As tablets become more popular and continue to chip away at the mobile computing market, the idea of leaving the notebook behind in favor of a slate certainly seems attractive. On the pros side you have portability, instant-on capabilities, longer battery life, a touchscreen, and in the case of most modern tablets like the iPad 3, an HD video camera.

A recent Caribbean cruise vacation provided the perfect opportunity to test whether or not my iPad would make a suitable travel replacement. I decided to put several products spanning multiple categories to the test to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses based on my hands-on experience.

TigerDirect offers the Harman Kardon 5.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker System with the Yamaha 5.1-Channel 3D Home Theater Receiver for $999.99. Coupon code "LNO69838" cuts it to $699.99. Even with $31.14 for shipping, it's $612 under the lowest total price we could find...

Dell Home offers the Sony Bravia KDL-65HX729 for $2,198.99 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we could find by $599 and the least expensive Sony 65" 3D HDTV we've seen. Sales tax is added where applicable. It features a 1920x1080 (1080p) native resolution...

Electronics Express via eBay offers the Boston Acoustics SoundWare 5.1-Channel Home Theater Speaker System for $279.36 with free shipping. That's the lowest total price we could find by $230. It includes a 100-watt 8" subwoofer, as well as five satellite speakers...