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As if you don't already know, HP announced to abandon the WebOS platform early last week. The news was followed by a fire sale of its barely one month old Touchpad, slashing its 16 gb model to just $99, causing a shopping frenzy over the weekend. Despite lack of support and the uncertainty of the future for webOS, here are some reasons why you should still pick one up.

1. WebOS 3.0 is a generation ahead of its competitors. Want iOS 5's "Notificiation Center" now? Get it on the Touchpad. Got an event invite from Facebook? It's already added to your Touchpad calendar. Multitouch gestures for quick switch between apps? Touchpad. Touchpad is ahead of its time, even if its hardware is not. Having used Honeycomb, I can tell you first hand that WebOS is better than Android.

2. WebOS listened to the consumers. Remember when everyone ask for Flash, true multitask, better keyboard, more intuitive software and many tablet makers promised there'd be all those and more? Touchpad is the only one that delivered. Now you can finally leave that half-loaded webpage to work on your email and come back to it loaded.

3. A (small but) strong developer community and continued software support. HP's announcement to cut off WebOS was primarily for its hardware, it is still looking at licensing WebOS as a software platform. It has also pledged to continuing supporting its developers to make sure apps keep coming out. Check out Precentral for news and a dedicated community of WebOS users.

4. Kindle and Facebook. Do you want a color, multitouch Kindle reader that also does web browsing and email and calendar, and want it all at a lower price? Get a Touchpad. Are you addicted to Facebook and want an experience that is official and beautiful, as if Facebook made it? Get a Touchpad. *Ironically WebOS has the only official Facebook app out of the major tablet OS.

5. It's $99. HP finally found a price point that can rival Apple. Seriously, it's $99 for a full-function tablet, there are infinitely worse ways to waste $99 (like on a Kindle).

Check out Jason's adventure in attempting to get a Touchpad.

And check out our other coverage of the Touchpad:

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