>some of the online press clippings are calling this a "replacement" for a laptop - well, I suppose that depends on what type of laptop you had in the first place.
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and here, I think, you have put your finger on why this whole area of technology is still hard to evaluate. As you've stated elsewhere, you have to be clear in your own head what your expectations are of a tablet device. You, of course, are pretty clear on what you want out of it and therefore are also clear when evaluating what you are getting.

I don't think there was big demand in the laptop world for "Oh, if only they would make one without a keyboard or mouse that would do so much less more slowly" And I don't think the laptop world was crying out for touchscreens, except in some very niche markets ( I remember Calvin showing off his touch-screen at some conference about ten years ago and wondering "Aside from showing it off at conferences where demos are king and form usually prevails over substance, what it is *for*")

But a tablet is something new - not something that *fills* a need so much as something that *creates* a need and I mean that in a positive sense. I think the idea is cool, I want one, but this is a technology I am willing to give another two years to mature unless somebody buys me one first. (I've been on the bleeding edge of too much of this. I hate to think of how many varieties of Mp3 players, mini-disc players, and PDAs I own <g>)

These ain't laptops. My guess is they are readers, web-devices and (visual) communicators and that's very cool. I look forward to developing apps for them. I hope i never have to develop apps *on* them. <g>