Tablets, uncovered.

Portable computing today refers to a much wider range of devices than just the old laptops it covered back in the 2000s. Cellphones, which once were limited to making calls, sending text messages and playing the occasional game of snake, can today be used to check your email, surf the internet and an assortment of other possibilities.

Contrary to popular belief and whatever hardcore Apple fans will say, the Apple iPad was not the original tablet. Sure, the iPad may have popularized the idea, but Apple aren't known for coming up with too many innovative concepts on their own. Instead they rely on their superior abilities of tweaking existing ideas to NEAR perfection (I stress on the word NEAR) and then marketing the product to the point where people will blindly accept anything that Steve Jobs and Apple will tell them. Depending on how you define a Tablet, the inventor of the technology could be any of dozens of manufacturers, but the popular version that we know of today was pioneered by Microsoft, with the MS Tablet PC.

Anyway, tablets today have come a long way, and there is no denying the role that Apple Inc. have played in the matter. The iPad has defined the norms for tablets, and today we have a plethora of options. As would be obvious, the usability of a tablet depends on the app market for that platform, and Apple's App Store is easily the largest and best in terms of quality of apps available. Following closely behind is Google's Android OS, with a large and growing list of manufacturers opting to fit their devices with Android. The Android app market isn't quite as good as Apple's, but it's getting there. Also around are RIM's Blackberry Playbook and HPs as-good-as-dead TouchPad. Here's a quick guide to buying a tablet in India.

Apple iPad 2

Price: from Rs. 29,500/-

The undisputed king of tablets, the Apple iPad 2 is without a doubt the best tablet you can buy in India right now. With Apple's superior build quality, ease of use and superior app market, the iPad 2 is the best rated tablet in the world, and rightfully so. Be advised though, once you switch to Apple, it's hard to use a PC ever again. An Apple obsession is also likely to burn a deep hole in your pocket.

Motorola Xoom

Price: from Rs. 34,490/-

The first tablet in the world to sport Google's made-for-tablets Android 3.0 (Honeycomb), the Motorola Xoom is among the best options around if you've chosen to be firmly anti-Apple. The Xoom is large and feels solid in your hands, but the Honeycomb OS is relatively new, so the list of apps is still small, as compared to the fully developed Gingerbread and Froyo variants. Rest-assured, it's growing.

Asus EeePad Transformer

Price: from Rs. 32,999/-

The EeePad Transformer from Asus also runs Android Honeycomb, but it offers something else. The price mentioned will also give you a keyboard docking station, thus adding a whole new dimension of usability to your tablet. Undock and use as a tablet, dock and use as a laptop - the choice is yours. Either way, this is probably the only laptop on which you can really get some work done. After all, no one likes typing on a touchscreen.

Acer Iconia W500

Price: Rs. 32,499/-

If the familiarity of Windows is what you seek, then the Iconia W500 is the solution. The W500 runs Windows 7, so you'll have no problems with figuring out how to get about the system, and naturally all software and applications that run on your Windows desktop will run perfectly here too. Although it may be of note that Windows 7 isn't the best operating system for a tablet and the apps aren't exactly touchscreen-optimized.

HTC Flyer

Price: Rs. 39,890/-

The Flyer is the most expensive tablet on this list, and I struggle to find any good reasons to pay this kind of money for it. Sure, it's 3G enabled, but it also only runs Android 2.3 and is equipped with a relatively small 7in screen, as compared to the cheaper 10in Xoom and EeePad tablets. Okay sure, you straight away get the full Android app market at your disposal, but really, is that worth it?

RIM Blackberry Playbook

Price: from Rs. 27,990/-

The Blackberry Playbook might have some appeal to die-hard BB fans, but as a tablet, it's seriously lacking as compared to the competition. It is considerably cheaper than most of the others here, but when you're spending this much, there's no harm in spending a bit more if you get a better product. The Playbook is superb as far as the hardware goes, but Blackberry App World has nothing on Apple's and Android's app markets. Frankly, not worth it.

Reliance 3G Tab

Price: Rs. 12,999/-

The 3G Tab from Reliance is the cheapest tablet on this list, but what you get for your money is an Android 2.3 and 3G enabled 7in tab, which is impressive to say the least. Whether the 3G Tab can offer proper value and give the more expensive big-names competition is yet to be determined, as I haven't had a chance to give it a test yet, but it's a product that shows real promise.

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