While the iPad 2's 9.7-inch screen is like the handheld equivalent of a big-screen TV, it gets uncomfortable to hold up after awhile. But a 7-inch tablet, roughly half the iPad 2's size, is much easier on the hands.
Budget 7-inch tablets are easy to pick up at big box stores, for $150 or less. But these cheap tablets are slow, and have Nintendo DS-style resistive touch screens that use your fingernail or a stylus, instead of an iPad-style multitouch display. Here are the latest (and most recently announced) 7-inch tablets that are actually worth the cost:
Barnes and Noble Nook Color ($249)
It's the iPad's biggest competitor, and why not? "The Reader's Tablet" is the most convenient way to read color ebooks and browse the web, with its Kindle-size screen, rubberized backplate and lanyard loop. It's also extremely classy, and has a range of accessories made just for it.
The Nook Color lacks certain features found in most other tablets, like built-in cameras and dual-core processors. But it's also extremely lightweight, and while it lacks Android Market access it has its own app market, and can run apps like Pandora and Angry Birds.
HTC Flyer ($499 plus $80 for optional stylus accessory)
The HTC Flyer uses a stylus, but it doesn't need one the way the Nintendo DS and budget Android tablets do. Instead, it has an iPad-style multitouch screen, and the pressure-sensitive Scribe stylus lets you take notes, or draw and retouch pictures. Your notes are synced with the Evernote service, and you can annotate ebooks as well.
Another optional accessory, a game controller, lets you play PC and console video games on the Flyer, through the OnLive streaming video game service. Meanwhile, the HTC Watch app serves as a movie store. The Flyer's entertainment offerings aren't as developed as the iPad's, and there are very few apps that take advantage of the stylus right now, but this is definitely one to watch.
Last year's 7-inch Galaxy Tab is a hard sell, because it was basically a big Android phone. Not only did it run an older version of Android ("Froyo") designed for smartphones instead of tablets, the first Galaxy Tabs could actually be used as a telephone.
The $349 price tag for a Wi-Fi only Tab is rock-bottom if you want an Android tablet, though, or a 7-inch tablet that's a little more full-featured than the Nook Color. And an updated version of the 7-inch tab is coming this fall, sporting a dual-core processor. It's keeping the telephone feature, though, along with the smartphone version of Android.
This one's just been announced, and won't make its way to US shores until later this year. It's supposed to support full 1080p video playback, though, plus it will have a dual-core processor and the tablet version of Android.
No word yet on what the price tag will be, or if there's any particular reason you'd want one of these over an iPad besides its size. A Wi-Fi only model isn't expected to be made available, either.
Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.
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