I can tell you about the latest tablet I purchased, I highly recommend it and the price is excellent. I have the Vizio Vtab 1008,it is 8" screen, does pretty much anything you'd want to do with a laptop and you can use your kindle app on it to sync with your list and access them. There are many other reader apps you can use also so you can read any type of books. I have the nook app, kindle and several others.
The Vizio has been at Costco for $189 which is an awesome price. Here's a link to it on Amazon it has some good information about it.
I take mine when I travel, it uses wifi networks and connects easily.

Here is a link that might be useful: Vizio

Thank you!

I am very happy with my Samsung Tab 10.1" tablet, which I got on sale in December at Costco for about $430 (including a leather slip case). The additional benefit of buying at Costco is the extra year of warranty you get for free. As far as the technical capabilities, it is probably the closest competitor to iPad in terms of size and features, but it's Android, so you're not locked into the Apple software and Apple store restrictions. I got it mainly for use as an e-reader, but it's a fully functioning computer, has a beautiful color screen, wi-fi, front and rear cameras, great GPS, is good for streaming movies, etc. For books, I have the Kindle app downloaded to it, and it works great. I prefer it to the actual Kindle because it is backlit like a computer screen so you can read in the dark, and I like the larger screen as well. It also has an additional e-reader already installed and sometimes I use that one with some of the free books I download from various sources. This is my gadget of choice for reading and travel.

If you aren't familiar with Android, it is incredibly simple and intuitive, so don't be worried that it's one more software system to try to learn. I figured everything out that I needed to know in a short time without bothering to read the manual.

Here is a link that might be useful: Galaxy Tab 10.1

Thank you also!

There's a reason that the iPad has the lion's share of the tablet market and it's not just marketing. I don't know anyone who doesn't love their iPad and I've haven't seen anyone, including a kid with Down's Syndrome, who hasn't mastered an iPad in short order. Before anyone says that Android's share it rising, that would be correct but look at the number of devices Android is on and only a few come close to match the specs of an iPad.

As for being "locked" into Apple, that would be correct but is that really a bad thing? Apple vets every app so there isn't a risk of malware as with happened with the Android Market on several occasions. Not that it can't happen in the future, but right now and iPad is pretty darn secure.

I posted a note earlier but must not have submitted it.

I absolutely love my ereaders, but my iPad is a different animal. If your pocketbook says OK, then I'd recommend the iPad. It takes photos and stores them, facilitates real time face to face phone chat, stores recipes interactively, browses the internet, handles email, plays games and music (quality is great), and keeps my calendar.

I understand the iPad3 is rumored to be out this spring.

I deliberated long and hard between the iPad and the Galaxy Tab and came to the conclusion that either one would be great. It wasn't an issue of the iPad being somewhat more expensive or that the Tab was somehow superior...I just liked the slightly more rectangular screen format of the Tab, the ability to customize the interface using Android, and the fact that I knew Android would be easier for me to use based on having an Android smartphone. The iPad is a beautiful machine, so I hope no one thought I was dissing it because I wanted to tout the choice I made as better...it was a close call.

Other observations I can make are:
1) I wanted to use my device as an Internet browser, so having Flash capability (which the iPad doesn't support) was a modest issue.
2) If you want compactness in your ereader, then the Kindle of the Amazon Fire would be a better portability choice than either the Tab or the iPad.
3) I had gathered, from reading comparisons between the Tab and the iPad, that I might have a bit more flexibility with handling a range of ebook formats if I chose the Tab over the iPad, and in sharing those books across devices. I understand that iPad doesn't read formats available from all libraries, although I assume you could solve this by doing a conversion with the free Calibre software. (I'll admit that I'm not an expert on this.)

Appreciate the input. I can look at the specifications of the items mentioned so as to compare and become familiar with them.
Thanks