What would you like to see HP build?
HP has reached out to me and a few others to interact with them to make sure they understand what consumers want. I am sitting down with some HP folks this afternoon so what would you like me to ask them? What suggestions do you want to get through to them for future products? Don’t make do with what they produce, let them know now what you need and I’ll pass it along to them. But you’d better hurry, my meeting is in a few hours.
Bring back TC1100!
I have an HP pavilion computer. It is very ‘busy’ – lots of lights and buttons on the hardware. It’s distracting – very un-zen (is that a word?). I would like to see them strive to make products that are more fung shuei (sp?) / zen / relaxing to interact with. There are so many blue lights on the pavilion I find it hard to focus on the screen. Especially in darker environments. There are numerous studies showing that w/ more than 5-7 items in view the brain has to work hard to filter out the excess. This results in a tiring user experience.
I would like to see them offer linux, as Dell and Lenovo are.
I’d like to see a successor to the HP Jornada 720/728. Same size, OLED screen. The OS and Full-Fledged Office applications (instead of pocket versions) would be in flash ROM for instant on capability and so that there would be an upgrade path. Battery life no less than 8 hours. USB ports, CF card slot(s) and built in VGA support. Touch screen viewable in broad daylight. Backlight keys. Batteries not integral to unit (user replacable. WiFi and/Bluetooth.
Hmmm… the list…
1) A refreshed PDA – high res, decent WiFi, largish screen, storage card slot, modern/hi-speed processor, large (8/16GB) built-in storage, DAP-only mode where you start songs, they play, but battery usage is minimal.
Make a Cintiq clone that is affordable.
2) Bring back the old calculator division! It should never have been shut down.
3) All the normal requests — smaller, more efficient, cooler Media Centers, Tablets, etc — but you already knew that.
4) Printers with decent sized and affordable ink cartridges. They’ve been giving away the printers to sell the ink. We all know ink doesn’t need to be the most expensive fluid any of buys on a regular basis! Oh, and making them pigment-based would be a plus.
5) Easy way to not order/strip extra programs from PC’s. But keep basic virus software for the folks so they’re protected from the first boot.
6) Better OOB experiences – pre-boot the machines and let all the set-up take place at the factory so the first boot at home is quick and gets you going asap.
7) Always ship restoration DVD’s with the machines.
9) Challenge Apple (in particular, Samsung comes to mind as well) in the design department.
10) Create a square box PC that anyone can make a “cover” for — wooden, stylized, etc and keep the dimensions consistent. I could get a custom case made that I could upgrade the interior of by just pulling the “PC box” out of every other year or so. Plus, you could order cases with a wider variety of styles, and never have to deal with “PC maker” skills.
That’s probably enough.
I have grown to hate HP/Compaq products. It seems like every single one I’ve ever used has had problems, and bad designs. Whether it be a printer, or a desktop computer, or even a friends laptop, all have had issues. First of all let me start by saying that the inside of some of the older HP desktops have absolutely terrible designs. I can’t say anything about their newer ones because I’ve stopped buying their products. As for the old ones, trying to change a hardware component is like solving a puzzle. If you want to get to the CPU or RAM, you need to dig your way through all kinds of cables and other components before you get down to the motherboard. This problem arises because they try to make their desktop computers somewhat smaller and more squat than others, why? I have no idea. But it makes swapping drives in and out nearly impossible. I wanted to take a few drives out of an old HP desktop and after 45 minutes of trying to figure out if you were even supposed to be able to get them out, I started to tear apart the case. I think if I actually wanted to take them out the right way, I would have had to remove the entire PSU just to pull a drive out. Oh and don’t even get me started with all the hidden screws inside this desktop, some didn’t even seem like they were on an angle that would make them possible to unscrew. The entire inside is unintuitive and quite obviously not meant to used by the end user.
