iPad 2 Tops Consumer Reports Tablet Rankings

Consumer Reports has released its latest tablet analysis, which compares 10 big-name tablets from the likes of Apple, Motorola, Samsung, Dell, Archos, and ViewSonic. Apple's iPad 2 came out on top.

“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,” Paul Reynolds, Electronics Editor at Consumer Reports, said in a statement. “However, it’s likely we’ll see more competitive pricing in tablets as other models begin to hit the market.”

Consumer Reports cited the iPad 2 with Wi-Fi plus 3G as the best overall tablet available. The device scored "excellent" in nearly all 17 categories of evaluation, which included touch-screen responsiveness, versatility, portability, screen glare, ease of use, and more.

The iPad 2's best results were seen on the battery rundown test, the device lasted an impressive 12.2 hours, the longest of any tablet tested.

How did the iPad 2's competitors stack up? Consumer Reports concluded that only the Motorola Xoom stood out during testing (Read reviews). Furthermore, the testers found the Xoom's memory card reader, Flash video support and 4G upgrade options to be appealing features that buyers won't find on the iPad 2.

To view the entire press release, visit Boy Genius Report.

Comments

[drp103]

02:30 PM on 04/07/2011

I like the hipper C-NET for my reviews-it's free!

[Morgantheaxe]

12:54 AM on 04/06/2011

And bring in the ihater clowns!!!!

[Kiernan van doorn]

12:11 AM on 04/06/2011

Where can you buy an iPad 2 right now? Check local inventory levels at best buy, walmart and target stores. Here's a link to a table to help figure out who has what in stock right now.

http://kiernanvandoorn.livejournal.com/1977.html

[blurredmolly]

08:47 PM on 04/06/2011

Walmart? Really? They don't need your money.

[Kiernan van doorn]

08:36 AM on 04/08/2011

rumor that besbuy is holding inventory back and apple isn't happy.... http://kiernanvd.tumblr.com/post/4438852604/10977

[GerryS]

11:09 PM on 04/05/2011

I have an HP business laptop,

and an medium priced I Pad, and use both for different reasons.

both have their little quirks-------------

[GerryS]

11:11 PM on 04/05/2011

oh yeah,

I have a blackberry and a motorola cell phone too----------

[ancientuno]

11:05 PM on 04/05/2011

I can only say I wouldn't trade my iPad for anything. My laptop form the most part is nothing more than a dust collector now.

[portabello]

01:10 AM on 04/06/2011

I use my laptop as another desktop computer at home.

I can't imagine packing it up with the battery charger and USB mouse and lugging it around when I can just tuck the iPad under my arm and be on my way!

Besides, my laptop has to boot, my iPad turns on like magic at the push of a button.

If you notice, the people that have a neurotic fixation with Apple products have changed their argument from "Why do I need an iPad when I have a laptop?" to "Why do I need an iPad when I have a Xoom?"

[levelshot]

10:36 PM on 04/05/2011

Wow it's a lot Apple Hating PC-Dorkers on HP!

[ResearchtheFacts]

10:24 PM on 04/05/2011

Apple is sweating bullets should explain so many paid advertising this week. One, damage control..Market Watch and eWeek had unfavorable articles about Apple along with the Bestbuy ad that surfaced showing a keyboard duct taped to an ipad announcing the Asus transformer coming out soon.  I will be picking that up or the soon to be released Blackberry tablet. I want one in both sizes. Neither will be an ipad!!!  You suck apple and you won't be getting my money.  I don't care how much advertising you do.  Not joining the apple prison system.

[qwr]

11:36 PM on 04/05/2011

You go girl!

[Morgantheaxe]

12:57 AM on 04/06/2011

Spoken like a person truly devoid of knowledge on the subject they speak of. The only thing you said that was accurate was that yes indeed Apple is sweating bullets. They are doing so because their supply chain was interrupted by and massive earthquake, massive Tsunami, and resulting nuclear meltdown in Japan. It could be months before they can get more of their wildly popular ipads to market. That is truly something to sweat about.

[lonesometx]

08:44 PM on 04/05/2011

Can anyone help me, please??!!

