iPads and others?

My family want to get me a tablet computer as a combined belated holiday/birthday gift.  My mom, dad, and stepmom have iPads and love them.  (actually, everyone I know who has a tablet computer has an iPad over any other manufacturer)

But is an iPad really that much better over the other options?  I'm looking at the Samsung Galaxy, and that looks pretty darn similar.  Does anyone have any experiences with the Galaxy, or any other non-iPad device?  (heck, if with an iPad device - I'm looking for loads of opinions)

I'm a bit worried about the lack of Flash for the iPad; however, I've been told HTML5 is now becoming the big thing and is on track to replace Flash and the new iPad [3] does fine with HTML5.  I don't know how accurate this is.  Or Silverlight - how much that's important to have for mobile devices, if even applicable.

I've also heard that the iPad cannot do two things at once - say, you can't listen to music while surfing the internet.  It's probably not a big priority but I do tend to have something on in the background while I'm surfing or emailing. 

Any experiences would be greatly appreciated; TIA!

R bought me an iPad2 for Christmas. It's beautiful and handy to check my emails in the morning if I don't feel like turning on my desktop. But it won't replace my main computer anytime soon.

One downside is that it occasionally drops the wireless signal even if you're in the same room as the modem, and when I researched it online, it seems to be a common problem.

I use it more to play PocketFrogs than anything else!  R uses it when I am on the main computer.

I know it's not a Galaxy review, but I hope it helps.

I'm on my iPad now .  I love it.  It can do music in the background whilst you surf the Internet for example, but if you open an app that has music of its own, then the app music will supersede your music.  DH looked at other tablets including the Samsung, but for me the iPad is best for its multitouch functions and the multitude of apps available.  Yes, lack of Flash is occasionally annoying, but for me at least, no more than an annoyance.  You can still watch videos, YouTube (in app form), etc.  Plus I was just in an Apple store today looking at the new iPad 3s, and the screen resolution really is impressive. 

I'm an Apple convert, though, so take me with a grain of salt .

Aquila - I'm sure you'd be happy with either.  Just peeping a 2p that's likely not worth much...

Ipad is really well-reviewed & well-regarded (Which? rates it highly!).

That said, OMG - I don't think I've ever loved an electronic device more than my Samsung (mobile) Galaxy S II...  Now stay with me here...  They're making these phones as a wee bit of crossover between mobile & tablet - it has a large-ish surface area compared to other mobiles (but is very thin & lightweight!).  The next generation from mine even comes with a stylus for the phone as an accessory.  And I just love, love, love it - so if I were in the market for a Samsung tablet, I'm just telling you I wouldn't hesitate!

That said, we are just not an Apple household - DH works in software engineering & is on the other side of that divide!    I had an Iphone before & simply hated it - it wasn't intuitive at all for me & I had no end of problems -- I reckon the Iphone knew we weren't Apple worshippers & invoked a pox upon me. 

Are you sure a tablet is what you want? I know plenty of people who ADORE theirs, but I've honestly never really felt much of a need for one. It wouldn't do the things that I need a computer to do, so isn't worth it. My husband has one, however, and I do use it to play Draw Something - but I have yet to figure out any other uses for it.

Just my 2p. Make sure it's what you want before you start choosing between Samsung and iPad. They're not for everyone.  

Don't worry about silverlight...seriously...I've never installed silverlight on any of my browsers and it's fine. What the heck uses a stupid microsoft proprietary framework that's impossible to work with? No one, which is why Microsoft have now withdrawn support for it.

Flash, well...yeah so HTML5 use is growing for webpages (so elegant!) and now some applications are being made in HTML5 (I'm even making some games in it atm )but Flash is still predominant across the web, however, not having Flash wont stop you browsing, there's nearly always a mobile version or simple HTML version of every site you visit and you'll be redirected automatically. You'll not be able to play online flash games but then you probably wouldn't bother on an ipad anyway.

Tablet wise, you just need to decide if you're Android or iOS. Wouldn't recommend going for a tablet which isn't one of these. If you own any other Apple product then you should probably go for the ipad as you'll carry over most of your aps, if you're not then go into a store and check out an Android tab and see if you like it.

I'm an Apple person, I work with Android tabs and phones at work, and I just think the OS is really clunky, I can't be bothered to deal with it at home. I like all the auto synching that iCloud just takes care of for you.

I want to browse itunes, click on an ap, buy it and then it syncs to my ipad via icloud automatically so I can play it in seconds, if anything happens to my ipad or iphone and I get a new one I can get my entire phone or ipad data back in about 2 minutes, which is important to me.

The thing is, I suspect iOS is so intuitive to me because I've been using it for 6-7 years on various macs and iphone/ipads are just the same really. Also because my main computer is a MBP it works with all my Apple devices really easily, so you may want to take my apple love with a pinch of salt, signing in with my apple ID anywhere (phone/ipad/work mac/home mac) and getting all my shiz is amaze to me but might be useless to others.

Man (or woman) you are centuries (or volumes) ahead of me on this but at some point I'll have to get my feet wet on the iPhone/tablet technology but at this time I just use a iphone to connect to my computer via WiFi. It is not connected to cellular system because I don't need the cellular part especially since it costs $80 extra per month.
Thank you for giving the information though.

Aquila, the bones of it is that if you use a Mac at home, get an ipad. It's like Ghostbusters... don't cross the streams!!!

That being said my household is a combo household. DH loves his PC for its linux/nerdy/work stuff, but love love loves his ipad for fun. I use my iPad2 80% of the time, my laptop the rest. It really has all the functionality I need for doing everything and it is so much lighter than carting around a macbook pro. My fave app is Netflix. I use it daily.

I got the chance to try out both the Ipad and blackberry playbook and I chose the playbook. You get both blackberry app world and android app world on that. It has flash as well which is important to me. I just like to be able to see the classic versions of websites. Also the size is a lot more portable than the ipad I found. I can fit it into my normal handbag with a soft case around it.

I just wasn't sure what all the fuss about the ipad was about to be honest.

Good luck in your decision!

I don't know about anyone else, but I love my iPad.  Regarding apps, Android does not even come close to the variety of apps you can get from your iPad.  It might just be a preference, but as of  right now, I'm not trading my iPad for anything