Now lets move onto their product appearance. Right now I see HP as a company who just wants to sucker people into buying their computers, rather then providing a good product. I would imagine that most of HP’s home desktop/laptop sales are bought through third party retailers such as Best Buy or Circuit City. And often times the people who don’t know much about computers go there to buy them. Maybe HP knows this and thats why they could win the award for most shiny stickers and flashing lights on the front of their computers. Its like a fishing lure where they reel in the unsuspecting.
If HP wants to start to regain my and many other peoples trust, you can begin with the following.
*Make the inside of your desktop computers user friendly. Believe it or not people do open up your products and play around with the hardware components. Maybe you haven’t gotten this complaint very often because the majority of people who buy your products from a third party retailer are those who don’t know much about computers and don’t ever upgrade their computers, which brings me to my next point…
*Stop trying to market the less computer educated, start trying to offer a good product. I know that it might seem like the easiest and fastest way to make some money is to put some shiny stickers on the front of your computers and make them appealing to the people who don’t really know what they need in a computer. Yes HP we know that the computer has a lightscribe drive, do you also mention right on the front that the drive requires special CD to use? I don’t think so. Again trying to nab the less computer educated.
*Try redesigning your desktops… I don’t know what it is about them. They are just ugly in my opinion. I hate the flaps that cover the disk drives. They are usually really low quality which can be felt as soon as you push them. If you want to make those same flaps electronic and motorized, please feel free to do so. And I really dislike the often very low quality feel of the CD storage compartments that you have on some of your computers. Its usually just a plastic flap with some plastic hinges and it stores maybe 10 CD/DVDs. I’d rather have nothing on the top of my computer than have a broken plastic flap.
Well anyway thats about all I have for now, given a bit more time to think about this I assure you I’d have many more complaints, but hopefully I’ve submitted this in time : P
1 Thing:
A printer that can receive print commands via the internet, so I can print to my home printer from wherever I am–as long as there is an internet connection on both ends. (must work on a mac too).
Lemme know when it’s ready!
Calculators are still there: http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/pscmisc/vac/us/en/sm/calculators/index.html?jumpid=re_R295_prodexp/busproducts/computing/calculators
Tablet with TC1100 form factor, dedicated graphics card, as much hard drive capacity and memory capacity as physically possible
Re-issue something like the portable hand scanner they used to make.
Swipe ACROSS a page a few times then auto-stitch the text images together into one page. USB to other devices with OCR, etc.
UMPC
need i say more?
My dream machine from HP would be a Nokia E90 Communicator type device of roughly the same capability/size with an internal touch screen, video out, USB host/client and the Sirf GPS chip that runs Linux as the OS.
A lightweight battery operated full sized keyboard and hi-def display in a portfolio the size of a sheet of letter paper and thickness of no more than a deck of cards will supply charging/backup for the unit as well as extensibility.
Some interesting pipe dreams so far!
I personally would also like to see a new Jornada, though instead of building an uber device that would cost as much as a laptop and have even less of a viable market footprint then UMPCs, I’d just like to see it take over where the (recently cancelled?) i-mate Ultimate 750 was headed, ie the king of the smartphones. A stylish, easily pocketable WinMo Pro phone with sliding QWERTY and static numpad, the 3G/WiFi/GPS trifecta, tilting VGA screen ala HTC Kaiser, storage measured in gigs and a speedy chipset.
In other words make a peerless smartphone that bests Apple and HTC in one swoop, not a laptop replacement that loads faster but is extremely limited in all other ways, especially in its available software (comparing even just the freeware available for a WinXP machine vs WinMo is laughable).
I agree with Keith- I would like to see something to compete with the toshiba g900. A slide out keyboard with a big screen 800×480 ideal, a lot of internal memory (unlike the g900) – 4GB would be a good amount. Tilting like Kaiser capability would be nice as well. The g900 lacks in that the screen is so high res but it super small for the case it’s in. I’d like to see something that makes full use of the outer case to maximum the screen without getting too big. WM6 would be the OS of preference.
The reason I would want HP to do this- price. They seem to be able to get things down under that 500 sweet spot for this type of device.
