[citation][nom]southernshark[/nom]I've been an Nvidia fan for a long time (except for back in the day when I was a 3DO/ 3DFX fanboy. And I've never been an Apple fan really. But having said that, I just don't see this being a real competitor to the IPAD. The common fail point for these tablets is Android/ Google and the Apps Store. Apple has done a great job of making sure that every product it sells works and that it does not crash the machine. Android/ Google has totally failed in this respect and every tablet Android report that I have read indicates that the machines are buggy as all get out. When I was younger, buggy and crashy and complicated wouldn't have bothered me so much, but now that I'm near 40 I've decided that I have too much other stuff to worry about in life than a machine crashing all the time (which is why I'm waiting to buy the IPAD 2).And as for the younger market... we..I teach school and every kid in my class has an Apple product (including many IPADs), which tells me all I need to know about which product the youth are going to purchase. I haven't seen an Android product yet (couple Blackberrys, many Iphones, but no droids).[/citation]
Since you are so hellbent in getting an ipad, just go ahead and get it. I don't see the comparison point to this device, as this one has a multitude of options and a highly customizable OS, which the ipad lacks. At the end of the day, it's all about personal taste/choice.
As far as crash-proof devices, I've had my time with iPods in the past and they're anything but crash-proof. I've seen ipods, iPhones and ipads freeze and/or crash as well, don't believe for a minute they're worry-free. And if they don't do that with a certain program, it means they just can not run that program to begin with, due to inherent limitations of iOS. That's the reason I moved from them and decided to evolve with something else. If it's still going to crash sometimes, at least it should do it on my terms, so to speak.
And before you start with the generational problem, I am 40, as well, not near 40.