Tablets you can find in the UK shops

Richard Fieldhouse - 2 May 2011 - [Updated 31/12/12)

Latest review of what you can buy on the high street

Here in our online-technology bubble, it can often be all too easy to forget that a whole world actually exists outside of the internet. You know, in.. real life. For this reason it's always useful to keep up with which tablets you an actually buy on the high street - it also answers interesting questions about which devices brick-and-mortar retailers back to be big sellers.

Heading into our three select high-street staples: HMV, PC World/Currys, and John Lewis, we set out with notepads in hand to see how the developments of 2012 have shown up in the retailers' choices of available tabs. Here's what we found.

After apparently investing very little effort or money into their tablet range through most of last year, John Lewis put in a well-timed push in the run-up to Christmas and they now have easily the best selection out of the shops close to us. At some peak times they've also had Samsung specialists in store to demonstrate things like the Galaxy Note 10.1 - with it's special S-pen.

As expected, tablet heavyweights such as Apple's iPad and Samsung's Galaxy Note series are widely available in retail outlets. It's also interesting to note how the beefed-up offerings from e-reader manufacturers Amazon and Barnes & Noble have succesfully forced their way onto the shelves, especially for Amazon who have traditionally focused on using their online store as point-of-sale for the Kindle series. It seems that low prices despite a relatively wide feature range is proving a winning combination for consumers who don't quite feel inclined to dish out £300+ on an iPad.

"Remember me..?"

The Samsung Ativ Windows RT was the only tab we found featuring one of Microsoft's new offerings as part of the Windows 8 range. As of now, the Mirosoft Surface was nowhere to be seen.

We've just listed the most relevant and recent tabs above, but as could be expected, PC World also had a wide range of different devices, even offering an alternative to the Nook and Kindle e-reader series' with it's (aging) Kobo Vox 7". Most of its other 'unique' tabs were lined up on a rather uninspiring row far from the glitz and glamour of the iPads and Galaxy Note. These included the Sony 9.4" S, Lenovo IdeaTab 9" and BlackBerry Playbook (which unsurprisingly was listed at half price) as well as both original Samsung Galaxy Tabs (7" and 10.1").

It was interesting to see that struggling HMV also had a number of budget tablets on display, such as the Arnova 10 G2 and Arnova Gbook, and even the oldest iPad. It's clear that in such dark times for the retailer, it's better to actually sell a couple of £100 tablets rather than rely on its bigger names that inevitably get played-with in-store during the day, then purchased online that evening.

Which of these tablets would you most likely buy on a Saturday afternoon shop? Let us know in the comments below.