help choosing a tablet!

I am starting to help my boyfriend Christmas shop for me.. Looking for a tablet, preferably 9-10" but a 7" would do. Max of about $250 (because I don't want him to spend any more than that on me:)). Anyone have one or know what is a good one to look into? I don't know a ton about technoloogy and it's kind of overwhelming how many choices there are out right now!

Anyone??

With that budget you're limited. The iPad is definitely out of question which is a shame since it's the leading tablet for a reason. The RIM (BlackBerry) PlayBook is within your budget, it's an OK tablet but feels kind of unfinished. RIM have been promising updates for a while, they will happen, it's just taking a very long time.

The Samsung Galaxy is also out of your budget, but there are still tablets by ASUS and Lenovo that might be within your budget. Both of them run the Android operating system (Google) and are pretty comparable. Another option is the Amazon Fire which is more of an eReader than a tablet, even though it's technically supposed to be a tablet - if that makes sense.

What do you want to do primarily with the tablet? Read? Surf the net? Play games? Watch movies?

Mainly just messing around online, etc. Not really movies or reading books on there except every once in a while. It'd be something I'd get a keyboard for to take to class for notes. I love the iPad, also, but I don't want my boyfriend spending $500 on me even though he's willing to spend more than the $250. His brother will be getting a Kindle Fire for Christmas and I was messing with it today and I kind of like it, but I'd rather have something with a bigger screen. I've found a few tablets powered by Android that I like, including the superpad. I've read good reviews on them, but I like hearing from people with some experience with them.