Tablet devices

The Ipad is the best. I've had one for a year or so, and it's a great gadget. The Kindle Fire is a piece of crap. The whole thing is set up to be an constant Amazon.com commercial, and their Apps are very limited. When we bought the Kindle Fires for the kids a few weeks ago, we thought they'd have full access to the Google Android App store, but they don't. They have a highly filtered app selection controlled by Amazon. And of course, the screen is small. We are going to get rid of the Kindle Fires and get the kids Ipad Minis.

The Ipad II for < $400 is, IMO, the best product for the money.

BTW, look at the screen sizes, too. It's important, since you have pick everything with your finger. The smaller the screen, the harder it is to pick the right thing. The internet browsing speed is probably the same across all the tablets, and mostly depends on your WIFI connection/speed. We have the 16GB Ipad 2, with dozens of apps on it, and it's not close to full. If you just use it to browse the internet and have a few game apps, 16GB is more than enough. Oh, and battery life isn't bad. I'd guess 6-10 hours between charging depending on what you are doing. Seems like the Kindle and Ipad have about the same life span. I just charge it every night and rarely use it enough to have to recharge during the day.

My wfe likes her Kindle Fire both as a book reader and for I-net.

A while back I bought a cheap Pandigital for myself mostly to experiment with. There were some applications I liked it for, but for the most part I prefer a computer with a keyboard. I do think I coulod get used to it for a bookreader, but I haven't really gotten into it yet for that. I still like paper.

My family has 3 Google Nexus 7s. The battery life is pretty good. I charge it every few days. The Nexus 7 is the best spec wise for the 7" tablets. The Nexus 7 uses the native Android app store unlike the Kindle Fire, which uses the Amazon app store. Cnet has a good comparison of the smaller tablets. Also, Google is unveiling some more tablets/phones on Monday, so the price of the Nexus 7 is expected to go down a bit for the 8 GB and 16 Gb as they are expected to introduce a 32GB model. Let me know if you have specific questions on the Nexus 7.

-G

A while back, Wendel was talking about rooting his device. You might want to ask his advice.
I know you said this was for SWMBO, but I purchased mine, with my phone upgrade, through my co. and I take it everywhere I go.
I have a Samsung 8.9" tablet I picked up for half price through at&t when I upgraded my phone to a Samsung Galaxy SII (skyrocket). At the time they had these offered for wi-fi only, or as mine, "add a data only plan and get 4G-LTE", for the extra "data only-3GB/month" sim card and fee.
With the android devices, Barnes & Noble offers a "nook" reader and amazon offers their "kindle" reader. I have both installed. You can toggle between the data plan or a local wi-fi (save on your data cost).
I have Google maps/tracking, Trimble Outdoors (paid) installed. It can pull in topo quads or aerial images. I have Zello installed, which turns it into a 2-way communication device (radio). Of course, e-mail (4 accounts), you tube, music players, weather, AutoCAD WS (review/edit your dwg files), DIRECTV, wireless cloud printers, Droid48 (HP 48 emulator), fax machine (send/receive), dropbox, camera (still and motion)and way too many more to list.
Mine is setup w/ 16 GB of storage, and I do not find any access covers to allow any type of card swap, nor battery access covers. Their is a sim card cover. The Samsung has an optional keyboard/docking/charging station (I bought) to be able to type on real keys. Has a 5.1 stereo headphone jack which give quality sound (same as my phone).
The devices have changed even since I purchased mine. Take some time and do your research. She will be happy with whatever you get her. I prefer Android over Apple products, but that's just me. My daughter loves her Iphone 3 and won't even allow me to upgrade it. But I have never operated the Ipads.

There is a sim card cover

This is not about computing power

> I want to get a Tablet for Bonnie.
Assuming Bonnie is your wife, hustle down to the Apple store and get the shiniest Ipad4 they have.

This is not about computing power

Look into the Blackberry Playbooks. Not a bad tablet for wifi and you can find them cheap.