Overall I think the problem with HP products across the board- they have a plasticy feel to them and no real industrial design qualities at all. If they would play with some new less plastic-y materials, and work on the design, they could reinvent themselves in this space. Remember the original Compaq ipaq and how it was the one others all tried to compare themselves to? For it’s time, it was flashy and fast. That requires something unique and a step ahead of other people!
HP still stands in the mind of most for quality. But the use friendly has been poor in computers and printers. Design should be simple and elegant and result powerful. HP should have set out to be THE standard in quality, which would have built on its strength.
What I would like is a new tech version the original NEC slate tablet that was the lightest, at 2 lbs. A two pound slate with real power and attractive would be terrific.
UMPC of course.
Also, a linux-based PDA would be awesome.
I would like to see a form factor similar to the tx series, without the swivel screen, no touch screen, no disk drive, a 100 gig hard drive, a weight of 2 lbs., without Vista and a low price. Sort of like the VAIO, without the high price. Many people just want a light weight, easy to use laptop they can use when watching TV or travelling minimalistically. I have tried the UMPCs but they just are not there yet.
Eww an HP UMPC? Please no!
Something like the HTC X7500 sizewise. Basically just a handheld, 5 inch screen, light, light, light, enable high resolution powerpoint (XVGA?) so I don’t need to drag along my pc, Vlingo capable so only occassional use of foldable keyboard with built in track point (no need for separate mouse), HSDPA 7.2, and with a FUNCTIONING (unlike the HTC) webcam regardless of carrier (so the consumer decides how to use their hardware). Possibly both WM and full Windows like the HTC Shift. That’s it.
…and hot swappable batteries.
…and Wibree.
Renewed hp tc1100. Core Duo 2, dedicated graphics card, etc.
A slightly bigger screen perhaps?
Best form factor to date… and die hard user base!
Nah…
A Tc1100 type HandTop, not Tablet PC that’s smaller, like an OQO /Big IPhone with a 5″ Screen.
With a Cool dock for the Car / Home / Office…
SSD, HDMI, A2DP, Core Duo..etc
I know, I can Dream..
V,
Bring back the HP Jornada 500 series form factor. Nobody out star trekked that PPC. That flip top was so cool and protective and the all metal construction felt really reliable. DO’nt use the SH3 chip set though.
An update to the TC1100! If I had my druthers, it would: have a super fast processor, lots of video power, 8-hour battery life, and it would weigh under 1lb.
I can dream, right?
Yes, second the update to the TC1100. A ~10″ screen with a removable keyboard… great form factor. I still use mine even after adding other Tablets over the years.
I could not agree more with those who want a “new” tc1100, my first tablet, and I still use it. Its a real tablet
The Jornada Handheld PC series was the best product HP has ever produced. A full clamshell PDA (with a touch-typable QWERTY keyboard) that was small enough to stow easily while at the same time being a very powerful device. I still love my Jornada 728 despite the old OS (Windows CE 3.0, Handheld PC 2000). Put in the Windows CE 5 core OS (not Windows Mobile 6 – no reason why that GUI can’t be an optional add-on, but the core OS is much easier to use), built-in Bluetooth and WiFi, at least Internet Explorer 6 for Windows CE (not Pocket Internet Explorer), at least 128 MB of RAM, and you’d have almost the perfect handheld computing device. And I’m willing to be that it could be sold profitably for significantly less than the $900 price of the original Jornada H/PCs. (It never had a chance of being a mainstream device at that price.)
HP Jornada 720/728 successor.
Extend the scereen corner to corner, stick in it the fastest CPU on the market so it can run SoftMaker Office 2006 for mobiles comfortably and can handle searches quikly.
At least 8gig of memory so I can sync my office docs with the unit.
Wifi, GSM and BlueTooth It would help to have an easy access to a SIM card for the times when cell based access is needed (to avoid extra costs for another cell phone account or when travelling).
Have an option of having a huge battery, sure it can make the unit thicker. Make it intelligent so it covers the whole bottom, don’t make it lumpy so it is ugly and disbalanced. Have a USB based charger so I don’t have to rely on a proprietery brik to cahrge it.
