(see the end of the article for updates)
I am a tablet junkie...here's my 2 cents on what's what for 2011.
The iPad/iPad2 are a glorified iPhone. Cool toy but that's about where it ends in my opinion.
If you are looking for a good tablet 'computer,' starting at the small form factor (and my personal favorite) you have the Samsung Galaxy Tab available on all networks. The best in show at the CES2011 was the Motorla Xoom which will give the Galaxy Tab some competition but only on the Verizon network. Also available in a small form factor is the Dell Streak exclusively from T-Mobile, the AOC Breeze (9"), Acer's Iconia Tab 4.8" & 7", ASUS Eee Pad Slider with Nvidia's Tegra 2, the ASUS Eee Pad MeMO (7"), the BlackBerry Playbook, and the Lenvov Slate (running a custom skinned Windows 7 OS).
Larger form factors include the ASUS Eee Pad Slate EP121 runs Windows 7 Home Premium and an Intel core i5 processor. Also you have the Motion CL900 running Windows 7, and Toshiba has a Tablet yet to be named that will be coming out sometime this year running Honeycomb.
There are a bunch of other tablets coming out this year, most of them running Android Honeycomb (3.0), or at least Froyo (2.2), and a hand full of Windows 7 tablets. The general consensus from field testers is that Honeycomb will be the OS to beat on the tablet format and Window 7 has a long way to go still with its touch interface.
Making a run at the touchscreen market once again is Palm, the pioneer of the PDA and the first true Smartphone. With their new webOS powered devices and partners like HP, they have some really good entries into the marketplace. Check them out in all their NEW glory here: http://www.palm.com/us/products/pads/touchpad/index.html
You can check out a slide show of some of the hottest ones from CES starting here: http://computershopper.com/slideshow/ces-2011/tablets-at-a-glance/aoc-breeze
Are you running one of this years hot tablets? What do you think?
-Geek
UPDATE 3/30/2011: I am excited to add to this post that Samsung announced that it will be releasing the successor to the Galaxy Tab on June 8th. It will come in two flavors, the Tab 8.9 & the Tab 10.1 - both are powered with the latest dual core 1GHz Nvidia Tegra 2 Processors, Android Honeycomb (3.0), Dual Cameras, 1080p HD Video Playback, Flash support and a price that Apple is cringing about - the Tab 10.1 will have two flavors 16GB for $499 and 32GB for $599. The Tab 8.9 will debut at $469 for 16GB model and $569 for the 32GB model. The iPad 2 starts at $499 as well for the 16GB model, but that does not include 3G service and comes with a lower standard resolution as well.
For details on the new Samsung Tab 8.9 & 10.1, visit a great review done by engadget http://goo.gl/eEM8J
To see how the iPad 2 stacks up, you can see those details on Apple's site here http://goo.gl/K5zWt
UPDATE 8/15/2011: I have owned the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 since its release and let me tell you this thing can fly! It lives up to every expectation. I highly recommend you test one out yourself.
UPDATE 10/28/2011: HP Stopped producing their TouchPad due to stiff competition from Apple. It may be resurrected in the future with a different brand and possibly the Android OS but that remains to be seen as of this writing.
