HP Tablet: How to Find a Deeply Discounted HP TouchPad

The discontinued HP TouchPad continues its liquidation at fire sale prices, and the frantic search for the defunct tablet at that elusive $99.99 price is one of the trending topics on Twitter today.

Use this link to search Twitter for the latest info, or use the Twitter hashtag #HPTouchpad to get pricing and locations where the TouchPad might be available.

Another good place to keep tabs on the HP TouchPad is slickdeals.net, where a Wiki Community Board shows you where you might be able to find a bargain. It’s a quickly changing situation, so you might want to check back often to see if there are any changes.

Alas, according to slickdeals.net, many of the possibilities have already been exploited, with the following stores shown as sold out:

* Office Max [officemax.com] (Sold Out)
* HP Home & Office – 16 GB [hp.com] (Sold Out)
* HP Home & Office – 32 GB (Sold Out)
* PC Richard (Sold Out)
* Target (Sold Out)
* Sam’s Club (Sold Out)
* Office Depot (Sold Out) (apply 942099541 for free $15 giftcard for lunch. Good for subway/panera bread/burger king)
* Walmart (Sold Out for online shipping, choose your local store to see if it’s available for instore pickup)
* MicroCenter – 16 GB(Sold Out) – Orders which were confirmed by email are being followed by cancellation emails, even in cases of ordering only 1.
* MicroCenter – 32 GB(Sold Out)
* Fry’s (Sold Out)
* J&R (Sold Out)

Canada:
* Best Buy Canada (Sold Out)
* FutureShop (owned by BBY) (Sold Out)

According to the slickdeals wiki, you might have a chance at HP’s site if you call them on the phone and wait. We noticed the company was offering 16GB TouchPads for $99.99 and 32GB models for $149.99. [Update: Oops! It's now listed as out of stock, and we're hearing the HP call center is down.]

You’ll find a lot more info and tips at slickdeals.net.

Another tip: Have a live chat with other bargain hunters about availabilities and pricing of the TouchPad at TinyChat.com.

Yet another tip: Best Buy won’t be selling the TouchPad in the U.S., but is offering a full refund for those who bought the TouchPad on a 60-day policy.

Let us know in the comments if you’ve had any luck finding available TouchPads at deep discounts.

Update: Early adopters who bought the HP TouchPad at near-retail prices will be happy to know that according to WebOS Roundup, HP has agreed to refund the difference between what they paid and these ultra-low fire-sale prices.

iPad Top Loyalist Tablet Choice Followed by HP TouchPad Meh

The demise of the HP TouchPad and HP Pre was surprising because a Baird study showed that the HP TouchPad was the second choice in its latest U.S. tablet survey. Tablet owners are predominantly male, and aged 40-60. Tablet are mainly used for web browsing, email and social networking.

•Approximately 93% of current tablet owners are iPad owners. With multiple responses accepted, 94% of total potential purchasers are looking at the iPad, and interestingly, the HP Touchpad came in a distant second at 10%.
•Web browsing/email/social Networking take the top spot for tablet use with photo/video and eBooks trailing behind in second and third place respectively.
•Hard content creation (Microsoft Office, Photoshop) finished much lower because it is difficult to do.
•Consumers between the ages of 40-50 and 50-60 led the number of current tablet owners (approximately 37% each), with more than half of them considering the purchase of another tablet.
•Consumers between the ages of 30-40 are the most interested in purchasing a tablet.
•Among respondents who believe a tablet can replace a PC today, the top three features thatwould enable replacement are: a thinner/lighter build, cheaper pricing, and more applications.
•Those who believe tablets could replace PCs in the future cite more storage, accessories, and improved processing as the top three features that would enable the transition away from a PC.