[Asus Transformer TF700] wynand32:
I've been spending some time with the new iPad, and since it's been brought up I'll toss in my $.02 worth:

1. iOS is absolutely mind-numbingly simple. It's also not as intuitive as some people like to make it out to be, because things like the "back" button in various apps can have all sorts of different labels and can be in all different sorts of places. Things that are almost instant on an Android tablet because of the widgets, like checking email, calendar, etc., take opening multiple apps and many taps. They made iOS for the least common denominator in terms of technical ability, and it would drive most people on this forum crazy.

2. The new iPad's screen is absolutely luscious. It's the best screen I've ever seen on a computing device, bar none. And the text--wow. Just wow. I can't stand looking at my Prime's screen after I've been using the iPad for awhile, because text just looks terrible. It's not perfect--I had to go through three iPads to get one without a yellow tinge to the screen (ironic, since that's a problem I've seen on the Prime as well). But if you get a good one, then you'll enjoy excellent color and the best text this side of a printed magazine. Since 80% of what I use a tablet for is text-based, the iPad is a great experience from this perspective.

3. I had no idea how huge the disparity is in apps between the iPad and Android tablets until I got the iPad. Google has screwed the pooch on this one by making Android phone apps kind of sort of work on tablets. Developers have less incentive to make tablet-optimized apps than they do for the iPad, where iPhone apps run horribly. Bottom line is, and this is coming from someone who does NOT want to own an Apple product if I can help it: the app situation on the iPad is excellent, and it's terrible on Android tablets. Google needs to fix this, pronto, if Android tablets are going to be successful.

Note: Yes, I know, perhaps a given person can find all the apps he/she needs for Android tablets, and if so, then that's fine. But I remember webOS people making the same argument (I was once one of them), and they sounded silly. It's not just about the apps "you need," it's about all the incredibly cool and useful apps you don't even know exist. Everything is available for the iPad, including every media app like HBO Go, etc.

So, my deal is: the iPad is better than any Android tablet out there right now if you use your tablet to view text. It's a Mercedes vs. Chevy kind of scenario in terms of how it FEELS using the thing for reading text. I can't stress that enough. I think new tablets like the TF700 with 1920X1200 will help greatly in bridging this gap, and I can't wait to see it. I'll get a TF700 on launch day if the text resolution is anything like the iPad's.

Android is a MUCH, MUCH better experience on a tablet than iOS. Like, just as much a night and day difference as the iPad's screen. It's so much more functional (widgets, file system access, sharing) and frankly I don't find iOS that much more "intuitive." Yes, there's a learning curve to pick up the more advanced features of Android, but then again that's what makes them "more advanced."

I'm keeping the iPad because I love the screen and I love the apps. Because I can afford to do so, I'm going to have both the iPad and a good Android tablet. Best of both worlds, so to speak. But if I was forced to choose just one, I'd have to go with the iPad FOR TODAY. The app situation is just that much better, and that screen is such a pleasure to use. But I do think the app situation will improve on Android, as will the screens, and so when that happens I'll be selling the iPad.

Edit: Oh, and, I'll add: what makes the iPad better for me at this point doesn't hold true for smartphones. The difference between the iPhone's screen and good Android smartphones is not nearly so great, and of course there's almost app parity between iOS and Android on smartphones. So, the weaknesses of iOS are impossible to overlook because the iPhone doesn't have the same advantages. I'd never get an iPhone over an Android smartphone.