A year ago HP delivered the Pavilion tx1000 Entertainment PC, a hybrid between a notebook and a Tablet PC. It was a great machine, and we here at HardwareGeeks.com awarded it our Editors Choice Award for the month of April 2007 and also our Top choice Award for the year of 2007.
The tx1000 was and still is a fantastic piece of machinery. 9 out of 10 reviews on the web praised it. However, at the same time each review noted some dislikes about the machine such as a lack of an active stylus and a keyboard that had a left shift key that was rather small.
So, HP read those reviews, took that feedback, and created the tx2000.
They took the good with the bad; they kept the good and improved on the bad, and I am here to tell all who read this review that HP has created the perfect notebook PC. Wait, scratch that, HP has created the perfect Tablet PC. Actually, it is my opinion that HP has created the best all around portable computer, perfect for consumers and business users alike. Perfect for students and doctors, great for the soccer mom and the Pro Football coach. The tx2000 is the perfect fit for everyone.
I have been blown away by the tx2000 so much so that I do not know where to start.
I am blown away because I kind of feel like I had something to do with the creation of the tx2000. After all, HP took my feedback along with the feedback from users on our forum and on other sites to improve on the tx1000 and create the tx2000.
On January 3rd when they first announced the tx2000, I felt a sense of pride. I know that’s a bit corny, but it’s how I felt. When I first saw the machine back in November, I was taken aback when I realized they actually used all the feedback they had gotten. I mean some billion dollar company listened to me and you and everyone else that gave them feedback. When does that ever happen?
OK, OK let me get off my little emotional trip and get on with the review.
The Pavilion tx2000 Entertainment PCis powered by an AMD Turion64 dual core processor (2.1 or 2.2 Ghz), 2 GB of memory upgradable to 4 GB, and NVIDIA GeForce 6150. Also included on the tx2000 is Bluetooth support, Wireless a/b/g/n support as an option (default wireless b/g/), 160 GB HDD with support up to 250 GB, SuperMulti DVD writer with lightscribe support, Fingerprint reader, 5 in 1 memory card reader, webcam, and a 12.1 inch widescreen high definition touch-screen monitor.
The first thing you’ll notice about the tx2000 is the look. It has a shiny finish with a cool pattern design and a shiny outer shell that makes the machine very attractive, and when you open it up, the design continues around the keyboard and touch pad.
The first boot up of the machine was painless. Vista Home Premium loaded quickly, and I was a bit surprised to see that HP had cut back on the amount of pre-installed software I think not 100% sure on this one but it didn’t seem to have as much pre-installed software as some HP Desktops I have booted up recently. Sure there still were the WildTangent games and Norton was pre-installed and a trial of Microsoft Office, but that’s all I noticed, didn’t feel the need to reformat and reinstall the OS like I typically do with a new machine. So I am happy to report that there was nothing hogging the systems resources on the first boot.
Needless to say the system is speedy and very responsive. Even QuickPlay loaded quickly. Not saying that it doesn’t load fast on other HP machines, it just surprised me that it seemed almost instant on the tx2000. QuickPlay is software that ships with every HP consumer notebook and allows you to play DVDs, watch TV (provided you have a TV tuner), view photos, and listen to music quickly. I guess that is why they call it QuickPlay.
It didn’t just load QuickPlay quickly, but every program I tried out, from Microsoft Word and Excel to your typical Messenger programs such as AIM and Live Messenger.
I even installed the Sims and Crysis on the tx2000 and handled both games well.
But the tx2000 isn’t just any notebook, it has a touch screen, and now, unlike the tx1000, it comes with an active stylus.
The lack of an active stylus was probably the biggest complaint about the tx1000, so everyone who followed HP and the progress of the tx1000 was excited when it was announced that the tx2000 had an active stylus.
Having both an active stylus and a touch screen can cause problems, because if you are writing with the stylus and your arm or the palm of your hand touches something it may override what the stylus is doing. To prevent this, HP has made it so that when the stylus point is within an inch of the screen, the touch screen portion is disabled.
Writing with the stylus is also easy, a lot easier than it was on the tx1000. Because there was no active stylus on the tx1000, you had to press down a bit hard when writing. This caused a little cramp in your hand after a while, but with the tx2000 since the stylus is active, writing is way easier and more comfortable.
