HP TouchPad price slashed by $100 permanently, 16 GB now $399

In a bid to apparently alleviate confusion over the price of the HP TouchPad, Hewlett-Packard has made its previous $100 discount permanent.

As evidenced by the company's Web page, HP has priced the 16 GB HP TouchPad at $399.99, and the 32 GB version at $499.99, the same price that HP discounted it by $100, previously.

That also means that the previous HP.com $50 discount on the 16 GB TouchPad isn't active again. But the new, lower prices brings the TouchPad to right in the price range of Acer's Iconia Tab 500 and the Eee Pad from Asus, and beats the price of the iPad 2 by $100.

That also means that HP.com is offering the TouchPad for $100 less for each model than Staples, which offered its own $100 discount coupon for each model on the weekend of Aug. 5 through Aug. 7. On Staples.com, the retailer is selling the 16 GB model for $499, and the 32 GB model for $599.99. Of course, Staples also offers a low-price price-match guarantee, so Staples should match the price.

Meanwhile, the 4G version of HP's TouchPad tablet is now available for pre-order on Amazon for $699.99.

The listing does not include a release date. The $700 price tag gets you a 32GB TouchPad in "gloss black" with 4G and Wi-Fi capabilities.

The deal comes just days after HP rolled out a software update aimed at fixing some bugs, improving system performance and stability, and addressing some issues with core apps that plagued the company's first webOS-based tablet out of the gate following its July 1 release in the U.S.

But the webOS 3.0.2 release produced mixed results, according to reviewer David Pierce, who found that despite the update, apps on the TouchPad still take too long to open and flipping between landscape and portrait mode takes too much time as well.

This article, written by Mark Hachman, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of Ziff Davis, Inc.

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