Tab-ula Rasa

Laptops, like other specimens of the 'modern' tech era, have been reduced to nothing more than bumbling dinosaurs staring up as a giant asteroid plummets to earth, soon to destroy what relevance they once had at the top of the food chain.
If high-powered binoculars or telescopes existed back then, operated by intelligent beings with opposable thumbs, they would've seen a faint outline of a half-eaten apple plastered to the face of the said asteroid.
The tablet of choice for the majority of the people who can afford to pay through their noses happen to be Apple's iPad. Outside the realm of well-off CEOs, business executives, business-owners and their lavish lifestyles, the choices offer so much variation that it can boggle the minds of most people, opposable thumbs and all.
To make the categorisation easier and help you find the tablet that suits your needs best, we've rounded up the best tablets available on the market according to what kind of people can make the most of it.

THE AFOREMENTIONED CEOS, BUSINESS EXECUTIVES AND BUSINESS-OWNERS
When it comes to managing several things at once while making a lifestyle statement, it's difficult to look past the indubitable style, usability, and build quality of Apple's iPad and iPad Mini.
Featuring state of the art retina displays and a host of incredible (and incredibly expensive) apps, the iPad allows you to manage accounts, do your book-keeping, type out fast notes, and shoot off emails with incredible ease, combining solid hardware and software. They'll even keep you entertained in business meetings where the money matters are done and the exciting bits are over.
The downside? The cost of buying one and the difficulty in obtaining apps on a non-jailbroken tab. Jailbreaking is also expensive, but you get apps for free, so consider it an investment.

iPad Air 2
Starting from USD $500
9.7 inch, 2,048 x 1,536 pixel retina display
A8X processor
Apple iOS8 OS
16, 64 GB versions

Samsung Galaxy Tab S (10.5)
Starting from USD $499
10.5 inch, 2560 x 1600 pixel Super AMOLED display
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Octacore processor
Android 4.4 KitKat OS
16, 32 GB versions

The artsy types
While a mass-market tablet can never replace a proper graphics tablet in the quality of artwork that can be produced, there are some hyper-sensitive tablets, which can serve quite well in conjuring up rough ideas of layouts, banners, etc. These tablets will come in handy for marketing executives and graphics designers during the ideation process, allowing their clients to visualise a final product based on the rough. Plus, at the hands of a pro, tabs like Microsoft's latest Surface can come up with images that are mind-blowing in detail and depth.

MICROSOFT SURFACE PRO 3
Starting from USD $768
12 inch, 2,160 x 1,440 pixel
Intel Core i3 CPU
Windows 8.1 64-bit OS

The bookworms
Kindles give most people a momentary pause before they splurge on a tablet that can only be used for reading ebooks. Many would rather prefer buying a tablet that gives them a wide range of usage options, and we couldn't agree more.
A tablet is generally good for reading depending on how many words in a line can fit onto the screen, so a wider tablet is generally better. Be prepared to carry a backpack or handbag if you want to read on the move, since tabs like the Nexus and the hot new Amazon Fire are quite cumbersome to carry all the time.

Google Nexus 9
Starting from USD $387
8.9-inch 2,048x1,536 pixel IPS display, with 285 pixels per inch
Tegra K1 system on a chip (192-core Kepler GPU and 2.2GHz quad-core A15 processor)
Android 5.0 Lollipop OS
16, 32 GB versions

Amazon Fire HDX 8.9
Starting from USD $394
8.9-inch 2,560x1,600 pixel HD display, with 339 pixels per inch
Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 system-on-chip (Adreno 420 GPU and 2.5GHz quad-core Krait 450 processor)
Fire OS4 Sangria OS
16, 32 64 GB versions

THE GAMERS AND MOVIE WATCHERS
PC gamers hold console gamers in low regard, and tablet gamers aren't even registered as a blip on the “gamer radar”. However, it's a growing segment, and as processing power and display hardware continually improves, the games are becoming progressively complex and fun to waste time on.
The properties that define a good tablet for gaming also determine how clear the movie watching experience is, so consider that a bonus. And if you go for the Lenovo Yoga, you get a mini projector, while almost all of them can hook up to a big TV for maximised gaming experience.    

NVidia Shield Tablet
Starting from USD $300
8-inch 1,920x1,200 pixel IPS display
Tegra K1 system on a chip (192-core Kepler GPU and 2.2GHz quad-core A15 processor)
2 GB RAM
Android 5.0 Lollipop OS
16, 32 GB versions

Razer Edge
Starting from USD $745
10.1 inch 1366x768 pixel IPS display
1.7GHz / Turbo 2.6GHz dual core Intel Core i5 processor
4 GB RAM
Windows 8 OS
64, 128, 256 GB versions

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 Pro
Starting from USD $500   
13 inch 2560 x 1440 pixel QHD display, pico projector
1.33-GHz quad-core Intel Atom processor
JBL speakers
Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS
9,600-mAh battery

The size conscious crowd
Tablets are huge. They refuse to fit in anything other than the Noah's Ark of jeans or handbags. There are smaller tabs out there which compromise some of the usability for a more space-friendly size.

Samsung Galaxy Tab S (8.4-inch)
Starting from USD $400
8.4 inch 2,460x1,600 pixel Super AMOLED display
Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS
16, 32 GB versions

Dell Venue 8 7000
Starting from USD $399
8.4 inch 1600 x 2560 pixel OLED capacitive touchscreen
Intel Atom Z3580 quad core processor
Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS
16 GB