Tablets seem to be the perfect kitchen table computing device for when you just want to look up something really quick, but don't want to walk down the hall to the office and wake up the computer from sleep.

Some use cases:

- Recipes using Epicurious - who wants a full blown computer in the kitchen? - Browsing instantwatcher.com and adding movies to your Netflix queue from the sofa. - Reading your newsfeeds while you eat breakfast. - Any browsing related task where you don't want to leave the room (checking weather forecast, google searches, booking an airline ticket, reading email).

Really, the wife and I have had an iPad for 1+ years and we still get a few good hours a day of use out of it. I've had a Sharp Zaurus and other devices before and they all ended up in a closet or drawer after a few weeks. The tablet PC is very useful because it does fill that niche in between wanting to go to the office and get on the desktop tower or trying to look something up on your smartphone.