Price a huge factor in value, and I don't think my definition is going to get any simpler or clearer. :)

It's clear now, you value price over all else. So tell me, what kind of beater car do your drive on an exclusive basis? Since value is all about cost.

You're funny. :)

Just extending your "logic" to the rest of your world. You mean you don't drive a beater? So price is not the only indicator of value?

LOL :D

Kind of a vaguely defined request although I understand that the parameters do not necessarily include the latest and greatest. Under those circumstances, I can certainly say that I've gotten great value out of the Nook Color (pre-Nook Tablet era) refurbished unit I got in November with a Cyanogen Mod 7 version installed on a 16GB microSD. Total monetary cost: $150, including microSD card; total time cost: about an hour to two hours to make sure I installed everything correctly.

Since then, another hour or two to refine the software environment (for instance, the browser--I'd go with the Dolphin Browser over the stock browser or Opera because it runs fast and allows easily tabbed browsing). Cyanogen allows modding of the clock speed so Netflix runs relatively well. At that point, it simply becomes a case of portability (7-inch screen will fit in a coat pocket) over the bigger screen of a Galaxy Tab or iPad.

From my perspective, before I got the Color, I'd seriously thought of buying an Asus Transformer. The Transformer still looks as if it's a great product, but now I can't imagine hauling a 10-inch screen around. If I wanted a 10-inch screen, however, I'd definitely look at the Transformer, Prime, or an iPad.

I think the hardware manufacturers are going to have a heck of a time figuring out whether the market will want the smaller unit or the bigger screen. There are pretty good arguments on both sides, but for the time being, I'm going with the smaller Nook Color supplemented with an 11.6-inch HP dm1 unit for heavier work, such as word processing, with a decent keypad. Extra points for software solutions that turn the Color into a secondary display screen for small computers like the dm1 so that I can block and copy from an extended desktop to the main HP screen. Not likely since that's asking an Android unit to work seamlessly within a Windows environment. Still. . .

I just don't know if there's ever going to be one unit that can fit all desires.

Oh, did I say that?

It looks like I did not.

Value means something different to different people.

You need to define what you want the tablet to do for you, what you will be using it for, and what you want to spend on it.

Once you know what you are looking for you can then determine if models that fit your needs are good values or not. What you are looking for may or may not be the same as what I'm looking for in a tablet, so something that is a good value for me may be totally useless for you, and may be a horrible value.

It looks like you like to play games. First you said this:

No mention of any other consideration. Then you said this:


Again, with no mention of any other value consideration.

I said in my first post that the concept of value needed to be clearly defined, but all you posted was about price. Other posters have asked you to clarify your concept of value as well. What conclusion were we supposed to draw?


Actually it looks like you did. It was the only thing you mentioned, despite repeated requests to clarify, and you even pointed us back to one of your own posts where you mention price.

I said price was a big factor in determining value.

That's a pretty simple statement. I'm not sure how I can clarify that for you if it's already confusing you.

Sorry.

By doing what everyone has asked you to do, clarify what other things factor into the concept of value. Since you refuse to do that we can only rely on what you are willing to talk about, which is price.

First generation 16gb wifi-only iPads and many refurbished 10" Android tablets can be found typically in the $250-$300 range. Even lower prices can be found Craigslist. On many of the deal sites (e.g., 1SaleADay, DailySteals, etc.), 7-inch tablets running older Android OS are frequently offered for less than $100. And today, 4/15/12, woot.com is offering a 32gb HP Touchpad for $249.

<moderator hat on> Friendly warning - knock it off. You know whether this applies to you. </moderator hat off>

Not sure if the original question got answered, but the iPad has been flawless for me, my wife, and daughter. Have had all versions and can't be happier with them. They are a bit more money, but the app coverage and support is just first rate. (IMHO).

Personally if networking is not of concern I would pick up one of the used iPad 2's as they are quite a bargin right now. I have the iPad 3 and prefer the 2 except for the fact that the 3 has LTE on board and it's just too darn useful for me.

Scott

After careful consideration, I've gone with a refurbished a 64 gb iPad 2 with wifi only.

Thank you for all the feedback.

Sorry for the slow response.

If there are two tablets, with the same specs, and both handle the "Tablets 101" kind of stuff pretty well (they both have the same browser/email/twitter/weather/stock market/newsreader/media player/social networking/skype/pandora/hopstop/hulu/office document viewing capabilities) and one costs about $250 less, then I would consider the latter to be the "value" tablet.

Your feedback is always welcome. :)