Measuring Up: Tablet Size Comparisons

If you were following tech news yesterday, you likely noticed a few notable announcements on the tablet front, with announcements of the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Toshiba Folio 100 widening the available options in the growing handheld computing category. But with all these models available and without the opportunity to hold them in your hand, how do you know which size is best for you? Knowing the physical dimensions of any device in relation to hand size can be the difference between comfy and cumbersome, so we've created a visual chart comparing many of the major models, alongside gathering images of all of these models in hand below...

Click image above for full size chart

The Apple iPad: 7.47”W x 9.56”L

Amazon Kindle 3G: 4.8”W x 7.5”L

Barnes and Noble Nook: 4.9”W x 7.7”L

JooJoo: 7.8”W x 12.8”L

Sony PRS-65 Touch Edition: 4.677”W x 6.614”L

Samsung Galaxy Tab: 4.471”W x 7.482”L

Toshiba Folio: 7.51”W x 11.054”L

ViewSonic ViewPad : 7”W x 10”L

Dell Streak: 3.1”W x 6”L

Archos 7: 7.8”W x 12.8”L

Which size do you feel is ideal for tablet-style computing? Does the expansive JooJoo tablet appeal to your more, the smartphone sized Dell Streak or something inbetween? With rumors of a smaller iPad coming this fall, it seems the answers are as personal as monitor size, whether you've got "man hands" or not.

Comments (9)

This was very helpful. Thank you.

Most people I know include a Coke can in the picture for scale.

I love the comparison chart, but why does the iPhone have details, but none of the rest do?!

The only size for me will always be Apple sized. Apple puts so much thought into what they design there is no parallel. Unless, you want substandard, cheap, knockoffs.

Sent from my iPad.

beyourownsaviour: the honest and simple answers is it would have taken be a lot longer to illustrate every tablet with details, especially since a few have keys. I did the iPhone just so people could have a quick common reference to compare to besides the hand.

Nice chart. Handy even (sorry). While I don't think it needs details like the buttons, I think it would be nice to have a little box inside to show the actual screen size within each tablet, since, as you point out, some of them have keyboards taking up quite a bit of real estate, which we can see when we scroll down to the actual photos, of course. Just a suggestion to make the chart even handier. :)

I've been using an iPad (for Kindle reading, for web-browsing, for a few games), and I have to admit that sometimes I wish it were... bigger. Like maybe 13-inches? Is that just crazy? No, I don't want a MacBook Air. I'm not sure how I'd feel with a 7-inch. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, and it would fit better in some of my smaller handbags, I guess.

Nice one Gregory. I like the handy chart!

iPad hits the sweet spot in terms of size. With all the hype with Galaxy Tab, it just does not seem practical to view magazines or webpages on it without having to zoom or scroll a lot. Anything smaller than those two are just useless, imo, because you don't get that much added practicality from stepping up from a standard smartphone.