If I was to buy a tablet today, what is my best bet if I just need it for travels, checking email, loading my movies and music onto with the odd games?

cheers

lima20, any of the major tablets will do what you want. The only decision will be do you want WiFi or 3G?

I would buy the ASUS Transformer (http://www.asus.com/Eee/Eee_Pad/Eee_Pad_Transformer_TF101/) (running Honeycomb) as it has better specs than the iPad2, has a sweet 10.1" widescreen IPS LCD display and is only $398 for the 16 GB version. Throw in a $20 SD card from ebay and you have a better tablet than an iPad2 for $200 less.

If price is the only concern then why not the Archos 7 Tab which sells for about $150. Its not a full featured tablet but it plays video and does email. The reality is that you don't need an expensive device for video playback.

Depends on what screen size you want, for me, 7" is just too small for movies or even web browsing (especially since my phone isn't much smaller at 4.3"). The need for Flash is also important to a lot of people, I encounter numerous sites a day on my iPad that don't work and a lot of TV/Movie streaming sites require it too. $398 isn't that much considering how much more product you get with the Transformer imo.

after playing with all of them again at best buy this past weekend, I think I liked the PlayBook the best.

video looked good, games ran well

it was nice size for surfing, but small enough to thumb type (typing on the bigger tablets sucks, you have to lay it flat, or 1 hand type)

Thanks everyone.....I'll like the wi-fi capability just because if you travel, there is always wi-fi around. That asus looks sweet, but I have to ask if it plays all video and audio formats?

I am not really an apple fan, and will like to avoid it, especially when they plan to come out ipad 3 just after the 2 was released earlier this year.

The Asus Transformer will natively play:

Audio: AAC, mp3, MIDI, WAV, amr, Ogg-vorbis

Video: H.263, H.264, MPEG4

I believe their are some Apps to play more formats, but I haven't had to use them. Apparently FLAC support is coming in a future update as well. I think the iPads are fantastic tablets too, but i am not really an Apple ecosystem guy either, so I went with the Transformer. We liked it so much we bought a second one!

As long as VLC can be installed on the transformer, then any format can be played. Does it allow vlc installation?

I think the iPad is still the best option. IMHO 7" tablets are too small, especially for movies and reading documents. It is a bit of a PITA to have to have your movies in a format that Apple deems worthy but that isn't too hard to do with something like Handbrake.

But travel is always tricky as data roaming fees can kill you if you leave Canada - I have bought a local µSIM in the UK for £10 from a local carrier called Three. You can also buy a µSIM from AT&T if you are going to the US.

There is no android version of VLC yet, as the developers are insisting that a mobile version will be compatible with any android version from Honeycomb all the way back to 1.5. Back in March they expected to have a beta ready in "one or two months", and judging from their project's git page, they should be pretty close now.

It is a bit of a PITA to have to have your movies in a format that Apple deems worthy but that isn't too hard to do with something like Handbrake.

I am able to play lots of formats such as .avi on iPad without conversion using the CineXPlayer

It all depends on what you need/want it for.

We got the Samsung Galaxy Tab (7" screen) for $150 from FutureShop with a Rogers Tablet Data Plan (3yr). It was the data plan (upto 5GB/mo, $35) that sold it, along with its wifi hotspot capability. It replaced a Rogers Rocket Stick and dedicated gateway computer on our rural home lan.

Then I discovered that the screen is so crisp that you can read ebooks downloaded directly from the Toronto Library, and the NYTimes has a good Android app. And it plays flac files so I don't have to convert my library. It comes with an internal 16GB sd card, and I could add an external sd card if needed.

Maybe for watching movies you would want a bigger tablet, but we would rather use our 50" screen instead. I prefer the small size tablet for reading and carrying it around.

I got an Asus Transformer last week. Very pleased with it. This is my second Andriod tablet having purchased a low end device in the US last fall. When this one came out I thought it had the right combination of screen size at 10", new Andriod OS for tablets and of course aggressive price point. I remember my disappointment last fall with the pricing of the Sammy and Moto tablets that needed to be tied into a G3 data plan committment before they were discounted to a reasonable cost. $600 to $700 for an outright purchase was just not something that I could justify. So a straight WiFi device at a reasonable price point is what I had been waiting for. After a week with the Transformer I am very pleased with it. It seems to do everything very well that I have tried with it. As already mentioned most video formats play natively however I have downloaded Mobie player just in case. I've just finished loading on my music and pictures. My Amazon and Kobo ebooks synced right up with no problems and reading on it is very nice. My next step will be figuring out the Cloud storage that Asus is offering free for a year. I think its still difficult to find the Asus tablet in a stores yet. I heard that June should bring stock levels up to the point that you should be able to find one and try it first hand. Good luck in your search.

On the cheap side, you can get the Velocity Micro Cruz T301, which is a 7" capacitive tablet upgradeable to Android 2.2... It's currently a weekly special at NCIX and Amazon US seems to have it even cheaper...

For travelling, I think I would want a Windows 7 tablet, and no more than 10" in screen size. I don't think I can view my security netcams on Android.

I have a netbook now, which works fine for my purpose, but I find most of the time I don't need the keyboard, and it actually gets in the way.

I bought the Asus Eee Pad Transformer a few days ago, including the keyboard dock, and I am loving it! I haven't figured out everything about it yet but I am really having a lot of fun with it.

I bought an Acer Iconia 500 over a week ago, I love it so much and use it every day. It is an Andoid tablet with full USB, SD card, mini HDMI, nice picture. I do all of my surfing, emailing, listening to radio and some small gaming. It can take picture, video and also have a GPS. I can download many apps from the store(most of the apps made for the phone work on the tablet), a lot of them are free. The reader from the tablet can only read mp4 video but some on the market can play many video. And it does play most of the flash video, not all don't know why. Well I am in love with my Iconia. LOL

Loving the Asus EEE pad Transformer! 3 weeks and no looking back at the apple displays! :)

I am able to play lots of formats such as .avi on iPad without conversion using the CineXPlayer
I don't suppose it supports RMVB format, does it?