According to early reviews of the HP TouchPad that hit the internet late Wednesday, the iPad is still king of the tablet world. The first webOS tablet arrives in stores on Friday, but at least one reviewer bills it as “mediocre,” despite ripping a page right out of Apple’s own playbook.

AppleInsider has collected a roundup of early reviews for the HP TouchPad, which finally arrives in stores on Friday, July 1 after months of anticipation and rumors. Like Apple’s own iPad, the HP TouchPad features a 9.7-inch touchscreen with a 1024x768 display, but uses the webOS software acquired from Palm last year to run atop the Qualcomm Snapdragon dual-core 1.2GHz processor. HP has chosen not to compete on price, offering the exact same 16GB ($499) and 32GB ($599) pricing model as the iPad.

While many folks have been eager to get their hands on a webOS-driven tablet, early reviews that hit the internet late Wednesday may give users some pause. The Wall Street Journal tech scribe Walt Mossberg describes the TouchPad as “simply no match for the iPad” while spanking the device for “poor battery life, a paucity of apps and other deficits.”

Other reviews echo Mossberg’s sentiments, with The New York Times’ David Pogue calling the TouchPad “late for the ball” and claiming the tablet “doesn’t get off to a good start” because it’s 40 percent thicker and 20 percent heavier than the current iPad 2.

"In this 1.0 incarnation, the TouchPad doesn’t come close to being as complete or mature as the iPad or the best Android tablets; you’d be shortchanging yourself by buying one right now, unless you’re some kind of rabid A.B.A. nut (Anything but Apple)," Pogue concludes.

Rachel Metz at The Associated Press was even less kind, calling the TouchPad “a mediocre tablet” and a “meh-sterpiece” instead of a “masterpiece.” Meanwhile, Rich Jaroslovsky at Bloomberg tried to dance around the hardware deficiencies with his love for webOS, but ultimately recommends that users hold off for a TouchPad 2.

Although the tablet market is still young, it appears that few competitors have the stuff to dethrone the iPad, even amidst a fleet of cheaper Android tablets, RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook and now the HP TouchPad, which many viewed as the first real competition for Apple.

Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter