Can Anything Stop the iPad? The Geek Girl Report

When you talk about tablet computers, usually just one name comes to mind: Apple. The Apple iPad is the undisputed leader in the tablet market, (as well as the smartphone market) so much so that other people tend to forget that there are other tablets out there. But how well do they compete against the biggest player in the game? Here's a look at a few of iPad's "competitors:"

HP's TouchPad

People were really hoping that HP's TouchPad would be a solid competitor against the iPad, including HP itself. Unfortunately, when you put the two side-by-side, it looks like the iPad comes out on top on all fronts. The iPad is lighter, thinner, has better hardware and software, and is pretty much better than the TouchPad all together. The only real advantage I can think of for this tablet would be its $99 price tag, which caused it to sell out in record numbers.

BlackBerry's PlayBook

Another competitor in the tablet market is the BlackBerry PlayBook, which seems to be going the same way as the HP TouchPad: not so great. The problem here is that you have a company that has always worked for businesses trying to make consumer-grade electronics. And in BlackBerry's case, it just doesn't work. Declining sales have forced the company to slash the price on this tablet, just like with the HP TouchPad.

Amazon's Kindle Fire

This week, Amazon will be joining the iPad competition with its new Kindle Fire. Although it's $200 price tag makes it a much cheaper option, there are a LOT more cons than there are pros to this device. There is very little memory included with the device, (it only ships with 8 GB, as compared to iPad's 16 and 32 GB models) a very limited selection of apps, and the screen, while it may be fine for a tablet, is not ideal for reading books (which is what the device is for) Amazon will also be releasing 3 new e-Readers this week. Let's hope they'll fare better than the Fire will...

Motorola's Xoom

Probably the only competitor I can think of that could possibly stand up against Apple would be the Motorola Xoom tablet. It's biggest draw is its brand new operating system "Honeycomb," the first OS to be designed specifically for tablet computers. If software isn't your thing, however, you might enjoy the larger screen and high-definition resolution, making movies look arguably better than when played on the iPad.  It may not be as well known as the iPad, but for those who give it a chance, or for those anti-Apple people out there, this tablet is a good choice.