By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Let's face it, tablets are here to stay and the 7 to 8-inch category is the most exciting and competitive area right now because they offer compact yet powerful options. Here are some that anyone will enjoy unwrapping this Holiday Season.
The Venue 8 Pro is a complete Windows 8.1 tablet (not RT). It fits in your hand, comes bundled with MS Offfice, and can run most programs your desktop PC can run but is way lighter and more portable. Running on a frugal but powerful 1.8GHz Intel Clover Trail quad-core processor and with either 32GB or 64GB of RAM (expandable through microSD), this is an impressive product that also offers 8-10 hours of battery and has Miracast, dual band WiFi, and a 5 megapixel camera to boot.
Apple iPad mini with Retina Display - $419
This little beauty is a beast in terms of performance as well as the richness of the ecosystem that supports it. The new retina mini can do everything the iPad Air can do but is even more portable. The build quality on the iPad mini is outstanding and the choices for capacities, colours as well as WiFi or WiFi plus Cellular models is vast.
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 - $299
Larger and feeling a bit more premium than its 7-inch brother, the latest device to join the Tab line is also the sweet spot between screen size and portability. Throw in the ability to turn into a smart remote with the built-in IR blaster and you've got a snazzy second screen experience that's also an impressive standalone tablet.