I found the touch screen laser-accurate when pressing the stylus to the screen, but it gets a little more finicky when you use your fingers. If, like me, you have goon-sized digits, you'll have to stick with the pen, change the screen settings to allow for larger icons and whatnot, or just be extremely careful with where you point your finger. But the important thing is that you're getting a screen of reasonable size that recognizes your multitouch throughout its windows. By using the familiar pinching motions you've learned to use on iPhones, you can quickly resize desktop icons or zoom into images. There's even a full digitizer--just eject the well-weighted digital pen and you're ready to write.

Tablet design is a very tricky thing to get straight. Take the swing hinge that allows the screen to rotate into a tablet form. It holds firm and keeps the screen in place, but it won't work well on a bus or plane (any bump and, if you're trying to use the tx2 like a normal notebook, the screen will go bouncing around). Also, since this is a slightly beefy tablet, this kind of machine isn't exactly ideal for one-handed use. But the layout of the tablet is definitely helpful: The settings button--just above the multimedia shortcut and screen rotation keys--works very well, and a fingerprint scanner lies near the touch screen.

As for the rest of the layout, it's a little underwhelming, but to be expected: three USB 2.0 ports, and slots--one each--for VGA-out, PC Express/34, and a 5-in-one flash-card, as well as modem and ethernet jacks. The eight-cell battery that came with our test unit bulges out beneath the tx2 and props up the machine for a better typing tilt. You also get an integrated Webcam and mic (as well as two headphone and one mic jack jutting out from below the mousepad). And you get both wireless 802.11 a/b/g/n and Bluetooth connectivity. Craftsmanship seems solid enough, although the machine did make the occasional creak. Guess I'm a little too heavy-handed.

Two tiny grilles sit below the monitor promising Altec Lansing SRS Premium Sound. However, I found the audio far from premium: Without any semblance of a good bottom end, you get reproduction that's decent but a little tinny. Not terrible, but other all-purpose notebooks fare much better in tests.

It's interesting how HP incorporates its TouchSmart media software into a laptop. It duplicates just about everything that Media Center already does in Vista, but adds on a reasonably finger-friendly interface. Music, for example, gets an Apple iTunes-like Cover Flow-ish treatment fanned out across your screen. Pick an album and drag it into your queue. I only wish it were possible to take as much advantage of this multitouch display in other applications. But I know that's a pipe dream for now.