Hewlett-Packard's TouchPad had a brief yet intrigue-filled six weeks on the market as an official product. Somehow, the intrigue hasn't died in the TouchPad's second act as a defunct product.
HP, through its TouchPad Developer Device Purchase Program, on Monday began offering WebOS developers a coupon good for the purchase of a 32-GB TouchPad for $149. That's the same price HP charged in the TouchPad fire sale it launched after announcing its decision to discontinue the tablet on Aug. 18.
However, HP said Monday that supplies of the TouchPad Developer Device Purchase Program coupons are now exhausted. "We currently have more requests for coupons than we have devices and will not be accepting any further requests," reads a message on the Developer Device Program Web site.
HPearlier this month declared that it had officially sold out of TouchPads. But HP has distributed a limited number of TouchPads to some of its retail partners, all of which are selling the product with strings attached.
Best Buy requires customers to buy an HP or Compaq PC to get the $149 TouchPad deal. Without the PC purchase, Best Buy is charging $599, the same price HP initially set for the 32-GB TouchPad.
TigerDirect over the weekend sold out its $280 TouchPad bundle that included a tablet case, Bluetooth speakers and USB Flash drive. Still available, at least for now, is Sam's Club bundle of an HP g7 notebook and 32-GB TouchPad for $579. On eBay, prices are hovering in the $250 range.
