Tablet Buying Guide from Consumer Reports

Getting started

Apple's third-generation iPad offers the best detail and most accurate colors we've ever seen on a tablet. The 4G version now tops our latest Ratings (available to subscribers).

Apple pumped the camera on the new iPad up to 5 megapixels. The broadband version now offers 4G Internet access, which in our informal tests was very fast and dependable. Finally, the battery lasts about as long as the iPad 2's. Both exceed any other tablet's battery life. Far more apps exist for it than for its competitors, and many of those are cutting-edge apps. The iPad also remains the best tablet for reading e-magazines and e-newspapers, with its large display and the most access to magazines designed for the tablet experience.

You can save about $100 by choosing the still-available iPad 2, which starts at $400 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.

If you've been waiting for a lower-priced tablet that could challenge the iPad, take a look at the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 ($250). It's a viable competitor to two other smaller tablets, the Amazon Kindle Fire ($200) and Barnes & Noble Nook Tablet ($250). They've got 7-inch screens instead of the iPad's 9.7-inch display, but all offer lots for the money. They differ in how they provide content. With the Kindle Fire, you can stream, rent, or buy movies, and borrow a book a month via Amazon Prime ($80 a year). There's also an Amazon music store. Multimedia content on the Nook Tablet comes from Netflix, Pandora, and other sites. You can load your music onto both tablets. The Galaxy Tab also offers music and movies from its own music and media hubs.

Before you start shopping, consider your priorities. If price and portability are tops, those 7-inch models are great, budget-oriented alternatives. Other factors to consider include the availability of a 3G/4G version, the existence of built-in ports, and the operating system.

Features

Most new models offer Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity, a front-facing webcam, and GPS capability.

Screen size and shape

Typical sizes are 7 and 10 inches, though tablets in sizes in between are also available. In landscape mode, most tablets have the short, wide shape of a digital TV. The iPad's display is squarer, similar to a traditional TV's.

Wireless connectivity

All but a few low-rated tablets offer Wi-Fi connectivity. Most higher-rated tablets also come in a version that can access cellular data networks, including 4G. Monthly broadband access costs $20 and up (most tablets require a 1- or 2-year contract, while iPads allow month-to-month access).

Display

The iPad's display has excellent color and is viewable from almost any angle without image degradation. Others can be viewed from almost any direction, too, but some lose contrast at off-angles. Images on certain tablets washed out or darkened when viewed in portrait mode, making for a slightly different view even between left and right eyes. Some displays had a bluish or greenish cast.

Operating system

A tablet's capabilities are in large part determined by its operating system. As with computers, being able to upgrade the version installed in the factory makes additional capabilities possible and allows the device to use the newest apps. Apple has provided upgrades for the iPad's iOS operating system. The latest Android operating system is version 4.0, which was designed to work optimally on both tablets and smartphones, and is appearing on new tablets. But many Android models continue to run on Android 3.0, meant for tablet screens. Some of the smaller models still use Android 2.2 or 2.3.

Ports

Storage in Android-based tablets can be expanded using USB ports; a few can read USB flash drives. The iPad has no memory-card slot or USB port, but its $29 Camera Connection Kit reportedly has some unadvertised capabilities, such as accommodating a USB keyboard and importing photos from an iPod Touch or iPhone.

Seagate's $200 GoFlex Satellite hard drive lets you wirelessly stream video, movies, photos, and documents to a tablet. It has a dedicated app for the iPad but works with any Wi-Fi-enabled tablet. Apple's iOS5 lets you sync with other iOS5 devices.

Printing capability

One way you can print wirelessly from the iPad is via an AirPrint-enabled Hewlett-Packard printer. Several other printer manufacturers have apps for the iPad and Android tablets that allow Wi-Fi printing.

Shopping tips

Go big

Unless portability is crucial, go with a 10-inch screen, which better suits such activities as Web surfing, video, and gaming. Larger-sized Android-based tablets also have an OS advantage over smaller ones: Android 3 or Android 4 is available on most larger Android tablets. But Android 3 is also showing up on an increasing number of 7-inch tablets.

Shape matters

We find the iPad's squarish screen is better suited to most tablet uses than a rectangular one. (Two exceptions: Rectangular screens held horizontally offer a wider landscape view that's better for watching movies in something closer to a wide-screen 16.9 aspect ratio, and the shape may make them easier to slip into a purse.)

Make sure the OS is upgradable

Apple provides upgrades for the iPad's iOS. New Android apps may require Android 3.0 or later. Before you buy a tablet with Android 2.3, check if you can upgrade it to 3.0 or better.

Get the right app market

If you choose a tablet with the Android OS, make sure it has access to Google's "genuine" Google Play market and not just a third-party app market such as GetJar. You'll get a wider variety of popular apps, and gain some security against potentially malicious "rogue" apps.

Why spend more on the iPad?

It has the most apps, and many of them outdo Android apps in terms of innovation. Don't forget the iPad's excellent 9.7-inch display for reading magazines and watching movies, as well as its long battery life. Still, if you must have Flash, you may want to consider one of the Android-based models.

Wi-Fi is good enough for most

Choose a broadband model only if "everywhere access" to the Net is critical. If it is, 4G capability, or at least the ability to upgrade to it, is a plus.

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