Because of the active stylus doing things in tablet mode is a lot easier.
HP has also strategically placed hotkeys around the screen so you can easily control your music when in tablet mode. So if you are jotting a note and listening to music at the same time, you can skip to the next track or stop playback all together by just tapping one of the media keys located on the side of the monitor.
Even the finger print reader is located around the monitor so that you can have access to it in regular notebook mode or tablet mode.
QUICK TIP: When using a tx1000 or tx2000, register both your thumbs with the finger print reader. This way no matter if you are in notebook or tablet mode, you can easily swipe your finger to login to your machine or website and or access a protected folder (Thanks to Kevin Wentzel technical marketing manager for notebooks at HP for the tip).
Now you know that you can easily use the tx2000 as a traditional notebook and tablet PC, but the HP Pavilion tx2000 is also an entertainment PC. It is built to satisfy our cravings for Movies and Music. But what separates the tx2000 from other entertainment notebooks on the market is a screen that swivelz 180 degrees.
Let’s say you fly a lot and you didn’t take JetBlue or Delta, and you are on one of those airlines with a tiny TV screen 3 to 6 seats ahead of you showing some movie you have probably seen a dozen times. If you had a notebook, you’d lower the tray table down and pop in one of your DVDs or some video stored on your hard drive. While that’s fine you may be a bit uncomfy because your notebook overlaps the tray and if you’re a big guy or gal, you have to suck in your gut a bit, making the experience not as good as it could be. Also if the person in front of you has their seat reclined you may not be able to have your monitor at an angel to allow you to view a movie correctly.
With the tx2000 that problem is solved because you can turn the monitor around and use it in, what I believe is call “Airplane mode” I believe I got this term from Kevin Wentzel at HP. The keyboard is now behind the monitor, and you have a nice view of nothing but the high def screen. Speaking of “Airport mode”, let’s not forget to mention the switch on the front of the tx2000 that allows you to easily shut off both the Bluetooth and wi-fi instantly.
Because of the hi-def screen on the tx2000, watching movies is a delight; I only wish that it came with a blu-ray or hd-dvd drive, so you could take full advantage of the screen.
I am sure you are now wondering about the battery life. I was only able to test the 8 cell battery, which gave me about 5 and a half hours of battery life during normal use. I got 4 hours and 3 minutes exactly when I watched the movie Face Off on DVD movie.
What is cool about the 8 cell battery is that HP even improved on that for the tx2000. It now fits perfectly into the palm of your hand so you can hold onto it or if you put it into your shoulder it isn’t as uncomfortable as the previous battery.
There are a few more cool features on the tx2000 that I would like to mention. The touchpad toggle switch is one. If you have a mouse connected to it, you can turn off the touch pad and not worry about rubbing a finger against it and moving the mouse pointer. Another feature I’d like to mention is the 2 headphone jacks and mic jack on the front of the machine and the mini remote control. All of these were also present on the tx1000 and were loved by everyone so HP kept them, and I am glad they did.
Do I have any complaints about the tx2000 or request for the tx3000? I do.
Overall the tx2000 is everything you’d want and more, and with a $1300 USD price tag, you get it all without burning a deep hole in your pocket. We here at HardwareGeeks.com award our very first Editors Choice Gold Award.
For more information about the tx2000 visit http://shopping.hp.com.
Before I end this review, I want to thank HP for listening to us and creating the tx2000. I would like to thank Kevin Wentzel, Tom Augenthaler, Dana Harrold, Scott Ballantyne, and everyone else who made the tx2000 possible. I would also like to thank everyone who gave feedback to HP! After all, it was all of our feedback that created this machine.
Pictures of the tx2000 credit to HP, I was so excited testing the machine out that I forgot to take pictures before I shipped it back. But my friend Terri Stranton took some pictures of it when she had it so check those out here.
The tx2000 is available in Europe as the tx2050. In the US the tx2000 will be labled tx2000, tx2100 and tx2120us.
This is a Reprint of an original review.
Comments: (261)
Zagreb on Mon, May 12th, 2008 at 07:14 AM
Hi,
did anybody have explanation for this.
What you did with these 2 notebooks that have a fan problem?
