This has been a big year for tablets, with both Google and Microsoft looking to take a slice of Apple's pie releasing their first ever own-brand devices.

The only tablets better than this are the iPads that replaced it.

Perfect size for it's intended use; so many possibilities

Starting to show it's age compared to newer iPads

For a while, I though I could get by having a new-line laptop and a smartphone. After seeing how useful tablets are for meetings, note-taking, and personal entertainment I realised it was time to take the plunge. After looking around the market, I narrowed this down to the MS surface and the iPad.

The iPad is an excellent example of great engineering and industrial design, so it's no surprise that people want to protect their multimedia tablet from scratches, dents and broken displays.

Works as a case and stand; fits the iPad well; comfortable to hold; durable

Difficult to keep clean; unstable when using as a digital photo frame

I upgraded from an Andriod tablet to the iPad specifically for work purposes and have found many more uses in daily life for the because it is more versatile and has way better apps available then the android tablet I had previously.

The most important part of any tablet, whatever the quad-core brigade may say, is the screen. Unlike any internal component, the screen is what you'll still be noticing a week after your purchase, the part upon which all of your attention is focused.

APPLE DIDN'T CALL the newest iPad the iPad 3 or the iPad HD-just the iPad. And that's fitting, because while it's a handsome upgrade to the best tablet on the market, it's not a huge leap forward.

Same price; quad-core graphics; better camera; LTE speeds; gorgeous high-resolution display

iPads with A5 and A5X processors haven't been jailbroken; same storage capacities as iPad 2

Covers and cases for the Apple iPad seem to crop up pretty regularly as alternatives to the official products but it is always interesting to see an official product, as the designers intended, to see how well it complements the primary product.

Apple all but created the tablet market with the original iPad and, two years and 55 million sales later, other manufacturers are still struggling to compete. The latest iPad raises the stakes still higher, thanks to a huge 1,536 x 2,048 screen resolution and an unchanged price from the previous...

The 2012 refresh of the Apple iPad wows, but not for the reasons so often associated with Apple products.

4G LTE option via Verizon; Vivid,

iOS 5.1 still lacks large-screen optimizations,