We’ve talked extensively about the HP TouchSmart TM2 convertible tablet here at AllTouchTablet, but we haven’t really talked about its performance. Now, thanks to Engadget, who thoroughly tested the Core i3 version of the HP TM2 we can tell you more about what you can expect from it.

    This Ultra Low Voltage Core i3 TM2 currently retails for 939$ (or 929$ for the 7200 RPM HDD version) and offers pretty good bang for the buck, with a CPU that is powerful enough for multitasking freaks and doesn’t consume too much power so you get decent battery life too. The version tested by Engadget features a second graphic card, a Radeon 5450, switchable (not Optimus, so the switch takes a few clicks, which is pretty annoying), but besides that the two versions are identical.

    Let’s see what you get for a little over 900$ with the HP TM2:

    • Intel Core i3-330UM Processor (1.2GHz, 3MB L3 Cache)
    • 4GB DDR3 Memory (2 DIMM), max supported is 8GB
    • 640GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (for 10$ less you can get the 500 GB 7200 RPM HDD version)
    • Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
    • 12.1 inch diagonal HD HP BrightView Touchscreen (1280 x 800 resolution), capacitive technology with multi touch
    • Intel HD Graphics
    • Dolby Advanced Audio with Altec Lansing speakers
    • 6-cell 62 WHr battery

    As you can see, the HP TM2 with Core i3 is a pretty powerful convertible tablet, featuring 4 threads (two virtual thanks to Hyperthreading) and a lot of RAM and storage space. What Engedget didn’t like at all was the glossy screen, extremely shiny, with bad horizontal viewing angles, something you’ll find out when using the tablet in portrait mode. Also there are a few construction problems, especially with the large battery mounted on the back of the case, which makes it tip over on its back when hond on your knees (so careful here not to drop it down). Other than that the aluminum case feels pretty solid.

    Other than that the touchscreen with integrated buttons is pretty bad, by today’s standards, but you’ll get used to it in time. Now back to the interesting features: the screen rotates both ways, so there’s less of a chance to break it by forcing the hinge in the wrong position. Once rotated in Slate mode it sits tightly in place. Unfortunately, the lack of an accelerometer sensor means you’ll have to press a button once to rotate the screen 90 degrees and then three times to get the original orientation. That’s unnecessary, if you ask me and a commodity I’m willing to pay for.

    The chiclet keyboard is great, offering very good feedback and soft touch keys. Engadget played also with the Touchsmart software custom UI that brings a more touch friendly experience to consumers. The conclusion is that the software is easy to use, offering an interesting Twitter app and a customized Internet Explorer, but is very slow at launching itself and other apps, making it a nightmare to use. Of course this is a software problem, as the tablet could run multiple programs at the same time without any slow downs.

    Battery life is very decent, with 4.5 hours in movie playback mode and over 5 hours of web browsing with the screen at 65% brightness. Whole in whole, the HP TM2 is one of the most capable convertible tablets on the market today, and the price is very good (more than a netvertible and less than a tablet PC). Take a look below at the video review made by Engadget to get a more in depth sense of what this tablet is capable of: