HP Touchpad Deal Hunting Review

I don't necessarily need a tablet right now.  I already have a desktop, laptop, smart-phone, and an IPOD.  Do I really need to play angry birds on a larger screen?  Will I ever have the desire to watch a movie on it more than a big-screen HDTV?  Does one need to view porn in every aspect ratio available?

The answer is that it doesn't matter.
 
When a good deal comes along, I don't base a purchase on rational things like need, cost, or value.  I base it on one thing--how much the item has been marked down.  That's why Groupon and its 100 little cousins of deal sites get me so hot and bothered.  I take one look at 83% off of a seaweed ass scrub, and I know I can't pass it up.  It's even worse if 400 people have purchased the deal--then I KNOW it's a good deal.  Do I really need ass scrub? (probably)  Can I afford it? (probably not)  It doesn't matter.  83% off is too good to pass up.

As HP has realized that their semi-new touchpad is a retail disaster, they have shuttered the windows of the product and closed up shop.  This means steep discounts for the product.  Was I even remotely interested in the touchpad before this weekend?  No way.  Obviously the $400 price tag was prohibitive.  The fact that it runs a creepy OS was also scary.  But when word hit the deal websites of a massive price drop ($99 for the 16GB model) I asked the obvious question--Is it a steep discount?  The answer is yes.  I was hooked.

As my wife will attest to in bed, my timing is less than perfect.  I was late to the deal, and most reputable places were sold out.  I obviously overlooked the tens of thousands who also felt the desire to make this purchase at the same time as me.
I then proceeded to open up roughly 37 tabs in a browser and broke my F5 button constantly checking random websites that barely even mentioned the touchpad in passing.  I believe I spent roughly 16 hours on slickdeals.net or fatwallet.com chasing each new vendor which opened up sales.

To my surprise, I was actually able to purchase 2 touchpads from 2 separate vendors. 
Alas, one of these has already cancelled my order, and the other will most likely be stuck in the "processing" phase for the next 9 weeks.

What do I have to show for my efforts?  An in-depth knowledge of semi-creepy people who stalk deal message boards, and "leg-burn" from my laptop getting so hot while on my lap.

How much is my time worth? (that was rhetorical...please don't answer)
I should have bought a refurbished IPAD, and spent the time on more productive pursuits.  My hope is that some stupid college student max'd out his credit cards and bought like 50 of these things.  With the intense market saturation that is obviously coming in the next few weeks, I'll pluck one from him on Ebay for roughly 8 bucks more than he spent.  Was my time worth 8 bucks?  Yes....damn.

Big fat 0 stars here.