HP tx2000 vs tx2500 Tablet PC
Recently I was planning to buy a portable computer. I was choosing between buying a tablet PC and a laptop computer. As I write/read a lot of web articles and do a lot of web surfing, I was inclined towards buying a tablet PC. A tabled PC would have been perfect for me to take notes and writing articles and also something which I can use while sitting on my couch or lying on my bed. For someone who is curious, better reasons for using a table PC can be found here. I was looking for a cheaper option as my budget was something around $1000 - $1400.
| I did some research on internet and finally chose HP tx2500 due to its Puma processor, 3GB DDR2 RAM, 250GB Hard Drive and some other nice features, list of which can be found here - HPtx2500 review at tabletpcreview.com. And the best thing was the price range which fits comfortable within my budget. Now that is when I found out that tx2500 was not even available in Canada yet. I did call HP sales and they were not sure when it will be released in Canada. That is when I started looking for another option and started taking a more detailed look at tx2000. I am listing 2 major differences that I noticed between tx2500 and tx2000 based on my online research. |
| tx2500 | tx2000 | |
| Mobility Radeon HD 3200 IGP | Nvidia GeForce Go 6150 graphics | |
| (Puma)AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-80 (2.1GHz, 2MB L2 cache) | AMD Turion 64 X2 Dual Core processor TL-66 2.3GHz |
The PUMA processor might not differ in terms of performance there are still some improvements on other parts of the processor itself. It now includes HT3 which is faster and is now able to turn off completely if no data is being transferred.
AMD also has impelmented independent power planes for the cores and the memory controller which allows the display to refresh without having to wake up the whole cpu.
The cores can now clock independently of each other which is useful for apps which are single threaded. So, its not just the same processor there have been some improvements to basically make it more mobile than before.
More details on PUMA technology can be found here.
Well with all that said, I ended up buying tx2000 for now. The retailer promised me that as soon as tx2500 ships out I can do a trade-in and will be able to upgrade to tx2500 at minimal cost. But I must say I am really enjoying my first encounter with a tablet PC. Its well worth buying one especially when difference between a tablet PC and laptop is really narrowing down.
