HP TouchPad (2011)

Great tab! – Picked a 32GB up at the Harvey Norman firesale for $149. WebOS is great, a big difference to in user experience to iOS and Android. Great thing is that you can install Gingerbread (Android 2.xx) on this, and hopefully soon, Honeycomb (Android 3.xx) and/or Ice cream sandwich (Android 4.xx). Battery life is better than most between 6-8 hrs depending on usage.

Screen is great at 9.7' with a resolution of 1024 x 768. Looks great playing HD video.

It runs smoothly with a 1.2Ghz dual core processor, which can be overclocked to 1.7Ghz.

Bad bits is the lack of a card reader, USB, HDMI out, or 3G. Inexpensive, customisable, decent screen, and battery life. Weight, no card reader, no USB, no HDMI, and no 3G.

The deal of the decade – I bought it because it was so cheap, $149 for the 32GB model: at that price I could justify jumping into tablets just to figure them out, even if not in need of them. There was already work on porting Android onto them, so long-term life was not in danger even if WebOS died. We were also before a long overseas trip, and I wanted a portable entertainment unit for the children. It proved invaluable, loaded up with 20 movies, lots of documentaries and music, and Internet access along the way.

My wife long wanted an e-book reader, and the Touchpad offers that too. It works a treat in this also, the only downside being its weight: not very comfy to hold long.

These days it is mainly the children who use it for social media and browing, I only read the odd ebook on it. For me, an ultraportable notebook is still more functional.

WebOS proved a delightful surprise: slick, fast, logical, easy-as. So far no need to port Android onto it, but it's good to know that the option is there. A steal at the firesale price, very sturdy and functional Lack of expansion and connectivity options, heft