Jeremy Harris said:
So, the question I'm asking the learned folk of ES is this:
Which tablet will best fit my needs? Or, should I forget about going down this route for now and just get another Windows netbook?
Its the OS that makes or breaks usability. Android is open-source linux, Google's significant extension of it. The Internet would not exist were it not for open-source; Apache, Linux, this forum (phpBB), etc. But linux does not have to be Android flavor. I run Ubuntu on a Dell laptop and never cease to be amazed at the power of it. The free and open-source community is huge and growing. If you're Google shy (I'm a long-standing fan who has never had my privacy compromized), then its possible to get a tablet from any number of vendors and install any flavor of Linux you want it, for free, with great ease. Check out the Dell Streak 7 tablet, for instance. Comes with Android, but you could swap that out if you wanted. Not that I suggest it. Android is not Google, but open-source, backed by a huge community of app-makers. Just saying.