Some of you may have heard that HP is spinning off its consumer computers business and shutting down their phone/tablet department. This development has resulted in HP drastically slashing the price on their Touchpads. Starting August 20, 2011 (tomorrow) at 07:00 EST, HP Touchpad 16 GB will be on sale for $99 (USD) and HP Touchpad 32 GB will be on sale for $149 (USD). Regularly these sell for $399/$499.

This sale is apparently across all vendors so you should be able to pick one up for the sale price from Best Buy, Newegg, Amazon, etc.; and directly from HP. However, since the sale is not live yet, it is hard to know exactly where you can pick up a Touchpad for this reduced price. If you are antsy, there are reports that people have been able to buy Touchpads directly from HP today at full price and then get credited back the amount of the sale. Call customer sales for more information.

Update: There are reports that if you buy directly from HP.com, you can use coupon codes to save a little money: SAVE15HP on the 16 GB Touchpad and SAVE30HP on the 32 GB Touchpad.

Before you go and jump on a Touchpad, keep in mind the state of webOS (the operating system powering Touchpad) is unknown. HP may or may not continue to support webOS and Touchpads may or may not receive updates. If you buy a Touchpad, plan to buy it as-is; don’t buy it for future updates because you may not get any.

Enjoy!