Apple’s New iPad (aka iPad 3)

If you’re an iPhone owner, you’ll know exactly what to expect from an iPad – they’re almost identical except for the larger screen. The new iPad’s greatest strength is its “Retina” display. At 2048×1536, the display really is unrivaled, though 1080p displays of the competition do offer many of the same perks. The new iPad is also one of the faster tablets on the market, though even older tablets, such as the iPad 2 can still keep up.

Another huge perk the new iPad has to offer is its cellular options. It’s one of the few tablets that offers LTE 4G connectivity and has options for both Verizon and AT&T. If you think you might want to have a data plan with your tablet, the new iPad is definitely one of the best choices.

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity

Asus’ entire Transformer line is by far the least compromising tablets on the market, primarily thanks to the optional keyboard dock. While the keyboard dock is a bit pricey, it gives you nearly all of the benefits of a laptop and even improves on battery life.

The Transformer Pad Infinity, in particular, is an excellent alternative to the new iPad. It’s 1920×1200 resolution display, while not quite as luxurious as Apple’s, is well suited for just about any task, and its 1.6GHz Tegra 3 processor is arguably the fastest on the market.

Google’s Nexus 7

Up until recently, any worthwhile tablet started around $500, and although there were more affordable options, they all sacrificed so much in terms of features and performance that they simply weren’t worth it. That all started to change when Amazon launched the Kindle Fire at just $200, and Google took that a step further.

Where the Kindle Fire dropped things like the cameras and GPS to keep costs down, the Nexus 7 has all of that plus NFC, a higher resolution display, and a blazing fast quad-core Tegra 3 processor. It’s also the very first device with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, and as part of the Nexus line, it will continue to be among the first devices to receive Android updates. If you’re in the market for a 7-inch tablet (or just something on the more affordable side), the Nexus 7 is absolutely the best choice.

Samsung Galaxy Note

While it’s not actually a tablet, the Galaxy Note is a rather large smartphone that definitely reaches into the tablet realm. Unlike all of the other tablets, the Galaxy Note can be used as your primary cell phone, which means you don’t need a separate data plan. Its 5-inch screen isn’t quite as roomy as the 7-inch Nexus 7, and it does miss out on some of the tablet-specific features. It does offer an excellent middle ground, though, and is available on AT&T and Sprint (soon on T-Mobile as well). It also might be worth your while to keep an eye out for the Galaxy Note 2, expected in a month or two.

The Apple iPad

The iPad has been available since November of 2010, and it currently sits at the pinnacle of the tablet world. Its 10-inch XGA resolution (1024×768) screen does well to satisfy your video viewing and web browsing needs, and the iTunes App Store keeps it well stocked with feature rich applications. The hardware, however, leaves something to be desired. In fact, even several months before the iPad’s release, there were already several mobile phones that boasted similar or even more capable hardware, such as Samsung’s Galaxy S phones. With even more powerful tablet devices coming out in the next months, you have to ask yourself, “Is that Apple backbone of the original iPad strong enough to compete?”

The Samsung Galaxy Tab

The Galaxy Tab is almost literally an enlarged version of the top-selling Galaxy S Smartphone. Compared to the iPad, the Galaxy tab is slightly more powerful and has a front and rear facing camera, but it only has a 7-inch display, which does allow it to fit into a pocket, but can be a bit limiting with screen space. Built on the Android Operating System, it has an app store that truly does rival Apple’s; however, the version of Android it uses is a bit premature for Tablet use, giving it manageable functionality while being less than ideal. As it doesn’t share the iPad’s strong Apple roots, the Galaxy Tab is likely on its last legs the upcoming dual-core tablets coming out this year.

The Dell Streak

While technically a Smartphone, its 5-inch display teeters dangerously close to tablet territory, so close in fact, that it’s worth mentioning. The Dell Streak may be smaller and considerably slower than other tablets, but it can do something neither the iPad nor Galaxy Tab can: make and receive phone calls. Still, being built on the Android platform (an even older version than the Galaxy Tab), it suffers from the same non-tablety interface.

A Promising Future Ahead

CES this year was ablaze with tablet announcements. Dual core Tegra 2 (that’s an impressively fast NVIDIA processor btw) tablets were on display, and perhaps even more significant, a Tablet version of Android (known as Honeycomb) was seen on several of them, like the Motorola Xoom. There were also very innovative hybrid devices, like the Tegra 2-powered Motorola Atrix, which is an Android Smartphone with laptop style docking station. The turnout was absolutely impressive, and one thing is for certain: all of these upcoming tablets will put last year’s to shame. Still, if I had to buy a tablet today, I’d go for the iPad.