Does Your HP WebOS TouchPad Need a Turbo Boost? Feeling Like It’s a Little Slow?

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Unknown_2011-22-08_002549Of all the strange places, I found this thread over at the Home Server Show forums.  Erik Chavez (texasPl in the HSS Forums) posted some feedback on his overclocking experience with his new TouchPad as well as a great deal on a cover from a source that might surprise you.

Disclaimer:  Overclocking your HP Tablet could result in a bricked unit and is at your own risk.  The Average Guy accepts no responsibility for the content or results of the following.  If it works however, we get all the credit!

Here is what Eric had to say.

Here’s the forum thread he followed to overclock:

http://www.webosbuzz.com/hp-touchpad/694-how-overclock-hp-touchpad-1-5ghz.html

 

Overall I found WebOS to be fun to use and I agree with your write up on the browser, it is one of the best I’ve ever used. The problem I noticed was that scrolling was not as smooth as say the iPad 2 (which I also own). So once you install Preware you can look through the items there for various tweaks to browser, system etc. One of my favorites has been a tweak to allow video to continue when you card the video player so that you can move to another application and then return without interrupting your video. Preware is like Cydia for iOS in that it has feeds and packages.

Once Preware and Govnah are installed, you should see the first two icons circled below (Preware and Govnah). Depending on what you install from Preware, you’ll also see an icon for your kernel (in my case F15C Eagle) and for Tweaks which has a number of tweaks to better the user experience like the scrolling issue I mentioned before. This is not an exhaustive installation guide, but will give you the basics.

When you open up Preware it’ll update all the feeds and packages to ensure you have the latest ones.

After that, you’ll see the screen below.

If you click on "Available Packages" you’ll get the following screen that breaks them down into categories.

I am using a dark theme for Preware so don’t be alarmed if your background does not look exactly the same. The default is a white background. You can change it later if you wish in the Preware preferences as shown in the following two screen shots.

The following screen is an example of the patches and tweaks I have installed.

Finally, I just noticed today that there has been an update to the overclocking kernel I am using that allows you to boost it to 1.9ghz (I have not yet tried it).

 

I’m not sure this is related or not as I did not use the Touchpad long enough before overclocking but my battery life has not been too good. I’ve grown accustomed to the longevity of the iPad but with the Touchpad, it pretty much runs down in a day while in standby. I think the WiFi does not sleep as I get email notifications even while it’s in a sleep state. I don’t think it is the overclock because it just overclocks on demand. When I check Govnah it shows it at about 433mhz on the home screen and it jumps up to the full 1.7ghz when apps are loaded etc. Like I said, I’m not sure it is related but I thought it important to point out.

apple_ipad_folio_case_blk_lthrI also wanted to add that for those looking for an inexpensive case, I have found the Griffin Elan Folio for the iPad 1 to be an excellent fit. All ports and controls are fully accessible. Almost as it were made for the Touchpad. Verizon Wireless has then for $9.99 or if you have an employer discount like I do, it came out to $7.48 or 25% off. I ordered this before Office Depot dropped the price of the official HP case to $19.99. I may have sprung for that instead but the reviews on its quality make me wonder whether it is worth it. The only reason I might spring for it is because of it is supposed to work with the Touchstone charging dock, I’m not sure if the Griffin would work.
Here’s a link of to the Griffin: Link

Click to enlarge any image:

 

Special Thanks to Erik Chavez for this incredible write up.

What have been your experiences with the TouchPad?  Got one coming yet?

Jim Collison is a blogger and podcaster for TheAverageGuy.tv and the HomeServerShow.com and a Microsoft Windows Home Server MVP

His unit was provided by Forsythe Technologies in Omaha NE for review purposes.

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