HP TouchPad Fire Sale – Did Anywhere Actually Have Any?

August 23, 2011 by 18 Comments

With all the news about the HP TouchPad fire sale both here in the UK and in the US over the last few days, I have to ask the question – did anywhere actually have any?

touchpad-ov1

I know that Jim tried to get them from various sources in the US, and mainly failed.

I even managed to get an order placed first thing yesterday morning with Barnes & Noble in the US for one, only to get the following email 24 hours later:

B&N

Here in the UK, the online sale started at 6pm last night, but could you get one? No you couldn’t!!!

At 6pm Dixons claimed to have both the 16GB and the 32GB ones in stock – I even managed to get a 16GB added to my basket, but as soon as I tried to check out my basket was emptied and then it was sold out!

This seemed to be the story everyone else got as well.

Other places like PC World, Currys and other claimed to have them available for in store collection, except that no store actually had them!

At 9am this morning you were supposed to be able to buy them in store, so at 9am I was at a very large Curry’s Digital in Central London and asked them if they had any.

The response was a bit of a surprise – I was told that “….since 1pm yesterday they have been like gold dust” (which was a surprise because the new prices only started from 6pm) and then the funniest comment I got was “they were priced that low for a reason………”.

That seemed to be the general consensus wherever I tried. So, either most places didn’t have much stock and quickly sold out, huge crowds magically arrived at 9am this morning and got them all (which is unlikely given the comments from 4 different places saying they all sold out yesterday) or staff working for these places all got them yesterday before the pricing was official.

Ebay today shows rather a lot of £160 TouchPads – so you be the judge!

DId you try and get one? What happened?

If you enjoyed this post, please consider leaving a comment or subscribing to the RSS feed to have future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Tablets & Slates
, , ,

About Andrew Edney

This post was written by who has written 5972 posts for Connected Digital World. I am the owner and editor of this site. I have been interested in gadgets and tech since I was a little kid. I have also written a number of books on various tech subjects. I also write for The Huffington Post. And I am honoured to be a Microsoft MVP for Windows Home Server since January 2008.
View all posts by Andrew Edney →

Get Updates

NewsletterSign up for the CDW Daily News

If you would like to stay up to date with activity here at Connected Digital World, you can sign up for our daily email newsletter. It will include daily news, as well as occasional special offers and giveaways just for the newsletter subscribers. Don't miss a single post!

We won't ever sell your details, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

  • Dave Marchant

    I have one on order with Dixons but after 24 hours I have order acknowledgement but not order confirmation. I still hold out hope though.

    • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

      Good luck!

      • Dave Marchant

        Just received my DHL shipping notification. I have taken a bit of a gamble as I ordered it from Dixons 1 hour before the official price drop based on the promise I can return it if they don’t ‘price-match’. Full price gone on the credit card so waiting for a part credit or it goes back.

        • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

          fingers crossed Dave!

  • Jim

    I got two ordered from HP, who confirmed the order. No ship date yet, but my order looks like it will fill. I suggest registering with HP, who will notify you when they have stock.

    Assuming that I get my two, I will review the unit here. Stay tuned!

    Jim

    • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

      thanks Jim – good luck!

  • http://www.kestrel.org ramtops

    Yes, some places had them. A friend got two from Carphonewarehouse. Another friend got five (!) from Dixons.

    You just had to be a) patient, and b) lucky.

    • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

      Good point :-)

      Five!!!!!! :-)

  • Mike

    People who buy more than their share just to get a profit really grind my gears.. I really wanted one. One and only one would’ve sufficed. If you bought them for personal use fair enough but don’t sh*t on your fellow consumers!

  • Marius

    I had no luck here in Germany either… The HP Webshop was under so heavy fire that I don’t know how anyone could have got one.
    Sad to say that today (after HP ran out of stock) the Touchpads started poping out on eBay and Amazon (from new sellers) for prices between 399-600€…

    • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

      yeah, there will always be those people who want to make a quick buck – funny how people are buying them at those prices now but were not last week!

  • http://www.dodlane.tv DANN

    You can try https://eurostore.palm.com According UK shop update on stock availability & New Price of TouchPads is expected on Wed 24th August.

  • http://www.carolerford.com/ Financial Agent

    Hopefully someone would pick up WebOS and improve on it

  • bongo

    If you’re dissatisfied with Barnes and Noble over the cancellation of your HP TouchPad order, sign the petition to boycott Barnes and Noble.

    http://boycottbarnesnoble.blogspot.com/

  • Rowan Hill

    My local PC world and Best Buy both had stock on Saturday morning and would have sold me one at full price, but that soon evaporated over the weekend even before the price dropped. I suspect a combination of staff and pre orders took care of them. In view of the poor sales performance, I don’t suppose store stocks were that large anyway. There’s always some chancer who will grab as many as they can in the hope of making a killing. Let’s hope they get stuck with them.

  • Jim

    Update: HP filled my order. Should be here MON or TUE. Look for a complete review!

    Jim

    • http://usingwindowshomeserver.com Andrew Edney

      Well done!