I have two (one iPad and one Android)...each is fine. I like them because they take up little space, can do most anything a laptop can do, and I use them to download a number of magazines and newspapers I subscribe to. And they can be used as an e-reader for books (like a Kindle, etc.). Once downloaded, these documents are on the device, and I don't need an Internet connection to read them. However, I would imagine that any hospital these days will have wi-fi available. The only disadvantage I see is that they are a little slower to type on because you are typing on the touch screen. However, if this is a big deal, then you can get a cheap, compact keyboard that pairs with the device wirelessly (I just bought one for $20). As far as apps, the choices are endless, and often free...I've yet to pay for one. Most tablets have an icon to tap to take you to the "store" where you type in the sort of thing you are looking for and then you choose and download it. Some of the apps I like are: a weather app; a flight app that gives the realtime schedule for any flight in the world; a wi-fi locater showing where free wi-fi is available anywhere in the world based on my location; a dictation app so I don't have to type; game apps (Mahjong and crossword puzzles); music app to play digital music files; calendar, shopping list, and reminder apps; video player so I can watch Netflix movies; and several recipe apps with 10's of thousands of recipes available (I just put the tablet in a little stand in the kitchen). That's about 10% of what I have installed. If you are going to get one, I suggest a 10" screen as it makes reading books and magazines, as well as surfing the web more enjoyable. You also have to decide whether you are going to get one that has only wi-fi, which means it can only access the Internet when you are in range of a wi-fi router, or whether you are going to get a more expensive one that can also access a data plan from a cell phone company. With the latter, you are not dependent on finding an available wi-fi connection to surf, but you are paying probably $100 more for the capability, and you will need to pay monthly for a data plan like you would with a smartphone. I don't have a data plan for my tablets. I mainly use a tablet at home so it connects to my router, and at other places, like major airports, university buildings, public buildings, Starbucks, McDonalds, etc., there is usually free wi-fi. If I really need an internet connection when I am out and can't find a free one, I just use my smartphone. Lastly, you can use most tablets as cameras, and more expensive ones have two cameras built-in so that you can also make phone calls via Skype. This post was edited by kudzu9 on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 15:21

since it has not been released for sale yet and is only on pre order I was wondering how they had reviews LOL That doesn't seem to stop people. I've seen plenty of "user" reviews, especially of popular products, well before the release date. Usually they just mimic whatever "professional" reviews exist, although I love the ones that complain about the lack of a particular feature. "The Nexus 7 doesn't have a floppy drive! What was Google thinking?" If a floppy drive is important to you, why would you buy the product and then complain about the lack of a floppy drive? Kind of like buying a car without air conditioning and then complaining you have to roll down the windows in the summer. ;-) ...that the fire comes pre resisted from amazon with your account open... I didn't know that and it does seem a bit weird. I have to imagine that whatever the cost associated with stolen Kindles being less than whatever the cost Amazon assigns to having customers enter their own UID and password.

I have currently 4 tablets, one that is strictly an ereader, I got each of us one, very inexpensive. My husband loves it and uses his daily, I really don't use that one anymore but it will be his backup. I got the first pandigital novel 7 inch tablet which was a great tablet but it is outdated as far as the version of android on it goes, that one I passed down to a family member. I also have a 7 inch Sylvania that was also inexpensive which I used a lot and still do on occasion, that one will not be updated either but is fine for my husband to use to read the kindle books on and play solitaire and check email or Google something which is about the extent of his use. The one I use daily is my Vizio Vtab 1008 tablet it is still being updated and it will get the latest version of android ics in the near future, Vizio mentioned that recently when showing the new 10 inch tablet they are releasing soon. I love my tech toys but I don't spend a lot of money on them. The Vizio is the most expensive one and I got it as a refurbished unit for a very good price, luckily it was perfect. The laptop is a gift I got for my husband, I rarely use it, I do the updates on it. I do have an Acer netbook that I did use quite a bit, and still do when I travel, I prefer the keyboard. For daily use my desktop is custom made has 2 hard drives one with Linux one with windows. I use Mepis Linux pretty much exclusively for daily use. I do have a couple of other towers but they are backup. Luckily my husband supports my addict.... Um I mean hobbies lol. He has been urging me to get the nexus already! I am resisting so far. I guess it is my one vice. It could be worse lol

no you do not have to use wifi only if you want to get online with the unit do you need wifi. However to have wifi all you would need is to get a wireless router and plug your internet connection into it and set up your own wifi, it is not something extra you pay for, if you have internet you can have wifi. The look book can be used as an ereader with out using wifi, that is only if you wish to get books directly from the kobo book site. However I would suggest going somewhere that does have free wifi and run it because there is a major update that it has to do right off and it has to be done through wifi so you could visit someone that has a wireless router or go to a restaurant that has a wifi hotspot and do that update then thats it. The lookbook does come with a cable that you can use to move stuff from the pc to the lookbook, I am not fond of that method and much prefer the SD card that way all your books are contained on the SD card and not in the unit, should you have to do a factory reset on the unit if the books are stored on it you would lose them, I put mine on one Sd card and can use that same Sd card in any of my units. Except the sylvania it takes the micro SD card. The Sd cards are so cheap now anyway, I just picked up an 8Gig one for around $8 on sale, so many places have them on sale. And if you happen to need one of the usb plug in memory card readers those I find all the time for $6. I have 3 in packages on my desk right now price was $6 so I picked some up for friends. The kobo website has an app that you can download and install on your pc so you can use that with the lookbook also. Now on the sylvania tablet you would really want to be able to have wifi access to use all of the features on it since it is very much like a mini computer you would need to get online with it. It also comes with the cable to connect it to the usb port on your pc that is pretty standard with all of them. I had to call several CVS stores to find the ones that had these. It is hit or miss but you can talk to a manager and ask them to give you a rain check and to try to get some at that store. to keep things from getting confused we are talking about 2 different items on this thread! The lookbook which is basically just an ereader but can connect by wifi to the kobo website to download books directly from there. The sylvania 7inch touch screen android tablet which is able to connect by wifi and do much of what you can do on your pc, you can surf, email, watch videos, listen to music etc. And it has the ereader apps included along with many others, and many more you can easily install some free some you would pay for. There are numerous brands of these little android tablets out there now, most are quite similar in what they do, this one was a good deal at the sale price. I also have the Pandigital Novel which I really like too, they are very similar in what you can do with them.