Can an Android tablet stand up to an iPad 2?

The iPad 2 is the best tablet on the market. It's sleek, slim, comfortable, easy to use, has a ton of tablet-customized apps, the battery runs for days and getting music and videos onto the device is effortless.

That said, there actually are reasons to buy an Android tablet instead of an iPad -- specifically, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. No other Android tablet deserves to be in this discussion, and the BlackBerry Playbook is a punch line without the setup.

So, why should you buy the Tab 10.1 instead of an iPad 2?

The Tab 10.1 is slimmer and lighter. The Tab 10.1 also feels great in your hands, the first tablet other than the original iPad and iPad 2 to accomplish that feat.

The Tab 10.1 has a better display. While the iPad 2 (like the original model) has a 9.7-inch screen with 1024 x 768 resolution and 4:3 aspect ratio like that found on standard definition TVs, the Tab 10.1 has a 10.1-inch widescreen with 1280 x 800 resolution.

Even with a bigger screen size, the increased resolution gives the Tab 10.1 a higher pixel density than the iPad 2 (149 pixels per inch vs. 132).

Why does that matter? The more pixels you cram into a given space, the smaller the pixels must be, which means the graphics are sharper, with fewer jagged lines and fuzzy visuals. That's not to say the iPad 2 has a bad display. It's great.

The latest Android 3.1 tablet operating system officially supports USB peripherals. That includes mice and keyboards, although the tablet has to have a standard USB port. While the Tab 10.1 does not have a standard USB slot, Samsung is selling an adapter for just $20.

Using a mouse on the Galaxy Tab could be useful if you browse a lot of Flash-based websites where you need to mouse over menus and buttons before clicking. There's no way to mouse over Flash menus with your finger on a touch screen.

It will be a snowy day in Hades before Apple builds mouse support into the iPad, much less Flash.

Google makes it much easier to side-load apps that aren't on the market. Yes, there are fewer tablet-specific apps on Google's Android Market than on Apple's App Store. But while Apple gives you more uniformity and certainty that apps are safe and functional, Google gives you more freedom to try out innovative stuff.

For most people, the iPad 2 is a better choice than the Tab 10.1, just because the iPad 2 is supremely easy to use and has a ton of apps. Getting music and video onto most Android tablets also is a pain, something that Amazon could really address when it gets around to releasing an Android tablet.