7" Seems like the worst size for a tablet. Realistically it is too big to comfortably fit into a pocket and personally its too small for me to justify carrying it around when I have a smartphone.

That is subjective, especially since the 7" tablets now sport very similar resolution as their 9-10" brethren. I think this may drastically change when double/quad resolution 10" tablets come out (next year?)

My Samsung Galaxy Tab 7-inch begs to differ with your assessment--I carry my Motorola Droid in my left pocket along with my keys--which never seem to scratch that amazing Gorilla Glass screen--and my Samsung Galaxy Tab in my right pocket along with my wallet--and it still fits fine.

I see todays phones as miniature tablets, and its not hard to see why (eg/ Grid 10 vs Grid 4).

I'd place the tablets into 3 categories; pocketables, portable, and spacious.
It seems better to name them as Phones, Pads, and Tablets.

Pocketables is basically phones that are less than 5.0 inches. It'll give you a decent amount of screen-estate (3.7" 4.0" 4.3" 4.5") but be limited in many ways. The maximum size for comfortable touchtyping and a bearable bulk/heft seems to be roughly 4.5 inches for most people.

Portables are pads (think of a little notepad) which give you more screen-size and can do several things better/easier. But the experience isn't too different than a phone/pocketable. They aren't pocketable, but still extremely portable in purses, coat pockets, wide-rear pockets, car-docks etc. This is where the 6.5" to 7.5" size comes into factor. Any device that is more than 4.5" but less than 6.5" generally seems like a waste because its not pocketable but portable however the screen size isn't large enough to offer much of a different experience.

Spacious tablets are real tablets (think of a large heavy book) which are supposed to displace your netbook and laptop you "lug" around for leisure and work. The large screen gives them the chance to offer a completely different experience to pocketable phones, a good thing, but still resembles the portable pads. So far they are appalling in displacing ultraportables for work-related activities, but this can change in the future (Windows 8, better QNX/Android/iOS). These are devices with 9.0" to 11.0" size and are meant to be carried under your armpit, or in your backpack/suitcase. So they are more portable than laptops/netbooks but not portable enough to be carried in different means. Any tablets that are sized 7.5" to 8.5" generally seems like a waste because its not portable in purses/large pockets or dockable, and still lack the larger screen for a differed experience.

Side note, people with large hands/fingers (me) and a spacious car dock may be in luck as an 8.5-8.9" tablet with shaved bezel might still be "portable" (not lugged) but give you just enough screen estate to have a (spacious) "tablet" user interface rather than a (portable) "pad" user interface to really offer a distinction to your large handheld/pocketable phone. I've come to term this as a Padlet.

EVERYTHING comes down to your needs. If you need the extra screen for a more desktop-like internet browsing than a tablet is a must, if you cannot bare lugging around a laptop sized device than a pad is more convincing. If you are gifted and want the best of both worlds, then a padlet may be your thing.

You must have big pockets then: in my pocket my n800 barely fits, anything bigger surely wouldn't.

I have a Huawei S7 7" tablet. Fits just fine in a back pocket (slacks and jeans), granted you can't sit down with it in your pocket, but it fits just fine. It will also fit in the front pocket of my work slacks fairly easily. Again, sitting would be difficult.

Being summer, I also wear cargo shorts, and it easily fits in the leg pockets on those, several pairs can even be buttoned closed to secure it. Sitting isn't a problem then.

Putting a 7" tablet in your pocket isn't unrealistic (provided you aren't wearing skin tight pants). Standing / walking are just fine. Sitting can be an issue, but I usually pull it out and use it / set it down in that case. People might not notice the N800 in your pocket, but they will notice a 7" tablet.

Must... resist... temptation.. to tell... joke.... !!! >.<

Sorry for offtopic.
Anything aside from slim fit pants/jeans is just a fashion kill

http://www.engadget.com/2011/08/18/h...webos-devices/
^ Just a note to those claiming the HP touchpad was superior to the Grid 10.

I think the discontinuation of WebOS reinforces Fusion Garage's choice to build Grid OS on Android.

i'm with Gigaom on this one:

http://gigaom.com/mobile/why-i-just-...-size-matters/