EVERY time I open huffingtonpost.com I get a pop up ad for google chrome. I've set my browser to not allow any pop ups, but this one still comes up. I've tried searching for a fix but all I find are "how to stop pop ups with google chrome"

Is there somethiong in my registery or is a simple fix I'm overlooking. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[IceFlame]

11:05 PM on 04/05/2011

Sorry, I can't really help.
Try a different browser.
Ask on a discussion forum for your browser.
I use Firefox 3, with pop-ups disabled, and I don't see what you describe.
The Adblock Firefox add-on might help. (I don't have it.)

[GerryS]

11:13 PM on 04/05/2011

if you have a google tool bar on your web browser, look there-----------

[AngusC]

08:12 PM on 04/05/2011

Loved my 1 and I love my 2 that I just got this Saturday.

[Eye-C]

09:16 PM on 04/05/2011

Do you carry it around with you much? Is it too bulky to take "everywhere"? Why not just a smart phone and a laptop?

[portabello]

01:29 AM on 04/06/2011

A laptop has to be unfolded and set down on something, usually NOT your lap. It has a short battery life in comparison with the iPad and it isn't touch screen and the final straw is that I have to boot it up if I want to use it. My laptop doesn't have 3G, but I guess I could get a modem and carry that around too, along with my USB mouse.

An iPad on the other hand, I just tuck under my arm and head out the door. I take mine everywhere. It's amazingly light and slim. When I want to use it, one button push and it's instantly ready to go.

As for smart phone vs tablet, it completely depends on what you use it for. Personally, smart phones are too small for me to do any web browsing and all the other stuff I use my iPad for. I carry a Droid phone and I love it, but it's just too small.

If I have my Droid in my pocket and my iPad under my arm, I'm good to go.

[AngusC]

01:31 AM on 04/06/2011

I have all three and they have have their different purposes.
I actually tend to use my laptop and my iPad at the same time frequently.
My mother was able to figure out the iPad within minutes and she is usually technologically challenged, so I might just give her my iPad 1 rather than sell it.

[Grokenspiel]

07:17 PM on 04/05/2011

At the risk of quoting myself:

"The problem with Flash is that it's a memory hog, and it's buggy. Has a nasty habit of clobbering its own, and other programs' data structures­. As a result, it tends to go tango uniform embarrassi­ngly more often than an applicatio­n of its supposed stature should. I don't blame Apple for not betting on a bad pony."

As for USB, the protocol is still in use, but it's definitely on the downhill slide, rapidly being replaced by faster, better technology. It wasn't all that long ago when consumers were complaining bitterly because computer manufacturers stopped providing 3.5" floppy drives in their products. But technology marches on.

Apple just wants to stay ahead of the curve.

[MagicAnt]

08:16 PM on 04/05/2011

No they really don't. Apple likes to dictate to the market what works best for them - I don't like it, but can't argue their success.

I can agree with you on the Flash issue, but it's still something in regular enough use that Apple could address it if they wanted to. They're trying to kill it, not just bet against it. It'll certainly die as HTML 5 comes into more regular use, but that's still a couple of years away.

USB may be on the downhill slide but it's several years away from going away and in common enough use that it's glaring not to have it. The iPad is not a laptop replacement - yet.

Apple likes to hold back features and design aspects to make next year's upgrade critical. Screen resolution & camera are two other things that COULD have been made better for iPad 2, but then they wouldn't be able to tout those as "must-have" improvements for iPad 3. You can say that the iPad 2 would be much higher priced, but upgraded screen and camera wouldn't have been that dramatic a price increase with the cost & volume Apple gets on components.

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple products and don't go anywhere without my IPod Touch, but some of their business practices annoy me.

[chubber]

08:43 PM on 04/05/2011

USB is declining? Are you kidding? It is the main form of connection for every device except Apple products. If anything Apple is behind for not using USB

[Grokenspiel]

09:02 PM on 04/05/2011

Points taken, Magic. It's undeniable, however, that many consumers are resistant to change, almost as a matter of principle. There was even an outcry from Apple loyalists when Apple switched from Motorola CPUs to Intel, if you'll recall; in hindsight, though, Apple made the right decision. Before I bought my iPad 2 -- which I am extremely pleased with, by the way -- I managed to get some hands-on time with other tablets. The fact that most of them featured (or planned to implement) Flash, USB, and SD support was inconsequential to me; the iPad 2 was clearly the superior product in terms of quality, aesthetics, function, and bang-for-the-buck. In my humble opinion, of course.

