I have a pretty nice Android tablet - the ASUS Transformer 700 and I was feeling pretty good with it. I use it for just about exactly the same stuff you mention below. Very nice for all that but now I have the Galaxy Note 3 and by comparison, I don't know if it is the 3gb of ram, the Android 4.3 or what but the phone seems so much faster than the tablet and the Android seems so much less prone to just going away periodically. Maybe I've gunked up the tablet, don't really understand how Android handles memory or maybe I am just expecting PC performance but I have to manage expectations on the the tablet. For my main need - a big ereader than does PDFs really well it is fine but I find now the phone has become my go to device for web surfing. The screen is so good I even watch Pluralsight off-line stuff on it.

> Somehow I find the idea of a libertarian buying anything Apple except its stock somewhat disturbing <s>
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>Ha, very true! Until the fall of 2010, my views on Apple weren't exactly positive. Then I got an iPad as a gift and was blown away by how well they crafted the user experience. I use it to read books/PDFs, for browsing/research, email, sampling jazz on iTunes (they have a TON of classic jazz), and most recently as a functional equivalent of a portable DVD player.
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>Over the years I've gotten a little frustrated with the Android experience and more envious of my wife's iPhone. Maybe this is self-induced schizophrenia, but I am much more tolerant of goofy software on a laptop as a developer, than I am of software when I'm a "user" on a portable device. Once you spend time with the iOS interface, you just don't want to go back.
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>I'll miss the wider screen on my HTC Evo - but the Retina display on the iPhone is just stunning.
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>But the good news is you now get a discount on your first auditing sessions with the Church of Scientology <g>
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>My family would laugh hysterically if they saw me using a C.O.S. app on my iPad/iPhone device. :)