We’re pleased to see a standard micro-USB port on the TouchPad, but we’re not so pleased that it doesn’t charge over a USB connection, nor can you use the TouchPad while it’s mounted on a computer. The arrangement of buttons and ports along the front and sides includes a power/sleep button on the top right, a volume rocker on the right-hand side, a micro-USB port on the bottom and a homescreen button that sits flush with the surface – this latter button seems superfluous given you can return to the homescreen at any time by swiping up the screen from the lower bezel. The 9.7″ 1024 x 768 pixel screen and 4:3 aspect ratio works equally well for portrait and landscape view, but leaves thick black bars above and below for widescreen video. At 740g, it’s the heaviest tablet we know of (the Wi-Fi iPad 2 weighs only 590g) and the 13.7mm depth is a fraction thicker than the original iPad’s. The TouchPad shares more than a few traits with the iPad, but the chunky form factor means it’s closer to the original version instead of the sexier sequel. Competition in this category is fierce, and we’re wondering whether there’s room for yet another player to the mix that doesn’t have an established contingent of users already like iOS, Android and BlackBerry. Whether the HP TouchPad actually takes off is the question. Palm’s webOS smartphones were never released in Australia, much to our disappointment, but now that HP’s running the show, the TouchPad will probably be the first of many webOS-powered devices we’ll see in the future. Like a lovelorn math geek pining after the head cheerleader, we’ve had to admire webOS from afar till now. She’s known for having at least half a dozen of the latest gadgets on her person at a time, and once won a bottle of Dom Perignon for typing 78WPM on a Pocket PC with a stylus. Jenneth Orantia turned her back on a lucrative career in law to pursue her unhealthy obsession with consumer technology.

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