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I bought 6 of these notebooks, 3 back in Febuary and 3 recently for my office and employees.
4 have no issues with the fan but the other 2 do, all have the same settings.
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Michael on Mon, May 12th, 2008 at 02:25 PM
I haven’t gotten one sorry :(
Chris on Tue, May 13th, 2008 at 03:31 AM
So my daughter posted in here, about me getting her the tx1000 then the tx2000 because of your reviews. I nor she have had any issues with the machines them self, but the battery has died on us twice.
I bought the 8-cell battery and after no more than 2 weeks it did not work anymore, I have had it replaced twice. Has anyone seen else had that problem?
The battery that came with the notebook works it’s just the additional 8-cell battery that is giving me problems.
Antonia on Tue, May 13th, 2008 at 03:41 AM
I just got one from best buy and found this site because of the logo on it. I read all the comments and i do not have fan problems i can tell the fan is on but it isn’t loud and isn’t always on if it is always on i cant tell.
i really like it the keyboard is nice and soft, and i like how i can wrote on the screen. my husband thought I was broken it when I turned the screen around he really liked that.
Michael on Tue, May 13th, 2008 at 02:41 PM
Ok about the fans. HP says they are meant to run all the time. However they aren’t meant to RUN Fast or Make noise.
So are any of yours running fast and making noise?
Michael on Tue, May 13th, 2008 at 04:48 PM
@Chris, my guess is you had bad luck with the two batteries you bought.
I asked HP if they are seeing any problems with these batteries, and I was told that they hardly have any just a few reports nothing to raise any eye brows.
However last night when I read your post, I tested my 8 cell battery out and to my surprise it would not charge. I swapped the battery out and back in a few hours later and it did start to charge.
So HP has a few questions.
Where did you get the battery from?
Did support have you return the battery?
Did you have any ticket number from HP for your problem so that they can look it up?
Michael on Tue, May 13th, 2008 at 04:50 PM
Opps forgot, if you can email me that info, just click my Name.
mark on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 02:44 AM
so anyone with these loud fan / jiggly battery problems doing anything with them? i noticed the battery the first day, but Costco had none left. they got a really nice 90 day return and extend a year warrenty, which is cool if you don’t got the cc’ protection. anyways. anyone returning them to HP?
post script: anyone remind me what (if) there was some software fix for the sensors of when it turns off when you close the lid?
still love it, but need for it to work 100% to love it 100%.
Michael on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 03:13 AM
Jiggly battery lol, I like how that sounds for some reason, I never noticed it until you mentioned it, it is kind of jiggly.
kitkat on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 06:07 PM
Vista Home Premium 32-bit or 64-bit that is the question I am trying to answer before I purchase the HP TX2000. I will be using Office 2007, Adobe applications, and OverDrive Media Console for audio books from library. Any issues with Vista 64-bit installed on the HP TX2000?
Michael on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 07:26 PM
how much memory are you getting? If you are getting more than 2 Gigs go 64bit.
I know office 2007 has no issues with 64bit nor does any of the adobe apps, not sure about overdrive media console.
kitkat on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 08:18 PM
I plan to get 3 GB of memory, maybe 4 GB.
Michael on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 08:35 PM
Then get the 64bit version of Vista as the 32bit won’t recognize the full 4 gigs of memory.
mark on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 11:28 PM
how much of a speed boost are we really talking about from a switch from the 2110 to the 2120? I heard the 2120’s could run hotter and thus shorter battery lives. and as for the 64bit w/ 4gbs, how much better than the 32 bit w/ 3gbs of ram? anyone know the technical details? or have some benchmarks? anyone know for the 2.1ghz to the 2.4?
i’ve got a 32bit w/ 3 gigs and 2.1ghz, thinking of getting the suped up, but wondering if it is worth it.
Michael on Wed, May 14th, 2008 at 11:53 PM
I am not 100% sure Mark, But I will ask HP to see if they can give me an explanation of all the differences.
Michael on Thu, May 15th, 2008 at 03:27 PM
I was told although not been able to confirm that all models are similar, just they vary in location example 2151 is US while 2200 is Uk something like that.
