My Two Cents
I have two tablets, an Archos and the Acer, both in 10m inch.
I have had and an iPhone and use an Ipad frequently.
I only mention it because you are coming from they Apple side, so I think I can lend some helpful advise. I am also in the market for a 7" droid tab.
Android 2.3 is phone software and it came on my Archos. I would not get a tab without 3.0 or higher. 2.2 & 2.3 should have never been put on tablet. Beyond the significant aesthetics, there is a real problem with the system not closing apps, so all the memory is tied up and performance suffers.
I would recommend a processor of at least 1GHz processor and no less then a 1GB RAM or it will be noticeable with transitions and smoothness. I highly recommend the Tegra2 processor if you are going to play games. Tegra actually has a site with games designed for the processor and they are awesome.
Media, for Apple users I would verify the media you own will play on the tab. Music shouldn't be a problem, but movies are a mess. I think it has a lot to do with licensing, my tablets do not play the same files. Handbrake will convert the media, but it takes a lot of time to convert a 4GB movie.
GPS, it's a very cool gimmick. But in reality, a tablet needs two hands. I use my phone in the vehicle. I should also mention that if your phone is a hotspot, you can use data via wifi anywhere you have data on your phone. Beyond the first week or two, I never use the GPS on the tab.
Archos makes a couple 7" tablets under $150. It is cheaper, but it far more portable then the Acer, which is probably double the weight and thicker.
Make sure the tablet comes with Google Play, the app store. Many of the tabs come with their own app store, like my Archos has applib. They can all run the Play, but if you aren't comfortable loading an app via computer, it will limit your access to a lot of the apps.
Cameras. The forward facing camera is pointless, holding up a tab to take a pic is cumbersome at best. And unless you use teleconferencing, so it the user facing camera.
I am looking for something that is light and will fit in cargo pants. I am leaning towards this Archos ARNOVA 7b G3 8GB 7" just because it's light(plastic). But I really like my Acer. It terms of full functions, the Acer is way better, but I am getting it for traveling, so light surfing and email. Basically a large phone.
A couple of other notes.
USB. All droid tabs have a micro USB port designed to interact with your PC. Some have a full size USB which except memory devises, and depending on the model, some will except 3G sticks or game controllers. This port is very useful, any devise, like a my camera, can be hooked up like a usb stick and the data can be transferred. I use this a lot to back up pictures from my camera and data from my GPS. Portable hardrives work as well so long as the power consumption is below the output on the tabs usb slot.
HDMI. I travel a lot, so this is awesome so long as your hotel has a flat panel. You can watch Netflix or loaded movies or even play music through the speakers of the TV. It works well. The only issue is HD movies are arounf 4GB.
Without a doubt, get a tab with and MicroSD slot. It's one of the few flaws of the iPad.
And lastly, SPECS. While important, anyone who has been in the droid game knows the integration by the manufacturer of Android is as, if not more important. My recommendation, when you pare it down to a couple of devises, go to XDA Developers. See what common problems people are having. It's the best resource for issues because the clientele ranges from clueless users to people who actually design/modify operating systems for tabs. On my Acer I actually run the a hybrid Honeycomb. They are called ROM, and there are many of them, and they run faster and are more visually appealing. It's definitely a place you want to check out.
And remember, one of the biggest benefits of droid, is it's open. I can fix basic issues on my computer, but with my tab, I make do all kinds of stuff, even hooked up a Wii controller via Bluetooth to play games just to see if i could do it. And as mentioned above, I frequently load one of the many alternative operating systems (ROMs). The look cooler and run much faster because a lot of them strip out all the nuisance programs that burn up resources like Kindle and Photobucket.
