It's the traditional grab bag going back to the days of shareware, running the gamut from professional to rank amateur. I have yet to pay for an app. The professional-grade apps tend to be funded by an associated service, e.g. the Skype and Kindle etc apps make their money (if any) from selling the service. In many cases there are two tiers of app, ad-blighted for free, ad-free for $bucks.

Speaking of Skype, that's a whole nother area I haven't covered. The Tab has two cameras, a high-def camera pointing away from you (on the bottom of the unit), and a low-rez camera facing you for video calls. Cameras are not the strong suit of the Tab, and they're mediocre at best. But they're adequate for a lot of things, including video phoning. Friend of mine went to Argentina for two weeks recently, and every couple of days he'd fire up Skype on his laptop and make a video call to me. I found it perfectly natural to walk around the apartment holding the "videophone" in my hand, or setting it down on the kitchen counter when I worked, while video chatting with my buddy.

Looks like I've been able to answer yes to everything you'd want to do with a tablet. That's cool, and makes me feel even better about my choice. I'm most in the dark about the battery charging issue, and I really want to know how that works out for you. I don't have quite the same stringent need for electricity on the trail as you do, but having solar power as an option is another way to expand the usefulness of my little Droid.

The phrase "I'm living in the Federation!" keeps going through my head. I could go on for hours singing the praises of the Droid.