Your Tablet Choices Available on the Shelves

With a fresh batch of tablets due to arrive in the months to come, we as consumers are once again spoilt for choice as every manufacturer is trying their best to out-do the competition with price cuts, freebies etc. While it’s not a bad thing to wait a while to decide which one to pick, there are some who are impatient and that’s why we’ve rounded up all the worthy tablets that are currently available in the market under one roof, so take your pick.

BlackBerry Playbook 
If you are a BlackBerry (BB) fanatic then the Playbook is worth considering. As a stand alone tablet, its feature set is a little weak compared to Android-based tablets but when paired with a BB, you get access to a host of new features like BB Bridge for instance. It’s also very compact, making it easy to carry around in your briefcase. There are three memory options available :

16GB - Rs.27,990
32GB - Rs.31,500
64GB - Rs.36,000

Your BB's best friend

Some highlights of the Playbook :

• 7.0-inch capacitive touchscreen
• Supports resolution of 600x1024 pixels
• Wi-Fi only model currently available
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR and A2DP
• 5MP rear AF camera with 1080p video recording capability, 3MP forward facing camera for video calling.
• 1080p HD video playback, DivX/WMV/Xvid support
• Stereo speakers

HTC Flyer 
HTC’s Flyer is another 7-inch tablet currently available in the market, so naturally it competes with the BB PlayBook and the aging but still capable, Samsung Galaxy Tab. But the Flyer has an ace up its sleeve as it runs on Google’s Gingerbread (2.3.3) OS thereby giving you greater flexibility in terms of app support or customization. The 3G version with 32GB built-in memory is the only one currently available for Rs. 39,890.

Stylish but expensive for it' size

Some facts about the HTC Flyer :

• 7.0-inch capacitive touchscreen
• Supports resolution of 600x1024 pixels
• 3G, Wi-Fi
• Bluetooth v3.0 + EDR and A2DP
• 5MP rear AF camera with 720p video recording capability, 1.3MP forward facing camera for video calling.
• 720p HD video playback, DivX/WMV/Xvid support
• Stereo speakers
• Expandable memory up to 32GB

Motorola Xoom 
The Motorola Xoom is a good option if you’re looking for a 10.1-inch tablet and although it released quite some time back internationally, it still packs quite a punch. Motorola have launched it for a rather steep price in India though. The 16GB Wi-Fi only version retails for Rs. 34,490 where as the 3G version goes for Rs.41,490.

A good 10.1-inch option

The Xoom also features :

• 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen
• Supports resolution of 800x1280 pixels
• 3G, Wi-Fi support
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR and A2DP
• 5MP rear AF camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video recording capability, 2MP forward facing camera for video calling.
• HD video playback, MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264support
• Stereo speakers
• Expandable memory up to 32GB

Acer ICONIA Tab A500
The competitor to the Motorola Xoom, Acer’s ICONIA Tab A500 offers similar functionality and more by including a standard USB 2.0 port for plugging in pen drives. With the current Honeycomb 3.0.1, it's a bit sluggish to use but the 3.1 update has already started rolling out in some parts of the world and we will be getting it some time next month. The Wi-Fi version with 16GB built-in memory sells for Rs. 27,990.

3.1 update coming next month

The A500 features:

• 10.1-inch capacitive touchscreen
• Supports resolution of 800x1280 pixels
• 3G, Wi-Fi support
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR and A2DP
• 5MP rear AF camera with LED flash and 720p video recording capability, 2MP forward facing camera for video calling.
• HD video playback, MP4/WMV/H.263/H.264support
• Stereo speakers
• Expandable memory up to 32GB

iPad 2
The iPad 2 needs no further introduction. If you love iOS and everything Apple then this is the one for you. The pricing hasn’t changed much since the time it launched but then that's the case with most Apple products. The following are the configurations and their respective pricing

              Wi-Fi Only     3G+Wi-Fi
16GB    Rs.29,500    Rs.36,900
32GB    Rs.34,500    Rs.41,900
64GB    Rs.39,500    Rs.46,900

Still going strong

Some facts about the iPad 2:

• 9.7-inch capacitive touchscreen
• Supports resolution of 768x1024 pixels
• 3G, Wi-Fi support
• Bluetooth v2.1 + EDR and A2DP
• 0.7MP rear AF camera with 720p video recording capability, VGA forward facing camera for video calling.
• HD video playback, MP4 support
• Stereo speakers
• No Expandable memory