I have been a Tablet user two computer generations prior to the now popular iPad. It has been great seeing competition heat up and bring down prices while increasing functionality. In November 2010, PCworld had an article titled "Why your next PC will be a tablet" http://www.pcworld.com/article/211193-2/why_your_next_pc_will_be_a_tablet.html That article points out many great functions of tablet's even though a lot has changed since that article.
The iPad has been incredibly popular selling about 25 million of them to date. I have had mine since December 2010 and at that time they had only sold about 14 million. With great success however comes competition.
The Christian Science Monitor had a good summary article entitled: 10 Most Intriguing Tablets of 2011. http://www.csmonitor.com/Innovation/2011/0217/10-most-intriguing-tablets-of-2011 On their list at #6 was the HP Touchpad. It was supposed to be the first WEB OS based tablet or slate computer.
On June 29th, Infoworld posted an article titled "Tablet deathmatch: HP TouchPad vs. Apple iPad2" http://www.infoworld.com/d/mobile-technology/tablet-deathmatch-hp-touchpad-vs-apple-ipad-2-092 Ironically, HP has already decided to wipe their slate clean by throwing in their towel. This deathmatch is already over!
So what are you to do now? Start by checking out Inforworld's "Tablet Deathmatch Calculator". It lets you compare different options of the eight (well now seven) major Tablet options. http://www.infoworld.com/tablet-calculator?source=fssr Keep in mind that this market is changing drastically so make sure what you are reading is current. For example, I wouldn't have bought a TouchPad for $499, but I bought one yesterday for $99 brand new thanks to HP's firesale. It is almost worth that just as a 9" digital picture frame! Since my iPad is the original version, I can use the Touchpad to video chat instead of upgrading the iPad 2 to buy me time to wait for the iPad 3. I feel sorry for the people that bought one less than two months ago when they were first released for $499!
If you don't like the idea of buying a device that has already been put out to pasture, I recommend checking out tablet comparisons at http://www.tabletpccomparison.net/ It compares 21 different tablets.
When you have this all figured out, then you can revisit your Smart Phone options since rumors are starting to surface about the iPhone 5 release.
Remember, the only thing constant is change!
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