![\"\"](\"https:\/\/techcitement.comadmin\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/ipad2_hero.jpg\" "\\"The")
<\/a>Shocking, isn't it?<\/p><\/div>\n
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Let\u2019s be honest, when the average end user thinks tablet,\u00a0 they\u2019re thinking iPad. Apple\u2019s 10\u201d tablet is the industry definer, and with good reasons — it\u2019s light, quick, intuitive, and has a massive library of apps. Yes, there\u2019s a certain subset of the population that adamantly doesn\u2019t want Apple products, and they\u2019ll give you a litany of reasons why (often without any kind of prompting). If that\u2019s the case, steer clear. Statistically speaking though, this is the tablet your loved one has in mind. If you want to be thrifty<\/a>, try getting them a first gen iPad instead of an iPad2. They\u2019ll still love it and you.<\/p>\n Honorable Mention<\/strong>: Samsung\u2019s Galaxy Tab 10<\/a>” is one of the few still-sold tablets to come anywhere near Apple\u2019s mindshare. Everything else is too heavy (Lenovo IdeaPad, Toshiba Thrive), too end of lifed (HP TouchPad), or too unheard of (everything else). Well, there is one exception.<\/p>\n For The Uber- Geek<\/strong><\/p>\n Insert More than Meets the Eye joke here.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Anyone who sees the Asus Transformer Prime<\/a> and says he doesn\u2019t want one is insane or lying. The first tablet to run NVIDIA\u2019s Tegra 3 chip, making it five times faster than every other high end Android tablet on the market, the Transformer Prime also adds an insanely stunning IPS display and is future-proofed with the promise of an upgrade to Android 4.0. This tablet is the indicator of Things to Come for Android Tablets. Throw in the great keyboard dock, 8 MP camera, and the fact that the 32 GB model is priced at the cost of a 16 GB Tegra 2 tablet or even an iPad2. It\u2019s no wonder that the Transformer Prime is so popular that Amazon has actually had to stop taking pre-orders<\/a>.<\/p>\n Honorable Mention:<\/strong> If you\u2019re gifting to more of an art geek than a tech geek, you may want to check out the HTC Flyer for the pen functionality. It\u2019s a bit more advanced than the typical tablet stylus (although that would make a nice stocking stuffer).<\/p>\n <\/p>\n You Want a 7\u201d Tablet You Say?<\/strong> Excuse the pun.<\/p><\/div>\n <\/p>\n Despite being the most locked down tablet one can get, the Fire has the advantage of being tied directly into Amazon\u2019s massive ecosystem. Music, videos, books, and even On Demand work on this tiny titan. The price point of $199 is the real winner here. Frankly, I\u2019d have chosen the Nook tablet over the Fire if not for the $50 difference.<\/p>\n Honorable mention:<\/strong> You think I\u2019m going to go with the Nook tablet? Nope. Instead I\u2019d suggest the Nook Color. It costs the same $199 as the Fire and can be easily hacked to run Cynogen<\/a>.<\/p>\n But wait, there’s more<\/p>\n Avoid at ALL COSTS<\/strong> Also, avoid discontinued tablets like Dell\u2019s Streak or even my own HP TouchPad. Be careful that you\u2019re not buying a tablet that the manufacturer has already announced a successor too, like the Toshiba Thrive — you want your purchase to last.<\/p>\n Also — and I can\u2019t believe I have to note this — be wary of no-name Android tablets. You know the ones – they pop up on deal a day web sites and sometimes even<\/a> at your local drugstore<\/a>. It’s not hyperbole to say that 99 percent of those drugstore tablets are utter junk. Sometimes someone will have hacked some usefullness into them, but unless you\u2019re buying gifts for an obsessive compulsive Android developer, you\u2019re pretty much ensuring some major resentment. If you can\u2019t decide if it\u2019s junk or not, a handy hint is that it will almost always have a resistive screen listed in the specs.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nRight now the hottest 7\u201d tablet by far is the Kindle Fire.<\/p>\n<\/a>
\nJust a heads up, and maybe in poor taste, but unless you\u2019re shopping for the world\u2019s biggest Blackberry diehard, don\u2019t waste your money on the PlayBook. Until RIM gets their act together and comes out with a tablet that can be used without a nearby Blackberry, they get nothing but my disdain. Which is a shame, because there\u2019s a lot about it I do like.<\/p>\n