Best tablets

Smartphones? They're okay, but they're a little small and fiddly for our massive, manly hands. These days we're all about tablets. They're bigger, better and make us feel like we're in Star Trek. And really, that's priceless. So we totally understand if you fancy buying one. But what should you be looking out for when you hit the high street?

Smash the system

Traditionally, tablets and phones are marketed on the strength of their hardware -- a 5-megapixel camera, or a hi-res display for example, but this can be misleading. By far the most important thing to consider when you're buying a tablet is the operating system.

The operating system is what keeps the device running, and it's what you'll see as a user. You're probably familiar with the Windows or Mac operating systems, but there are a couple of big hitters competing for tablet dominance, and your choice will determine what kind of tablet experience you get.

Apple's iPad was the first tablet to really make it big, thanks in part to its iOS platform, which started life on the iPhone. This is the iconic grid-layout that lets you browse through several screens of apps, tapping each one to fire it up. It's incredibly simple and smooth, and best of all, it features seamless integration with iTunes and the Apple App Store, so buying and downloading music, movies, games and so on is ridiculously easy.

The downside is that you'll be buying into Apple's rather specific 'way of doing things' -- every App in the App Store has to be approved by Apple itself, and the big 'A' can be quite restrictive about what they let you do with your phone. Apple will tell you this is to guarantee you the best user experience -- nothing that's likely to break or slow down your phone will be allowed. On the other hand, sometimes people prefer more freedom from their tablet.

Android alternative?

In which case, consider Android. Android is Google's mobile operating system, and it gets better with every new iteration. With a tablet-based version (version 3.0, codenamed Honeycomb), Android is a real contender. It has its own (less restrictive) app store, and Android devices tend to let you do more with your tablet. You can play with all sorts of weird video formats, there's true multitasking, the ability to play Flash videos in the tablet's browser (something Apple has never been fond of) and you can fill your homescreen with glorious widgets.

HP and Palm's WebOS and RIM's new BlackBerry Tablet OS are other operating systems to look out for -- it's all about figuring out which one's right for you.

A magical OS is nothing without a truly blinding chunk of hardware backing it up. When buying your tablet be sure to check out the processor -- a faster processor is often an indicator of a really snappy tablet. The last thing you want in your spangly new device is to feel like menus move sluggishly, or for everything to stop for a few moments every time you fire up a new app.

You'll want a cool camera too, and if you fancy a spot of video calling, make sure your tablet has a front-facing camera. If you want to output your tablets video to a hi-def telly, you'll want some manner of video output too.

Now we've primed you in the mystical art of tablet-choosing, why not browse through some of our favourites. The tablet market is in its infancy, so most of these products haven't received a full review yet. Rest assured this page will be updated with the score of these models when we've had a chance to give them a thorough test.