Ihave an ASUS EEE tablet netbook. It has FAR more horsepower than the Ipad, lots of slots for memory cards, and USB ports. When folded into tablet form it is significantly smaller than the Ipad. Runs Windows 7. Current pricing is just over $300, vs $499 for the Ipad. Runs Kindle for PC and is just great as an e-reader (far superior to the Kindle).
I just worked on one of these with XP (my OS of choice), and was quite impressed. My client had purchased it from Amazon for $267.00. I had WiFi & Ethernet, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 160GB HD, 1GB RAM, VGA port.
When I had it hooked up to a 22" monitor, and an external USB keyboard and mouse, why heck, it acted just like a real computer! :)