Should You Buy an Android Tablet or Wait?

The Apple iPad is the most popular tablet around, but it's got some serious competition from new Android tablets, particularly Asus's Eee Transformer, which has been something of a surprise hit.

Android tablets provide a good alternative to the iPad, as their software is more open and they generally offer more power for less money. If you've been thinking about a tablet, Android options like the Motorola Xoom or Samsung's Galaxy can give you 3G, forward and rear-facing cameras, and pretty much everything else that the iPad touts.

Asus's Eee Transformer even has an optional keyboard dock, which greatly expands its battery life and allows users to use the device as a netbook (although there are still a few bugs, and the keyboard is far from perfect). The tablet market has struggled to appeal to anything but the most casual computer users, and the Transformer might be a great step in the right direction for the market as a whole.

However, it's worth noting that there are a few awesome Android tablets on the horizon that haven't been released yet. The Asus Slider is a good example. It builds on the Transformer's combination of a tablet and a netbook with a slide-out design, and it's a very cool option for buyers who want a tablet with occasional keyboard functionality. PC Magazine reports that the Slider will arrive sometime this fall.

HP is also releasing the TouchPad, an uncreatively named tablet which won't run an Android OS. The TouchPad has been getting a lot of buzz and could generate some competition for tablet manufacturers, which could lead to faster, better Android tablets in the future.

Of course, any time you're talking about a new technology, you'll be paying some money to adopt early. Android tablets are still something new, and while the current lineup looks pretty great, it's only going to get better. The bottom line is that tablets like the Xoom and the Transformer handle their business quite well, and if you're ready to spend $500 or more on a tablet, you don't need to wait to get a great experience.

The Honeycomb distribution of Android feels intuitive and cool. Google's App Market is fairly well fleshed out, and it's only going to get better. Plus, software updates will probably add features to Android distributions in the future--they obviously can't add power, cameras or other abilities, but tablets are supposed to be casual computers. They really don't need that much horsepower to be entertaining and fun.

With that in mind, there are advantages to waiting. If you're on the fence, it's worth waiting until at least the fall to see what HP, Asus, Motorola and other manufacturers have in store.

Are you going to buy an Android tablet? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Sources:
Poeter, Damon. "Shocker: Asus Now The Leading non-iPad Tablet Maker," PC Magazine.
"Touchpad," HP.com.