The first thing you see when you open up the box is the quick setup instructions. Seen here.

Going a little bit deeper we find the TC1000 in it's case (seen in the Styrofoam) and the box with all the accessories and parts (power adapter, pen and tips, user manual, battery, etc.)

This picture is a bit blurry, but it shows the TC1000 out of the box and the accessory/part box beside it.

The TC1000 opened for the first time.

Now then, here is what is included in the box -

Battery, power adapter (two parts), the stylus pen, extra pen tips (3 of them), battery screw, replacement eraser style control sticks (2), restoration CDs, quick start guides and instruction manuals, a few advertisements, black storage case, detachable keyboard, and of course the TC1000.

The Setup

Setup is very easy, and almost identical to other Tablet PCs. However, I did discover that you have to have the keyboard attached to go through the complete setup process. According to the manuals, the pen should work for the whole thing, but it doesn't. The battery was about 2/3 charged when I took the TC1000 out of the box, but the manual recommended that I plug the unit in for setup. So not wanting to mess anything up I plugged it in. I really think it would have been alright on battery power, but always better to be safe than sorry. The entire setup process took about 30 minutes at most.

The Hardware

The first thing that struck me when I got the TC1000 out of the box was how good it looked. I'm one to notice good looking designs, and I must say that the TC1000 gets right up there with the Apple iMacs as far as looks go. The TC1000 is a convertible model Tablet PC that can be separated from it's keyboard, as well as used with it in laptop mode (on your lap :-). This design is unique to the TC1000, and for me was one of the main draws to this unit.

Given the fact that the TC1000 uses the Transmeta Crusoe processor, I was originally concerned about how the speed of the TC1000 would be. Turns out that my worries were for naught. The TC1000 runs at a very comparable speed to an IBM R31 laptop at 1Ghz. The TC1000 will take maybe a second or so longer to open a program, but then once you get into the program it just glides along with no problem.

This doesn't really need to be stated, but the size of the TC1000 is quite small. With it's 10.4 inch screen, it doesn't take up much space at all. Here is a side by side comparison on the size of the TC1000 when compared to an IBM R31 Laptop, Compaq iPAQ Pocket PC, and Handspring Visor Edge Palm OS handheld.

With keyboard attached, comparing the top sides of the TC1000, R31, iPAQ, and Visor Edge.

Top view of TC1000 with iPAQ, Visor Edge, and R31.

Sitting side by side with the R31 and iPAQ with Silver Slider attached.

Without the keyboard attached, compared to the R31 laptop.

As you can see the size is a great deal smaller than regular laptops. However, despite the small size the TC1000 packs a load of features into it. Here are some of the ports and outward features -

Bottom side of TC1000 in landscape mode. In the middle are the ports to connect the keyboard to the unit, and on the left side are the security lock slots.

Top side in landscape mode. From left to right, Here we have the jog dial for scrolling (press it for "enter" key), an "esc" button, a red reset button if the tablet ever freezes up (haven't had to use it yet), a "tab" button, "Q Menu" button (I'll go into more on that later), "PIM" button to open your default e-mail program, and finally the all important "On/Off switch".

Right side while in landscape mode. This side contains the speakers (the grid looking things), standard head phone jack, cell phone headset jack which allows for audio output and microphone input, and a standard microphone jack. Also seen here at the very top of the unit just above the cell phone headset jack is what looks like a little nick in the paint. This is really a built-in microphone.

Left side of TC1000 while in landscape mode. Ports here from left to right - Power plug-in, VGA out, Ethernet 10/100 NIC, Modem, 2 USB 2.0 ports, next on the top we have Compact Flash, and on the bottom PC Card slot, and finally the stylus in it's slot along with a small slot for connecting a tether.

Now finally here is a quick look at the internal hardware accessible by opening the panels on the back of the unit.

Also not mentioned in the above diagram is the CMOS battery, which is located just to the right of the wireless card, and just below the extra memory slot.

I have had almost no problems to mention with the hardware of the TC1000, although I was able to increase my wireless range a good bit by switching the antenna wires on the wireless card. The screen of the TC1000 is both a strong and weak point for the unit. Strong in the fact that it is much more durable than most Tablet PC screens, and weak in the fact that it lacks pressure sensitivity.

On this picture of the TC1000 you see the screen area, plus some indicators and buttons around it. On the left side of the picture are 3 indicators/buttons that control (from top to bottom) screen rotation, opens Windows Journal, and opens the Tablet PC input panel. On the bottom right of the picture are three indicators that show the status of (from left to right) if the unit is plugged in, if the battery is charging, and wireless activity/connection indicator. Noticeably missing is an indicator for the hard drive, which would be nice because the hard drive on the TC1000 is almost absolutely silent at all times.

The Software

Most Tablet PCs come with some unit specific software for configuration of hardware, and accessing special features. The TC1000 is no exception. Coming with the unit is the special Compaq control panel software, Q Menu, sound card configuration software SoundMAX, and nView extensions software for the GeForce2 video card.

The Q menu can be accessed via the Q button or through the Q menu icon in the taskbar. The Q button is located on the topside of the TC1000 in landscape mode.

As you can see in the picture above, the Q menu provides you with a wealth of options to help better control your Tablet PC without the need to use the mouse or pen/stylus. The long menu on the right in the picture is the actual Q menu, and the window to the left is the Q menu settings screen. From the settings screen you can set which options you want to appear on the Q menu. Other options that you can't see in the picture include Standby and Shutdown.

Also included with the TC1000 are the nView extensions for the nVidia GeForce2Go video card that the TC1000 uses.

As you can see in the picture above, the nView extensions integrate into the Windows GUI. They allow you to make windows transparent and move windows around from one monitor to another (if you have an external connected). Options available to you vary by which program you are currently using.

The final configuration software that comes with the TC1000 is the SoundMAX control panel. This doesn't consist of much, but it allows you to configure the MIDI synthesizer and internal microphone.

Conclusion

Overall I must say that the TC1000 lived up to almost all of my expectations. The only thing I find myself wishing it had was a pressure sensitive screen. But you do get a good tradeoff for that, the screen on the TC1000 is much tougher than that of other Tablet PCs. The detachable keyboard takes a bit of getting used to, due to it's small size. It really didn't take me long to get the pattern down, and now I hardly notice any difference between it and a normal keyboard.

Something experienced laptop users may miss is an area at the bottom of the keyboard to rest your wrist on. HP had to sacrifice this in order to get the balance right on the screen and main unit. The TC1000 is very, very quiet, giving off almost no noise. It does have a fan that will occasionally come on after prolonged use of the unit. But other areas that usually make noise, like the hard drive, give off zero amounts of noise.

I must say that HP has gotten the best of both the convertible and slate worlds here, and this fact alone has played a big part in many people choices to buy the TC1000. It is also one of the cheaper units out there at this time, with prices starting around $1700. Out of all the first generation Tablet PCs, this is in my opinion the one to own. Well done HP!

Pros: Very nice design, cheaper price point, lots of features
Cons: No pressure sensitive screen, no wrist pad on keyboard

Buzz Meter - 4.5 out of 5

More information about the TC1000 can be found on HP/Compaq's web-site:
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/tabletpc/