With a Pentium SU4100 processor and 4GB of RAM as standard, the performance side of the tm2-1010ea is exactly as expected. The TouchSmart tm2-1010ea runs all but the most system intensive applications without any noticeable slowdown, able to manage multiple applications at once and barely slowing during complex tasks of processor-heavy actions.

HP have fitted the TouchSmart tm2-1010ea with a 320GB high-speed hard drive. While unsuitable as a multimedia computer – the TouchSmart’s display measures just 12.1 inches – the system’s hard drive storage is certainly adequate for multimedia collections or most graphics portfolios.

Data access times are relatively quick, although slightly frustrating when compared to lower capacity SSD drives. The TouchSmart tm2-1010ea feels equally portable and performance focused; a system that’s neither travel-friendly or particularly at home in the office. An internal optical media drive is absent, although HP have included an external DVD writer with the laptop.

The TouchSmart’s crowning achievement, however, is its design. Tablet laptops have always been renowned as slightly flimsy and weak – computers more suited to the flat tables of a graphics workshop than the potentially dangerous world of mobile computing.

But the TouchSmart tm2-1010ea feels just fine when thrown into new environments. The case is built from brushed aluminium and is durable enough to sustain physical damage and surface scratches. The touchscreen is fixed only at the centre – connected with a single pivot point – yet it rarely feels anything less than completely locked in place.

Cementing its place as the de-facto travellers tablet is the tm2-1010ea’s remarkable weight and battery life. The complete system weighs in at just over two kilos – a figure no doubt helped by the lack of an optical drive. A single battery charge will last approximately 360 minutes, giving mobile workers and travellers ample time to complete graphics projects while on the move.

Yet the TouchSmart tm2-1010ea has one very major weakness: its touchscreen. We’ve spoken fondly of the system’s durability and battery life, though as a dedicated graphics notebook it’s slightly underwhelming. The screen is bright, colourful and vibrant, though it lacks the responsiveness that we’ve come to expect from other high-end tablet notebooks.

Compounding the problem is HP’s questionable selection of touchscreen applications. The system comes with a set of tablet utilities as standard, each more baffling and ineffective than the next. When paired with a worthwhile set of graphics applications the tm2-1010ea is a blast to operate, though HP’s standard software selection may leave you scratching your head.

HP have clearly demonstrated their ability to build a durable, powerful, and versatile graphics laptop with the TouchSmart tm2-1010ea. While we can’t recommend it to dedicated visual artists or design buffs, we can suggest that it’s one of the most versatile and user-friendly tablet laptops of the past year.