[MaxPowerXP]

09:40 PM on 04/05/2011

Uh, and what exactly is replacing USB? Unicorn horns?

[81Locus]

11:07 PM on 04/05/2011

I find myself using more and more bluetooth devices. That is one possible replacement. Even though my bluetooth receiver is hooked up to a usb port it wouldn't take much effort to cut out the middle man and get rid of all that clutter. All those usb cables are a waste of raw materials.

[JohnTheMac]

07:21 AM on 04/07/2011

Thunderbolt:
http://www.mac-thunderbolt.com/lightpeak/tbolt-faq.html

[eMJayy]

06:51 PM on 04/05/2011

It's not everyday that something recommended by Consumer Reports falls short of my own buying criteria.

If I'm going to lay down $500+ for a tablet device, it had better be able to do everything (and I do mean EVERYTHING) I need it to do. Having a slightly better touch screen or a few hours more battery life means nothing if I can't even attach files on the SD cards I use everyday to emails or documents created on the device.

The idea that I would have to drop the tablet and sprint to the nearest available PC every time I need to view something created with flash or to access my SD cards in order to finish an email is crazy. Time is money and I'm not in the habit of wasting either.

[blindjester]

09:36 PM on 04/05/2011

When I buy a magic carpet, it better come with satellite radio!

None of those am/fm magic carpets!

; )

[guytaur1]

05:26 PM on 04/05/2011

I see more complaints re Apple and Flash.
Well people it is time that content creators provided alternatives to Flash for people who use the IOS platform.
If your customer cannot click on your website or game or video that is your loss not Apple's.
IOS is a major platform with millions of users worldwide. Using Flash no longer covers all.
Using HTML 5 does.
Time to give up on the Flash not present bandwagon. It is obvious that millions of people live without it.

[Channa]

05:41 PM on 04/05/2011

I recently got an iPad and have encountered only one website where I could not view content. Clearly many developers are leaving flash or creating alternatives.

[GerryS]

11:15 PM on 04/05/2011

the NYT is the only site I have not been able to see what I want, when I want---------

[666dorado]

07:54 PM on 04/05/2011

adobe is giving up.

http://www.cultofmac.com/adobe-unveils-flash-to-html5-converter-to-reach-ios-safari-users-others/85332

[ResearchtheFacts]

04:50 PM on 04/05/2011

Another shameless Apple plug its clear this is the Apple channel.  There is news all over the web that says otherwise, people already know what time it is.  Google sold 62 million smartphones last year but for Apple to have lead the market in putting out tablets they still have under 50 million sells out of 300 million americans. The narrative doesn't fit the story. Heck, this story doesn't fit the story.

[lqw]

05:21 PM on 04/05/2011

I thought they usually like to trash Apple. The IPad2 is great.
Wether you are an Apple fan or not you should try it out.

[Channa]

05:43 PM on 04/05/2011

Research the Facts is what Consumer Reports DOES. They have a very high reputation for integrity and fact based analysis.

[ResearchtheFacts]

08:40 PM on 04/05/2011

If you pay for it and apparently apple did.  Don't forget they are a for-profit business.  Money talks and by the looks of apple's two day damage control extravaganza they have spent quite a bit.  There are many sites on the web not raving on apple and they have kicked into high gear with the buying power.  Too late the word is out.

[ResearchtheFacts]

11:54 PM on 04/05/2011

Whatever you need to believe. lol They are taking money--bottom line.

[DRaymond]

04:24 PM on 04/05/2011

It all depends on how you priotitize your ratings. CR apparently did not think that having a SD card slot was important or that supporting flash was important. They also appear to think that battery life is important. Which it is up to a particular point. I am not really sure that needing to go ten or twelve hours as opposed to eight is that important. I just aren't going to be away from a power outlet at one stretch that long. In my own comparison I found it a mixed bag, but nowhere near the clear winner that CR does. http://betweenthenumbers.net/2011/03/apple-ipad-2-vs-the-mororola-xoom-and-fight/

[cadawa]

03:57 PM on 04/05/2011

What is number one?