I don’t think you will notice the speed increase from 2.1 to 2.4
gabriel on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 02:24 PM
My battery stopped jiggling once I started using both thumbs to fully open the tabs before slotting it home. I have to make sure the tabs audibly snap home on both sides. Sorry if this seems like an obvious answer, but I had the battery die/not recharge a few times before I got more diligent about this.
I use the battery as a handle when I carry the unit around--I’ve been directing a small play; I can run around instructing actors offstage while continuing to take performance notes (which I email that night), all while operating the sound system on a wireless transmitter. It’s a shoestring operation, but the computer literally allows me to do the work of three people in half the time. My cast thinks I’m some kind of genius.
Also, the quickplay button might be useful for some people, but for left-handed writing in tablet mode it just accidentally gets pressed far too often.
Michael on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 03:03 PM
So I am not left handed, and so I had to borrow a left handed neighbor. I saw how the quickplay button can get in the way if you are left handed. BUt if you flip the notebook around and have the quickplay on top you don’t have the problem, but the battery does bother you especially if you have the 8 cell battery.
I will submit feedback to HP telling them that thee should be a toggle switch to disable the quickplay button for left handers.
Diantha Nota on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 03:24 PM
I am considering buying a TX2100 in the Netherlands.
You said 2151 does not differ (much) from 2200, since this is mere a location number. But have you heard any reviews/ stories from the European market?
Does anyone know if the processor is fixed from HP in Europe? Some dealers say so, those offer 1600mhz (stores), while others offer 2200mhz (online shops). This must mean there are different versions, right?
Does anyone know something about the fingerprint security? Any complaints so far? Is it worth considering while it might cost you HDD space?
Does anyone have (bad) experiences with the TX1000? Does it last for a longer period of time? 4 years ago I bought a Jewel 8080 (very expensive) and it had very high performances. But now, 4 years later I can tell that nothing has been working the past 2 years and even keys have fallen off. Are HP TX series known to last for a while? I will be in uni for at least 2 years… Longer then 3 years would be nice, not necessary.
Is the TX2100 easy to carry around? Could I use up to 14hours per day when needed? What are the performances with marketing software?
PS. I’ve found a list online summing all the extra software that comes with the 2100:
Windows Media Player, Windows Fotogalerie, DVD Play, Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker, Cyberlink DVD Suite, Windows Media Center, QuickPlay - Windows, Microsoft Works, Microsoft Internet Explorer 7.0, Windows Mail, Adobe Reader 8.0
No Norton so far (luckily).
Diantha Nota on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 03:37 PM
ow, and err.
Do you consider it a ‘real’ laptop or a mobile pc/Tablet?
Pros & cons?
Michael on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 04:20 PM
@ Diantra. Do I consider it a real laptop mobile pc/tablet?
I consider it a notebook with tablet functionality, as I said in the review it’s perfect for the soccer mom who probably doesn’t need a tablet to the doctor who could benefit from using a tablet.
@ Diantra, Norton does come with it HP and Symantec have a partnership, however in other parts of the world it may not be on the machine, hopefully on the 2100 it isn’t as I don’t recomend it, but if it is I would just uninstall it.
I would also uninstall cyberlink DVD as you can use Quickplay for DVDs and it’s better IMO
@ Diantra the Tx1000 I loved it, but unlike the TX2000 the tx1000 does not have an active stylus so writing on the screen isn’t as easy.
The fingerprint reader software doesn’t use that much space, and I like it. It uses the Digital Persona software and it works pretty well.
The processor depends on how the system is speced, you would have to visit the retailer to know how they speced their system. If you buy it online you can spec the system yourself.
wix on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 09:23 PM
what vista applications that are running in the back ground can i disable to speed up my tx2110?
Michael on Sun, May 18th, 2008 at 09:45 PM
as with any other vista system, you can do the following to make it run faster.
Disable search indexing.
Disable transparency
In the system properties in performance set it to best performance
mark_p on Mon, May 19th, 2008 at 06:25 AM
I was just wondering how this pc would handle games...do u think i would be able to play flight simulator x on it?....whether it does or not i will surely buy a tx2000 end of this month...it seems like a great notebook for college...and thanks a lot michael for this great review 
Michael on Mon, May 19th, 2008 at 12:49 PM
you can play flight simulator x on the 4gig version, may be a lil laggy but I got it to run ok on mine with the lowest settings.
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