Apple iPad 2 vs. Toshiba Thrive vs. Acer Iconia Tab vs. Samsung Galaxy Tab vs. Motorola Xoom

There is no question that Apple iPad 2 is a leading table. Let compare it with other 16GB Wi-Fi tablets.

Tablet	Apple iPad 2	Toshiba Thrive	Acer Iconia Tab A500	Samsung Galaxy Tab	Motorola Xoom Family Edition
Operating System (OS)	Apple iOS 4, 5	Google Android 3.1, 3.2	Google Android 3.1	Google Android 3.1	Google Android 3.1
Screen Size	9.7-inch	10.1-inch	10.1-inch	10.1-inch	10.1-inch
Screen Resolution	1024x768	1280x800	1280x800	1280x800	1280x800
Processor	1GHz dual-core Apple A5	1GHz Dual-core	1GHz Dual-core NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2	1GHz Dual-core NVIDIA® Tegra™ 2	1GHz Dual core
Memory (RAM)	512MB	1GB DDR2	1GB DDR2	1GB	1GB
Storage (ROM)	16/32/64 GB	8/16/32 GB	8/16/32 GB	16 or 32 GB	16GB
Expandable memory	None	Full-size SD Card slot. Up to 128GB SDXC	microSD, microSDHC	None	Up to 32 GB microSD card
Back Camera	1MP. Video recording, HD (720p)	5MP with auto-focus, 720p video capture	5MP with auto focus and single LED flash	3MP auto-focus camera with LED flash. HD(720p) Video recording	5MP auto-focus camera with LED flash. 720p video capture
Front Camera	0.3MP VGA	2MP	2MP	2MP	1.3MP
Microphone	Yes	Yes	Yes		Yes
HDMI	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes
USB	No	Mini USB 2.0 port, Full-size USB 2.0 port	1 USB 2.0	No	Micro USB
Wi-Fi	802.11a/b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11b/g/n	802.11 a/b/g/n Dual-band (2.4GHz, 5GHz)	802.11b/g/n
Battery	10 hrs	11 hrs	8 hrs	9 hrs	10 hrs
Weight	1.33 lbs	1.60 lbs	1.69 lbs	1.25 lbs	1.43 lbs
Flash support		Yes		Yes	Yes
Price	$500/$600/$700	$380/$400/$480	$350/$450/$500	$500/$600	$400

Compare 3G, 4G,Wi-Fi, WiMAX, and Ethernet (Wired)

Summary from Wikipedia and other places in internet:

3G is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunications services fulfilling specifications by the International Telecommunication Union. Application services include wide-area wireless voice telephone, mobile Internet access, video calls and mobile TV, all in a mobile environment.

4G is the fourth generation of cellular wireless standards. It is a successor to 3G and 2G families of standards. A 4G system is expected to provide a comprehensive and secure all-IP based solution where facilities such as ultra-broadband (giga-bit speed such as 1000+ MiB/s) Internet access, IP telephony, gaming services, and streamed multimedia may be provided to users.

Wi-Fi is a trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. It is not a technical term. However, the Alliance has generally enforced its use to describe only a narrow range of connectivity technologies including wireless local area network (WLAN) based on the IEEE 802.11 standards, device to device connectivity.

WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) is a telecommunications protocol that provides fixed and fully mobile Internet access. The current WiMAX revision provides up to 40 Mbit/s with the IEEE 802.16m update expected to offer up to 1 Gbit/s fixed speeds.

Ethernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs).  Ethernet is standardized as IEEE 802.3. The combination of the twisted pair versions of Ethernet for connecting end systems to the network, along with the fiber optic versions for site backbones, is the most widespread wired LAN technology. It has been used from around 1980 to the present.

Data transfer rates in order from low to high speed:

• 3G:  128Kbps to 384Kbps
• 10BASE-T Ethernet (Wired) 802.3: 10Mbps
• Wi-Fi 802.11b: 11MBps (Max)
• Wi-Fi 802.11g: 54MBps (Max)
• 100BASE-T Fast Ethernet (Wired) 802.3u: 100 Mbps
• Wi-Fi 802.11n: 300MBps  (Max)
• 4G: 100Mbps (mobile) to 1GBps (fixed)
• WiMax 802.16m: 40Mbps to 1Gbps
• 1000BASE-T Fast Ethernet (Wired) 802.3: 1GBps

4G and Wi-Fi have almost the same bandwidth. The difference between them is in range. Wi-Fi is targeted to cover low range networks, while 4G was designed to replace high range mobile networks.