The 2013 holiday shopping season is upon us and tablets are going to be a major item for electronics gifts this year. The manufacturers anticipated this and have released a huge number of new tablets over the past couple of months. But which tablet should you considering giving as a gift this year. Check out my selections for the best tablets at various price points to try and fit just about any holiday budget.

Tablets Under $150

If you have a very tight budget but want to get a tablet for the holidays, there are still a couple of decent options available. The best of these is the ASUS MeMO Pad HD 7. The best part is that the 7-inch display offers a good level of color and brightness even though its 1280×800 resolution might seem a bit rough these days. Performance is decent thanks to a quad core processor but it isn’t quite the same as the more expensive tablets. The tablet even manages to squeeze in a five megapixel rear camera for taking pictures and videos. Pricing is just $150 for the 16GB version but storage isn’t so much of an issue as this does have a microSD card slot for easy expansion unlike many of the more expensive tablets.

Another option is the new Dell Venue 7. This one is a bit different because it is based around an Intel Atom processor rather than an ARM one but still runs the Android operating system. Performance does suffer a bit as the OS does not run as smoothly at times. Thankfully, Dell left the install of Android fairly uncluttered unlike many other companies. The build quality is actually quite good for such an inexpensive tablet. There are cameras on it but they aren’t as nice as those on the MeMO Pad HD 7. Pricing is similar at $150 for a 16GB Wi-Fi version and it also has a microSD card slot for easy storage expansion.

Tablets Under $250

This is one of the toughest price points as there are two tablets which offer nearly identical potential but it comes down more to the preference of the software and features.

First, there is the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 7-inch. This is Amazon’s latest tablet and it received a huge number of upgrades including a fabulous 1920×1080 display that offers some of the best color on the market. This means it fully supports 1080p video unlike the previous Fire HD. Performance is great from a new quad core processor but the software is taking center stage on this thanks to some big upgrades. The one that will benefit anyone new to tablets is the May Day on-demand video tech support where they will guide you through the features even with on-screen notes. The big downside is that your are locked into Amazon’s software and services which isn’t a big deal for many but for some more tech savvy people this is an issues. A bigger one is probably the lack of a rear facing camera for taking pictures or video. Pricing is $229 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version with Special Offers (aka Ads) which costs another $15 to disable.

For those looking for a more open experience or also wanting a camera on their tablet, the Google Nexus 7 is a great alternative. It also features a spectacular 1920×1080 7-inch screen that has a bit more brightness but slightly less color than the Fire HDX. It also features a quad core processor for some solid performance but once again slightly behind the Fire HDX. It makes up for this by including a 5.0 megapixel rear camera for shooting pictures or taking 1080p video. Another big difference is that this comes with the plain or vanilla installation of the Android OS. Many like this as it does not have any of those various overlays from manufacturers that muddle the experience and allows for a greater range of customization. It also has access to the larger Google Play application store. Updates to newer versions of Android are also faster because it uses the stock setup. Pricing is similar with $229 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version but it does not have any ads on it like the Fire HDX.

Tablets Under $400

Take everything great about the new Apple iPad Air and shrink it down to the size of the Mini. That is essentially what Apple did with the new iPad Mini with Retina Display. It is slightly heavier and thicker than the original iPad Mini but it was necessary to fit in the larger battery required to power the new higher resolution display but you would be hard pressed to notice the change. The internal specs on this are pretty much the same as the larger Air other than it runs a slightly slower A7 processor akin to the iPhone 5S. For most, the performance difference between this and the Air is almost not noticeable. While the screen offers the same high resolution, it actually has a higher pixel density. The downside is that the color and brightness is not quite as nice as the Air. Pricing is high though at $399 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.

Outside of the iPad Air, most of the tablets in this price range make a number of compromises or are just larger versions of smaller tablets. This is pretty much what the Amazon Kindle Fire HDX 8.9-inch is. The big difference of course is the larger screen that offers an amazing 2560×1600 resolution for one of the highest pixel densities on the market. It also offers a rear camera which the smaller 7-inch tablet does not. Beyond this, the performance is pretty much the same as it uses the same processor and storage. Of course the tablet is larger but actually thinner than the 7-inch version. It does feature the May Day video tech support function and is great paired with Amazon’s Prime services. One big downside is that all apps are done through Amazon’s service which means no access to the larger Google Play store. Priced at $379 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version.

If you want a low cost Windows tablet that features a full version of Windows, the ASUS Transformer Book T100 is a surprisingly affordable hybrid tablet system. It manages to include a full 32-bit version of Windows 8.1 thanks to the new quad core Atom processor that also gives it some decent battery life with its small battery. The best part is that it also functions as a laptop thanks to its included keyboard dock. When used, it does increase the size and weight of the tablet but it still is the size of a small ultraportable laptop with a decent if small keyboard. There are a number of small quirks with the system but the microUSB power cord is the most annoying as it takes the system a long time to charge. Pricing starts at $350 for the 16GB version but I recommend the 32GB model for $400.

Tablets Under $600

Of course the king of tablets is still the Apple iPad thanks to the new iPad Air. Just holding one shows what an incredible engineering feat it was to produce. It weighs just one pound and is incredibly thin but still one of the best built tablets out there on the market thanks to its aluminum unibody design. The retina display may not be as class leading as it was when it was first introduced back with the iPad 3 but it still offers a very detailed picture and some of the best brightness and color accuracy on the market. Performance and battery life are also some of the best on the market thanks to the new 64-bit A7 processor. The only downside is the price is quite high starting at $499 for the 16GB Wi-Fi version but I recommend the 32GB model that costs $599.

If you want a premium Android tablet, there actually is only one choice on the market to consider. The Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition is a major upgrade to their 10-inch tablet. It features a 2560×1600 display that actually has a higher pixel density than the iPad Air and offers better color and brightness than the aging Nexus 10. In addition to being a touchscreen, the tablet also has a built-in digitizer that uses the pressure sensitive S-Pen for handwriting and drawing capabilities. Performance is good thanks to the quad core processor but it actually is less than the dual core A7 in the iPad Air. Another advantage it has over the Air is higher resolution front (2.0 megapixels) and rear (8.0 megapixels) cameras. It is nearly as thin as the Air but has larger bezels which results in a larger overall size and weight. Pricing is quite high with the 16GB Wi-Fi version costing $549 and the 32GB version costing $599.