If you are adding a camera than add a real flash and make sure it a has a macro mode so we can take photos of documents and read them afterwords.
Keyboards are here to stay, despite all the naysayers. So make that keyboard great and not an afterthought (call IBM if you have to) backlite it the same way HTC has done their sliders.
That is for my Office work life.
If you really want to hit the market hard then stick in an additional 300gig harddrive for a PMP option and make it play all video and audio formats out there.
Oh yeah… and if any of the NEC people are reading this the same goes for your NEC900 model resurrection.
A call center with representatives that are trained well and speak English well.
I highly agree with ThoughtFix.
I’m frustrated by Tablet PCs that can smashed like piñatas or cut in two by table saws. At least that’s what Dell thinks
I have been a big coustomer for HP. Bought my 1st laptop, a media center PC and desktop for my parents. But one bad experience has changed my mind. I am not sure if I will buy it again. I have one question for them.
Why cant they ship a 5$ restore CDs including a CD with the OS with 1800$ HTPC?
I’d like to see HP take one of their larger 17″ or even 20″ notebook computers and turn it into a table(t) pc. The 20″ HDX already opens up with a slider mechanism (I think). Let it go all the way. One way, it slides open to be a tablet, slid half way it’s a regular portable, and slid fully the other way, it’s closed. Think of the potential for games, art, cad, etc.
I also was a big customer of HP, but after a bad experience with their customer support this summer, I promised to never buy HP products again. So I don’t really care what they’ll build, but I’ll recommend to take good care of their customers.It’s cheaper to keep a good customer than to try to make new ones.
tc1200 (tc1100 with Core 2 Duo) at 1500$ for students
its probably too late to make a difference, but I’d like a refresh of the pda/smartphone line, perhaps incorporating the styling that they’ve implemented on their laptops (ie. shiny piano black finish). Maybe they can try the sideways sliding qwerty keyboard, instead of the existing qwerty offerings that have a square 240×240 screen. alternatively, they can have another go with the tx1000, but with a more responsive touchscreen and an intel processor
An answer to HTC Shift!
I would also like to see an updated Jornada 728 type device. Meaning that it should be clamshell type, with LED backlight, daylight readable screen, discreet video, builtin WIFI, and bluetooth, SVGA out, same keyboard, and screen size, USB host, and office compatible software. (Not just viewers.)
Another vote for an updated Jornada 720/728 type device (although it could surely be much thinner & lighter with current tech.).
CE6; 6″ 800×480 tft screen; CF & SDHC slots (ditch the pcmcia & smartcard slots); wifi/BT; built in hsdpa or evdo; usb host; vga out; and that great keyboard.
Nothing groundbreaking or impossible required.
My LX200 was great. Ahead of its time more than 15 years ago. An instant on PC compatible computer that ran for days on AA batteries, wireless printing, with those great HP calculator style buttons and useful PDA software included. How about an instant on long battery life useful ultraportable computer again?
I would like to second calls for a successor to the tc1100, but widening the call to a modestly specced (ie cheap) pure slate tablet PC.
A widely available (ie in Australia) slate from a manufacturer that is palatable to businesses would be my desire.
Restore CD’s with all products. Why do I have to lonse my fully functioning TX1000 for a week and have all my data wiped because your program only allows lx restore disc creation, and even stuffs that up.
Gordon
“Eww an HP UMPC? Please no!”
because this industry will never take off as long as only small PC market players like Samsung, Sony, OQO make devices.
this market needs giant PC players like Dell & HP to make UMPC’s. that will be the only way to bring these products to the mainstream & bring down prices.
I echo a replacement for the jornada….
Though I would rather see it in a form factor more similar to the “Sigmarion 3″ thinner and lighter than J720/728 with screen at least 800×480… Or if you will like the eee PC but nearer the Sig3 in size and touch screen instead of silly trackpad.
Be nice to have somthing like that where screen can flip so it would work as tablet as well..
John