Reviewing Compaq tc4400 - Tablet PC from HP, CNET gives it 6.6 out of 10 rating (good) rating and writes, “Common wisdom says that change comes from within, an axiom that HP has taken to heart with the tc4400 tablet PC. Physically identical to its predecessor, the tc4200, the tc4400’s updated model number indicates only a refresh of the components inside its case: brand-new Core 2 Duo processors, an updated chipset, room for more RAM, and larger hard drive capacities. Fortunately, the company also dropped the tablet’s price to $1,479 (our review unit included a few upgrades that brought the cost to a still-competitive $2,099). The updated components allow the tc4400 to keep pace with similar tablets on the market, such as the $1,933 Gateway M285-E and the $2,429 Fujitsu LifeBook T4215. On the eve of the Microsoft Vista launch, it’s worth noting that the tc4400 (like most other business laptops) is “Vista capable,” meaning it will be able to handle the new operating system, but at the likely cost of some key features of Vista’s redesigned user interface.

That said, the HP Compaq tc4400 makes sense for businesses that want to complement their existing fleet of HP laptops and businesses that have no Vista upgrade plans on the horizon. Everyone else would do best to wait until HP refreshes its business line later this year.

The good: Good battery life; responsive keyboard; three-year warranty; fingerprint reader; ambient light sensor automatically adjusts screen brightness.

The bad: A little heavy for holding in one arm; base configuration could use more RAM; lacks a FireWire port and a built-in optical drive.

The bottom line: The HP Compaq tc4400 convertible tablet offers decent performance and battery life, though we recommend adding more RAM. ”

Reviewed model quick specs:

Windows XP Tablet PC Edition SP2; 2.16GHz Intel Core 2 Duo T7400; 512MB DDR2 SDRAM 667MHz; 128MB Mobile Intel 945GM Express; 80GB Seagate Momentus 5,400rpm SATA/150

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This entry was posted on January 26, 2007 and is filed under HP Tablet PCs.