Consumer Reports magazine has published its findings with regard to the top tablet computers presently available to the general public.
And the top spot belongs to Apple’s freshly released iPad 2.
Consumer Reports, however, has a difficult past when it comes to endorsing Apple products. The venerable consumer advocate publication made waves last year for withdrawing its recommendation for the iPhone 4 in light of the device’s supposed “death grip” dropped call phenomenon.
But this time around, Consumer Reports isn’t expressing the slightest reservation about its thumbs up for the second generation iPad, ranking it the overall best tablet computer on the market today.
“After almost a year in which the Apple iPad has been virtually the only game in town in tablet computers,” the magazine states, “some serious competitors are finally hitting the market. Yet in Consumer Reports latest tests of the 10 most-promising tablet computers, the Apple iPad 2 with Wi-Fi and 3G topped the Ratings.”
To reach their conclusion, Consumer Reports analyzed ten competing tablets (from the likes of Archos, Dell, Motorola, Samsung, and ViewSonic), including such top sellers as the Motorola Xoom and Samsung’s Galaxy Tab.
The end results placed the the 32GB iPad 2 with WiFi and 3G first “across 17 criteria” – such as portability, touch-screen responsiveness, versatility, screen glare, and ease of use.
“So far, Apple is leading the tablet market in both quality and price, which is unusual for a company whose products are usually premium priced,” said Paul Reynolds, Consumer Reports’ electronics editor. “However, it’s likely we’ll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market.”