Just found out that Google has cancelled their announcement set for Monday (in New York) due to Hurricane Sandy. But still pay attention to see if the Nexus 7 drops in price.

This is not about computing power

yes, Bonnie is my wife.

I am only a poor government official; I can't afford a mistress ;-).

She is using an old ancient Dell desktop computer which I can't do much for. The idea of the tablet is she could use it anywhere in the house (or anywhere with WiFi) and it is fairly small and lightweight and should perform better on the usual surfing she does. The idea is to balance performance with price somehow.

The other thought is get a laptop but I think the tablet battery life is better and they have a touchscreen.

This is not about computing power

well heck, an iPad 4 (16gb) Wifi only is $499 at the Apple store. That isn't too bad.

This is not about computing power

Buying quality is always cheap in the long run. Going cheap with gifts for the wife is never a good idea.

This is not about computing power

If $499 isn't bad, I'd think in terms of a full blown computer or good laptop. Think carefully about what she'll do with it and what devices she needs to interface with - especially a printer. And if you're thinking of word processing, etc, she'll surely want a keyboard and bigger monitor. If she wants to read books and just playing on the net, a tablet may work just fine.

Best thing to do is decide what you would like to have first, then get her something a little nicer than that.

Bruce

This is not about computing power

I have the iPad 3 and would recommend it.

Don't need to even think about it.

Keith

I have a Samsung tablet. 7". Only wanted a smaller device.
A daughter has ipad.
Used both. Prefer Samsung.

I bought a card reader supposedly for Samsung but when it arrived it was for ipad.
The ipad wouldn't accept it as not genuine Apple! It made that loud and clear.
That was one reason I wouldn't buy Apple.

Plenty excellent applications for Android so shouldn't go short there.

What sort of phone does your wife / you have?
May pay to keep common there.
Charging is just one thing in that arena. (don't we love chargers)

What ever you get, tomorrow will see something better if you listen to sales talk.

I'm holding out until January, when MS is releasing another Surface that will run full Windows 8. The current iteration runs Windows 8 RT, which is a more basic version of Windows 8.

I had an Asus Transformer Prime tablet for awhile, but ended up getting rid of it. I actually loved it a lot, but I just didn't use it like I thought I would. I think if the tablet ran the same OS as my home computers, it would make a lot more sense.

That said, for a device to just use the internet (mostly), the recommendations for an iPad are probably the best. I'm not a big Apple fan, but those devices just work. I like to tinker though, so Apple products just do not fit me well, because from a techie/geek/tinkerer standpoint they are very restrictive. For the uses you mentioned, an iPad "just works" and that's most assuredly what she wants.

I looked in the office store ads this morning. They each are offering a 10" tablet (various brands) for 349 but the reviews aren't encouraging.

There is a whole raft of laptops from about 450 and up.

so far it seems like the iPad is the best of the bunch, the camera is better, the screen is better, etc.

You will not be unhappy with an iPad!

Just my 2 cents. My wife has an iPad 2, or 3, and she's considering the iPad mini when it comes out. The reason is the weight of the iPad makes it annoying for her to carry in her purse. I don't know anything about the Nexus, but the kindle isn't bad for the price, plus it's small and light. If you don't want to blow $800 on a new iPad, I'd try for an older 3G 16GB model. We have Verizon 3G for $20 a month and barely use the amount allocated. The touch screen on the iPad and iPod Touch is way better than anything else I've used, but my experience is a little limited. I like my Kindle Fire, but now my daughter uses it, mainly to watch Netflix. It also doesn't have 3G, which I'm not bnothered by as I would use my phone if I needed internet access outside the home.
The 16GB refers to the amount of storage space, RAM is usually around 1GB. For internet browsing, the processors will not be taxed to hard, so that wouldn't be too important for me. Bare in mind, the iPad won't run Flash, so you'll be missing out on some web content.