a team working on an android port though, so I most certainly will try it out if they do. Like RCA said, the hardware alone is worth the money. It has a 1.2ghhz dual core Snapdragon processor, a front facing webcam, 16gb or 32gb online storage(plus 50gb free online storage), and pretty much everything most $400+ tablets have. It's a steal for sure, if you cam get your hands on one. My father in law is a bit pissed right now because I got one and he couldn't yet

[Jesda]

I prefer the WebOS, but I prefer the iPad 2 to other tablets. I still might end up with an Asus Transformer since its only $399 and has the option of a keyboard dock doubles as a battery extender.

I will miss WebOS as well as the brilliant company that used to be Palm, which was founded two decades ago by ex-Apple employees.

[Kompresshun]

Jesda, Best Buy had the Acer Iconia tab on Wednesday for $399 with a $100 gift card. It's almost identical in specs aside from the screen and also has a real USB port that you can plug a USB keyboard into or up to a 128gb flash drive as well.

[Jesda]

There's something off about the Iconia's screen. It looks beautiful but the finger doesn't slide across it as easily as the iPad and Samsung Tab.

But for that price who cares about such trivial things. I do mostly browsing, reading, and inventory work. Thanks for the heads up!

[PoorManQ45]

did anyone happen to pick up a spare?

bestbuy just started selling them last night around 8pm est.

they're sold out in my area.

If someone could pick one up for me i'd throw in $50 for your time and effort. 16gb preferred

[Eikon]

I was SOOOO pissed last night!!!

I found out BB was selling them, but I didn't hear that until 9:00. I ran out the door, got caught in some random road construction slowdown, missed every light, and walked in the door at Best Buy only to find out that the guy who walked in just before me got the last one. SON OF A....

What pours salt in the wound is that there were guys walking out with 4 and 6 at a time. I thought BB was supposed to have a "one per customer" rule on this deal..

GRRRR


Anyhow.. I'm driving to a Staples store that shows limited availability online.. not sure if it's true, but this store is out in a little town, so it's quite possible. If they have them, I'll snag an extra for you Brien.

[PoorManQ45]

good luck. that's terrible that they were letting them buy that many at once.

at least here the people had to walk outside and then back in to be a "new customer".
thank you very much for checking :-)

[PoorManQ45]

I'm trying to remember your name. it's Seth, right?

[Eikon]

yep.. I'm Seth

Leaving for staples now.. They open at 11. I'll get there a little early and hopefully they will have one or two or five...

[MaximA32]

Best Buy was selling them at full pop from what I know yesterday. They were then ordered to send them back, then HP changed their mind. Best Buy opens at 10 here so I'm going to see what the deal is.

[PoorManQ45]

Best Buy was selling them at full pop from what I know yesterday. They were then ordered to send them back, then HP changed their mind. Best Buy opens at 10 here so I'm going to see what the deal is.

Yep.

Anyone that bought them at full price from mid june until now can get a full refund or the difference refunded.

[Eikon]

No luck today.

[PoorManQ45]

No luck today.

Thank you for trying.

[Jesda]

I suspect these will appear on ebay for $150 soon (theyre already $200 B-I-N). Just not worth the trouble of calling and driving unless I already happen to be at BB browsing around.

[PoorManQ45]

I suspect these will appear on ebay for $150 soon (theyre already $200 B-I-N). Just not worth the trouble of calling and driving unless I already happen to be at BB browsing around.

People would be dumb to sell them for that price.

Factor in the 11% that ebay and paypal take and they'd have to be ~$200 including shipping to make any money

[PoorManQ45]

Hurry, available now:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0056U ... slicinc-20

I just got an order through!

[C-Kwik]

I just ordered 2 through a link on slickdeals' front page. Try it out and see if it works. Good luck.

[PoorManQ45]

I just ordered 2 through a link on slickdeals' front page. Try it out and see if it works. Good luck.

That's exactly where I got the link.

I ordered the 16GB. I just don't see using more then that.

[Kompresshun]

These cases are $6.68 and are confirmed to fit, if you want a cheap one to get you by:

http://www.amazon.com/Black-Leather-Fol ... 03&sr=8-31

[AppleBonker]

While I didn't really want to spend the money, a $99 tablet is tough to pass up. I ordered one and am definitely looking forward to an Android port. In the meantime, I will play around with webOS and see how it runs. If CM eventually gets ported to this device I will be very happy (assuming minimal bugs).

[Kompresshun]

I've been reading a lot about them over the weekend and there's already a team working on an Android port. They said they're starting with a standard AOSP ROM and then they'll work on CyanogenMod. There's also a potential of porting over Honeycomb in a couple of months as well. So it looks like it has a future, regardless of what happens to WebOS.

But on that note, i've also been reading that HP had a meeting with Best Buy about the future of WebOS and it's by no means going away. They're looking to have someone else build the hardware for future versions of WebOS devices and they will provide them with the OS. Of course they never really said that WebOS was going to die anyways, they just said that they didn't want to produce hardware anymore.

I couldn't pass one up either, my wife had been hinting around at wanting a tablet, but I didn't want to drop another $400-500 at the moment. So I was very excited to get one of these, since I love to mess around with this stuff. I figure i'll give the wife my iPad in the meantime and take the Touchpad for myself, unless it's way too limiting for me to use daily.

[AppleBonker]

I am following the Android development process on this device now, fully aware that it will take some time. That's why I'm planning on rocking webOS for a while. I, too, will have a pair of tablets. So the girl can use the iPad and I'll work with the Touchpad. I like tweaking stuff so I am eagerly awaiting ports to test on this device. For $99 I do believe I will get a lot of fun nerd-time.