It seems that the device that no one wanted a few days ago has turned into one of the hottest sellers of the year! All of a sudden, everyone wants a HP Touchpad. The price may have something to do with it. Only $99 for the 16 GB and $149 for the 32 GB model.
Even with a cloudy future, many are willing to take the plunge into the world of Web OS on the cheap. Will the touchpad ever be able to run Android reliably? That certainly remains to be seen, although I am sure it is definitely a possibility given the large mobile device hacking community on web sites like xda-developers.com.
Get them while they are hot because it doesn't look like they are going to last long. From what I have heard, Best Buy is sending all of their warehouse stock back to HP. Local retailers everywhere seem to be sold out. I just checked eBay a few minutes ago and there is a lot of bidding action going on in the $150-$200 range for the 16 GB model.
I guess this demonstrates there is a demand for low-cost tablets. If they can get the price down to $200 or so for a new Android tablet, I think people would buy it.
Update: I dropped by my local Best Buy store and they confirmed that they were sending all of their stock back to HP. HP will reportedly be selling the discounted Touchpads direct. When I went to the HP Store web site, I found the Touchpad for $99. When I clicked on the link, however, I received this message: "We're sorry, the page requested was not found." Bummer. If you explore a bit more, there is a notification list that you can sign up for.
Flash: 8/21: Best Buy has done a 180 and has decided to sell their HP Touchpad inventory rather than send it back to HP. I called a store in Cleveland, OH and they said they only had 5 this morning and they were sold in a matter of minutes. Staples is sold out within a one hundred mile radius. Office Max is also sold out. So, don't get your hopes up!
